KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must aim to maintain the values that have brought post-independence prosperity to all its communities despite the challenges it faces, says Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah.
Speaking at the launch of the book, The Malays: Pathfinders And Trailblazers at the World Trade Centre here today, he said Malaysia must champion and remain an exemplar of multiculturalism.
“Globally, we are currently facing three severe and overlapping crises — the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a growing food crisis.
Sultan Nazrin said the pandemic had greatly reduced contact between nations, companies and people, and global supply chains were faltering, global economic growth was contracting, and energy and food prices were soaring.
“But as this book informs us, for many centuries, the Malay archipelago has been open to flows of trade, capital, labour and ideas, and it is this very openness to foreign influences that has shaped who we are and helped to make us successful.”
Speaking of the book, written by former Perak menteri besar Ramli Ngah Talib, he said the author aimed to instil in Malays a greater sense of pride in their own “epoch-making” history and rebalance the understanding of their own history.
Sultan Nazrin said there was a treasure trove of tacit knowledge of the race. If left unrecorded, it would disappear together with the passing of the owners of this knowledge.