Doha Bank Group CEO R Seetharaman explaining a point as Ayesha al-Mannai and Coptic priest Bishanty Bishoy look on. -Photo by Najeer Feroke
Ramesh Mathew
Staff Reporter
The importance of moral values in shaping one’s life as well as determining the destiny of a society was highlighted at a meeting on Saturday.
Residents of different nationalities and religions participated in the deliberations held as part of the Fourth Roundtable for Local Communities, organised under the aegis of the Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue.
The meeting was chaired by Aisha al-Mannai, head of the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Doha Bank Group CEO Dr R Seetharaman said though the lack of ethical and moral commitments was generally felt across the world these days, there was still a strong perception that those who possessed strong moral values in life were able to produce better results for mankind.
“The work done by elder generations would certainly reflect on the performance of the succeeding generations and the collective efforts of different groups would have a positive impact on the future of any society,” he said, stressing that the economic prosperity this country’s citizens are enjoying these days is the result of the work initiated by their forefathers.
“Some two decades ago, this country borrowed heavily from the world markets. But now, it has become one of the major lenders to help revive the global economy,” Dr Seetharaman said, explaining that this was possible only because of the good deeds initiated by its leaders who demonstrated great vision and farsightedness.
More than 50% of people in the world are under 35 years and “the work we carry out today will have its influence on the lives of those who will be born in the coming years”, he further said and reiterated that character and commitment were not only interdependent but also played a major role in shaping the destiny of the world.
Governance, he said, began inside every person and demonstrating more accountability together with a considerable degree of responsibility would make one a good human being. “Good people eventually contribute to the making of good societies and good societies would lead each nation to the making of a one, single world,” said the speaker.
Dr Seetharaman also highlighted the necessity of inculcating more transparency to achieve greater success in one’s life.
Speaking earlier, Bisanty Anba Bishoy, president of the Churches Steering Committee of Qatar, said God has created every human being to deliver to the society in which s/he lives and each individual is assigned a role to perform. Man, he said, represents the image of God and whatever he does in his day-to-day activities is being delivered on behalf of the Almighty.
The Coptic priest called upon the media to play a more important role in spreading the importance of moral values in everyday life so that the world would remain happy and peaceful. “The media’s efforts in highlighting the issue would have a positive impact on the lives of every human being,” he said.
