Values and ethics protect and sustain the country, says Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan
dubai — Emirati people should preserve their ethics and values to develop a sustainable nation and maintain the country’s growth, said a UAE Minister.
Lt-General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, said ethics is the common factor that united all religions, whether monotheistic or not.
“The main factor of developing nations is ethics,” he said, as he referred to the recent UAE Armed Forces march at the Indian Republic Day Parade in New Delhi, where Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, also watered a tree planted years ago by UAE Founder Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
“The continuation of life, with agriculture and caring about living beings, is a celebration of life,” said Sheikh Saif. He added that while many civilisations grew, others have collapsed, but ethics and values remained the main factor behind growth. “When humankind deviate away from main principles of religions of sustaining values and ethics, we see that our creator sends his message as a reminder and guide to get back to the same path we once deviated from.”
He noted that sustainability is embedded in UAE’s history, heritage and through its commitment to religion in implementing the law. “That’s why tolerance, happiness and youth were added in our cabinet among many other programmes. National service with no doubt that it has made its place in all the Emirati houses,” he said.
“And when we talk about sustainability, we mean the sustainability of our nation as a whole, not individual sectors.”
He referred to the system introduced by the government that evaluates the cabinet’s progress every three months. “We aren’t riding on a train; we are on a plane that is going on a steady speed,” he noted.
Sheikh Saif also highlighted that the spread of Ebola, the major outbreak of 2011, failed to reach the country due to the strategic reserve of the UAE and the awareness of its leadership. He referred to countries like human beings: “if they do not have immunity, viruses and diseases will take over and kill them.”
In the UAE, he said, the main balance is between preserving traditions, openness and team work. He noted that the country is currently making history through its employees who keep the integrity of their jobs, the merchants, students and mothers whose role can never be dispensed with.
He concluded by saying that the country is facing a real and complex war of terrorism and sectarianism, but vowed that victory is inevitable by making ethics the lifestyle to follow. “Whoever protects churches [like our leaders do], will protect mosques, and whoever protect both, will protect humanity,” he said.