Integrity Crucial To Nation's Success, Survival - Malaysia's Perak State Ruler

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah said integrity was a crucial element in determining a nation's survival and success. He drove home the point that people had to stand up for what was right, even if they were standing alone. "That kind of integrity, to me, is what we should all strive for. That can only make us a stronger and better people," he said when launching the book 'Being Abdullah Ahmad Badawi: The Authorised Biography' written by former group chief editor of The Star, Wong Sulong, here, Monday. The ruler said that lack of integrity had brought about disastrous consequences like the uprising, or what came to be known as the Arab Spring, in West Asia, as well as events seen in certain countries closer to home. The root cause of why a community or a nation succeeded or failed, he said, always came to one issue - integrity or the lack of it. "A nation's survival, and its success, therefore, depend on integrity at all levels and most crucially, at the leadership level," he said. Sultan Nazrin reckoned that it was an issue that people would always have to face as could be seen by what was happening in countries far more advanced and developed than Malaysia. "We will continue to do well as long as there are more people of integrity among us than those without," Sultan Nazrin said. He cited an academic as having described integrity as the consistency between what a leader says and what the leader does. "It's an alignment between a person's values, beliefs, words and actions, as well as the extent to which promises are kept. "Integrity, according to this academic, is also perceived to be closely related to honesty, trustworthiness and fairness and is frequently thought to be a measure of good moral character," he said. Present at the event were Raja Permaisuri Perak (wife of Sultan Nazrin) Tuanku Zara Salim, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi and former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam. Also in attendance were cabinet members such as Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainudin. -- BERNAMA