LETTERS: Since more than half of our adult population have been fully vaccinated, the government may want to change its strategy in balancing between lives and livelihoods.
We may want to reflect what Central Asian-born Muslim political philosopher Al-Farabi said more than 1,000 years ago.In his magnum opus Ara Ahl Al-Madina Al-Fadilla, or "The Virtuous City", he stressed that each citizen has his own must-do task in society.
For example, if we have been born into a family of farmers, to a certain extent we must have acquired good farming skills due to the exposure and training throughout our upbringing. "It is in your blood," so to speak.
When everybody is doing their job properly, the society and the city as a whole will flourish — a "virtuous city" — due to its vibrant and comprehensive functions.
Therefore, we all need one another since each of us is "designed" differently. In other words, the skills bestowed upon us are not the same, hence we complete and complement each other by cooperating among ourselves.
So, during this pandemic, how can we, as citizens, function? Perhaps, the answer is revising the Al-Farabi original theory, that such working skills to a large extent are already "ingrained" within ourselves.
For instance, a taxi driver simply cannot not sustain his living by selling products via online business that he or she had just ventured into in the beginning of the Conditional Movement Control Order period.
What can be changed is the means to translate these "inherited" skills into action, and thus gain back livelihood, perhaps by switching taxi drivers to services related to land logistics.
The government can think of the same approach to be applied to other professions too.
This approach differs from the "upskilling and reskilling" programme, since it does not involve much change or development in terms of skills as they already have the skills.
What they need is a means, or a platform to do what they do best. Al-Farabi may have given us a clue on living in challenging times.
Dr Zahid Zamri
Assistant professor, International Islamic University Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times