IT has been a long time since I made a wish for a new year.
My first wish is for politicians to understand their roles and responsibilities.
Politics is a way that countries are governed where governments make rules and laws to ensure the wellbeing of citizens. Politicians influence the formulation of public policy, participate in policymaking, represent the people, and formulate wise decisions.
They are chosen as leaders but everybody has an equal say in the decision-making process.
“Of the people, by the people, for the people,” – Abraham Lincoln.
Leaders who embrace the democratic style often possess creativity, inclusiveness, collaboration and trust-building traits.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said that “leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well”.
The 2024 Democracy Index (based on 2023 data) categorised 24 countries as full democracies, 50 as flawed and 34 as hybrid regimes. The USA (trying to export democracy through military occupation), India (the world’s biggest democracy) and Malaysia are in the flawed democracy category.
Look at the geopolitical risks caused by politicians: US-China relations, Middle-East tension and Russia-Ukraine conflict – each is pursuing its own interests. It created instability and has impacted energy and food security leading to increased inflation rates and supply chains.
Closer to home, we have Beijing’s Melaka Dilemma, and at home… well, there is not enough space to list them here.
A Hadith said, “All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners are those who repent often”, and the Bible teaches that people are not born righteous.
It is time to come and work together for the better future of mankind and not to play politics.
My second wish is regarding artificial intelligence (AI), which is the defining technology of our generation.
The dangers of AI chatbots are quite scary. In AI, neural networks are similar to the brain in the way they learn and process information, enabling it to learn from experience things like deep learning, and it already does simple reasoning.
Biological systems are totally different from digital systems. The latter share their knowledge instantly and whenever one learns something, everyone automatically gets it. It could soon overtake the level of information that a human brain holds.
Proponents just think of the enormous upside while it has the awesome power to change the way we live, in both good and dangerous ways. There are fears it could be used to disrupt democratic processes, undercut the protection, promotion and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, turbocharge fraud or lead to dramatic job losses, among other harms.
We are on a speeding train, we can either stop it in its tracks or control it by establishing effective legal guardrails or one day it will start building its own tracks.
The world is already in a perilous state and there is heightened peril against the pernicious intentions of self-serving people/parties.
The United Nations General Assembly (Unga) has adopted the first global resolution on AI that encourages countries to safeguard human rights, protect personal data and monitor it for risks, but it is non-binding.
Trust that all the 193 members of the Unga are serious about this and not to be all bark and no bite but should sink and armed to their teeth into it and be ready to handle any possible issues.
In November, a few countries unveiled the first detailed international agreement on how to keep AI safe from rogue actors, pushing for companies to create AI systems that are “secure by design”.
Last but not least, my wish is to curb excesses.
Excess things, excess thoughts, life of excess, or excess food do not necessarily mean the most fulfilled life. Instead, those who live quietly, humbly, and in the service of others may be the happiest.
Greedy capitalists in the developed world sell the idea that having more should be the goal and is the answer. They justify it as their foresight and capacity to act out on their visions of a better future. Overindulgence has become a contemporary value and often ends up in an overdose.
Usually, an excess of anything leads to perversion and depression.
The above are easier said than done but we should start letting go of excess baggage in our life.
As for me, I wish to be a better person than today and contribute in whatever way I can to society.
As for my family and friends and all humanity, I wish you a healthy, prosperous and peaceful new year and may Allah bless us all.
Happy New Year.
What say you? – January 1, 2025
Saleh Mohammed reads Scoop