I can still remember at one of the seminars jointly organized by Sejahtera Leadership Initiative (SLI) & College of Social Sciences & Humanities, University of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, the word “budi” was deliberated. In Malay and Indonesian, budi translates to kindness, good character, wisdom, or discretion. It comes from the Sanskrit word “buddhi” refers to the intellectual faculty and power of mind, but in Nusantara cultures. It represents a deep moral virtue encompassing good deeds & sound judgment. A civilization grows when people practice tabur budi (sowing good deeds).
As such, I am excited to learn that one of the interesting presentations at the 2nd MWC 2026 organized by Kerjaya One on 05-06 August entitled “Budi in the Past, Present & Future of Malaysia” and the speaker is Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, former Vice Chancellor, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and President of Open University Malaysia. Tan Sri Anuwar is one of Malaysia's most prominent economists and academic leaders, specializing in industrial planning, and higher education management & development. He has spent over five decades shaping Malaysia's public policy, industrial framework & academic landscape. As an economist, he was instrumental in mapping out Malaysia's early transition into an industrial economy & formulated action plans for SMEs.
I am amazed as an international economic scholar, Tan Sri Anuwar has great interest on study of humanities. I think it is due to his two years exposure (1990-1991) in the Kingdom of Bhutan when the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) appointed him as an Economic Consultant for Industrial Development of Bhutan. During that period, he utilized his expertise in macroeconomic planning & manufacturing framework to help map out Bhutan's early industrial planning strategies. As such, he is familiar with the philosophy for Gross National Happiness (GNH).
I realized after twice visited Bhutan that GNH acts as National Conscience guiding them towards making wisdom decisions for a better future. It is simply “development guided by human values.”
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