Learn from past mistakes, says Perak Regent

IPOH: The Regent of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah has urged the country’s leaders to learn from mistakes in the annals of history that caused the collapse of empires, countries and their leaders.

He said that this should be done so that the country would not suffer the same fate and previous errors are not repeated.

“Only a small number of those given opportunities to become leaders actually did enough to create history and build civilisations. Many of those given the opportunity to lead allowed the joy and passion of having power to lead them astray," he said in his speech during the state-level Maulidur Rasul (Prophet's birthday) celebration at the State Secretariat here Thursday.

"Some became complacent, some went astray, some were ill-advised, some adopted wrong decisions and some made miscalculations, "he said.

He said a good leader was one who realised that he was no different from the subjects he led and possessed the qualities of humility, discipline, commitment, honesty and willingness to sacrifice.

“He who leads must know that he is always under God’s watchful eye and is always being weighed and measured by his people,” he said.

Raja Dr Nazrin also said that a responsible leader should identify the road ahead for his followers.

“He is responsible to his people. In fact, leading is a responsibility that should be accomplished by trust,” he said.

On a separate matter, Raja Dr Nazrin told the people that he did not want celebrations such as Maulidur Rasul to be treated as mere "routine" and "ritualistic" functions.

“Each celebration involves time, money and much effort. Therefore, each event should bear its purpose and be productive in nature,” he said.

The Star
Online