The Star =
(Used by permissi=
on) Thursday March 20, 2008
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 Mau=
lidur
Rasul (Prophet's birthday) celebration at the State Secretariat here
Thursday.
"Some became complacent, some went astray, some were ill-advised, s=
ome
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 watchf=
ul
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 r=
oad
ahead for his followers.
“He is responsible to his people. In fact, leading is a responsibi=
lity
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 s=
aid.