MB: Christmas season the right time to reflect on 2022

(From fourth left) Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Rev Julian Leow Beng Kim, Amirudin and state executive councillor Hee Loy Sian at the state level Christmas celebration in Petaling Jaya.

THE year-end festive season is the ideal time for everyone to reflect on their journey in 2022 and gain perspective, says Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

“Some journeys were easy while others came with lessons that will follow into the new year.

“For Christians, this is similar to the tale of the three wise men who were guided by a star in the little town of Bethlehem.

“They didn’t have maps like we do now, they had no guarantee they were travelling in the right direction and they were only driven by one thing – hope,” Amirudin said in his speech during state-level Christmas celebrations at Petaling Jaya Civic Centre in Selangor.

Similarly, he said, people needed to discover their respective north star as a guide to a better tomorrow amid challenging and uncertain times.

The Mentri Besar also touched on Selangor’s 2023 budget which he had tabled late last month.

“I made a reference to Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken.

“In it, Frost referenced a crossroad and a traveller had the choice of taking a common road or an option which is less taken.

“I mentioned Frost’s work as it relates closely to the crossroads we are at today as Malaysians,’’ he explained.

Amirudin said at one juncture, there were those keen on widening the divide among the people in Malaysia’s multi-faceted society.

“On the other hand, we have a choice akin to what Michelle Obama said, which was ‘when they go low, we go high’.

“A higher road not taken, or rarely taken, to celebrate our natural differences as a strength, not as a weakness,’’ he added.

In witnessing communities come together during tragic times and resilient individuals moving past their difficult experiences, Amirudin said his government was committed to ensuring that the people always had hope.

“The Selangor government is committed to being an enabler so that the journey towards your respective north star is made a bit easier whether you are young or old, a student or retiree, an employer or a business owner, whether you are Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Bajau, Dayak or any other ethnicity in Malaysia.

“Selangor is a home for all as long as you respect that we are all Selangorians,” he said.