AS the new year unfolds, we need to pause and reflect on what we have learnt in 2022. Such reflections are good.
They allow us to assess whether we are still on the road to our dreams, and how far more we must go. Here are three lessons from our reflections.
First, we cannot go it alone, be it as a nation or as an individual. Take Ukraine. The Russian invasion started in February 2022.
Ukraine might have been wiped out sooner as a nation had it not been for the US and Europe aggressively sending military and development aid. Japan hews towards the US as it contends with threats to its territorial integrity from neighbouring countries.
Closer to home is Asean. Although much maligned as a talking shop, it has spearheaded collaboration in trade, services and investment that benefits members.
Whatever the extent of Asean's achievement, Malaysia's voice in international forums is amplified when it sings in chorus with Asean.
Economic interdependence is ever the greater despite the pandemic, protectionism and supply crunch.
The US needs China for its market as much as China seeks high-end technology from the US. And the world depends on Taiwan for sophisticated chips that motor modern technologies.
Japan, too, relies on China for manufactures. Malaysia depends on other nations as well. For example, it depends on China, the US and Singapore for 40 per cent of its trade and on advanced countries for its migration to high-end technologies.
Second, containing the spread of Covid-19 has had many good outcomes. People are now ever conscious of personal hygiene. They realise that the pandemic is everyone's problem, and not just the government's.
Tiny bottles of sanitisers hanging from handbags and backpacks, guidelines on handwashing and coughing, masking and social distancing have helped minimise the spread of the virus.
Such lessons in personal hygiene will surely come in handy should another infectious disease strike.
Pele, the legendary football player, once remarked: "No individual can win a game by himself."
Similarly, we need more than one finger to pick a stone. Containment of Covid-19 has taught us that collaboration is vital to curb any infectious disease.
We partnered with the European Union to combat the Covid scourge. That earned us 1.7 billion euros.
Third, the 15th General Election signified many things. It reaffirmed faith in our democracy. It proved a big victory for the rule of law.
The election also made us more aware that no single political party can garner enough votes to form a government. And that we need partners across the political divide to build a better and united society.
As with the case of a nation, so too as an individual, we must acknowledge that success or progress is never an individual effort.
As an African proverb goes: "If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Let us then together go far in 2023 to build a better Malaysia. Happy New Year!
The writer is the AIMST University vice-chancellor