KUALA LUMPUR: The ongoing Postnormal Times exhibition at Berjaya Times Square aims to be an eye-opener for all Malaysians, which shows that "change itself is constant".
Its curator Professor Ziauddin Sardar said it was an invitation to examine current developments that radically transformed the world and challenged assumptions about contemporary times.
"Postnormal Times did not arrive in a vacuum, but through a series of observations in different contexts — the instant availability of information, artificial intelligence, genetic manipulation, newfound viruses, degrading governance and climate change," he said in an interview today.
Ziauddin added that postnormal change moved with great speed, covered a global scope and reached each person at scale and simultaneously.
"The end result of this is chaos, complexity and contradictions that make uncertainty the norm rather than the exception.
"Postnormal Times cannot be managed but only navigated and to do so there is a need to spot incipient change and understand it through our own perspectives," he said.
Ziauddin added that there was a dire need to develop complex approaches to problems and issues, by foreseeing various challenges, understanding and respecting multiple perspectives, and moving beyond dialogues into polylogues.
"For the sake of our future, it is essential for us to invigorate our creativity, push the boundaries of our imagination and bring our common ethics to the forefront."
He said that in many ways, Malaysia is a nation that contained solid ingredients to navigate Postnormal Times, as it was blessed with Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Southeast Asian indigenous traditions.
"Whether we are talking about the family, the community or the planet, our shared histories and values provide us with numerous lessons that guide us in trying times."
Ziauddin said that the SCRIPT or Madani approach was what Malaysians needed to navigate present day challenges.
"SCRIPT comprises six core values namely sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity and trust that are all interconnected and nudge Malaysians into working towards a just society, where inclusiveness and equality are embraced," said Ziauddin, adding that these values were conceptualised over the last two decades by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He added that sustainability was not just about environmentalism but also balancing material development and the quality of life.
"Care And compassion means the age-old saying love your neighbour, meaning we must be responsible towards one another.
"Respect is the Golden Rule of not doing to others what you do not want others to do to you."
As for innovation, Ziauddin said that it meant the empowerment of citizen creativity, taking stock of what we have today and exploring what we can improve for the future.
"Prosperity here means holistic wellbeing which is a society-wide endeavour that is continuous, involving the present and future generations. Lastly, trust is living with and for each other."
Ziauddin, who is managing the six-month exhibition together with Centre for Postnormal Policy (CPPFS) and Futures Studies executive assistant director Scott Jordan, said they hoped to take it to other major cities like George Town, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in the future, so that more Malaysians could visit it.
"Our target audience is university students, as well as lecturers. The students will one day be our leaders, so exposing them to Postnormal Times is crucial," he said, adding that they hoped to attract more than 4,000 visitors.
The free exhibition on Level 10 of Berjaya Times Square, here was launched by Anwar yesterday.
At the launch, Anwar called on parents, students, government ministries and the private sector to fully explore the exhibition as it offered significant learning opportunities.
He also urged the Communications Ministry to highlight the importance of the exhibition, which is being held until Nov 10.
Postnormal Times is a collaboration between the government and CPPFS.