Sultan Nazrin expressed his sorrow for ‘multiple cultures’, ‘diversity’ being used as a weapon in the culture war
IPOH: The Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah expressed his sadness and annoyance about how words such as ‘multicultural’, ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ are used as weapons in the culture war of political discourse at the international level today.
“As someone who believes in the importance and value of diversity, I feel very sad and a little angry,” said His Majesty in his royal speech at the Sixth International Conference on World Islamic Thought and Civilization (WCIT) 2022 here today.
The Sultan of Perak said that a profound change in attitude towards cultural diversity is a tragedy, not only because it sows the seeds of division in a country, but because it is the community that will lose when rejecting and denying cultural diversity.
“Without cultural diversity, I believe the world will become poorer. With the existence of various origins, various beliefs and ethnic diversity, so much benefits us and so much we can learn from each other,” he said.
Therefore, those who may be suspicious of diversity, should be encouraged to appreciate the great benefits of ” all the people sharing all the world “, said His Majesty quoting the lyrics of the song ‘ Imagine ‘ by John Lennon.
Sultan Nazrin said that there are several yardsticks that can calculate, not only the number of different groups in a society or country, but also their level of integration.
His Majesty said the Stirling Model combines measures of diversity, balance and difference to interpret the diversity of cultural expression, while other social scientists have used measures of ethnic, linguistic and religious breakdown in a country to show that ethnic breakdown is an important factor in predicting economic performance.
“The success of cultural integration at the national level has been studied based on various benchmarks, including access to the labor market, education, political involvement and housing and social services, using data from population studies and censuses,” he said.
In addition to numbers and statistics, Sultan Nazrin said His Majesty believes that all parties can appreciate the benefits of diversity through real stories, experiences and the sharing of human encounters.
“More than seven centuries ago, cooperation between people from various religions successfully advanced human knowledge and led to beneficial development for science and culture. This is indeed the goal that all educational institutions must pursue until today!” His Majesty said.
Sultan Nazrin also said that delicious food is perhaps the most important and enjoyable aspect of cultural exchange.
“Although there is no data that can prove that the quality of a country’s food is directly proportional to its cultural diversity, anyone who has experienced the hustle and bustle of a street market selling food or enjoying a meal with friends, must realize that this is one way we share our human values ,” he said.
source – BERNAMA
