Column - What does civilisation mean?

SOME time before Christmas, a client was walking me to my car after his morning yoga session. It was a bright sunny morning and he gazed at a hill being developed in the distance, saying, "Beautiful hill!" I was surprised that he would find the hill, which was once green but now resembled a large sand dune, beautiful. He saw the questioning look I gave him and clarified, "It was once a beautiful hill."
Driving around the Klang Valley, you would find many areas that were once green now a riot of concrete. My mother, who rarely ventures beyond Petaling Jaya, gets lost when she leaves her usual areas. Is it just me or are we overbuilding our capital and vicinity?
I came across a saying, derived from a Native American medicine man named Sun Bear from the Chippewa tribe, that brought to my mind this advent of overdevelopment. The saying goes: "I do not think the measure of a civilisation is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and their fellow man."
This made me sit and think, because "civilisation" always brings to mind development of infrastructure, such as roads, railways, buildings, electrical grids, dams and turbines. Yet this was not the case. Oxford Dictionary defines civilisation as "the stage of human social development and organisation which is considered most advanced".
The interesting thing is almost all the definitions I checked for "civilisation" had the word "social" or "culture" or something similar. The comfort and convenience of modern life is not necessarily the meaning of "civilisation" and therefore this Native American man's idea of "civilisation" makes so much sense to me.
If we look at social development, I wonder if Malaysia has really advanced. Perhaps in terms of "prioritising human needs in the growth and progression of society and improving the lives of regular citizens", we have advanced. But in that definition of "social development", the emphasis is making life better for the poor. Have we done that?
Another aspect is improving human interaction. Have we improved in that aspect of social development? Growing up, I can't recall ethnic groups being segregated or one group being suspicious of another. In fact, I had two best friends – something my parents disputed considering "best" would denote one person.
One of my best friends was Malay and the other was Indian. I used to go over to both their houses often and spend the whole day (sometimes days) there. Their parents and siblings welcomed me. Race and religion was never an issue. I wonder how many secondary school kids now have close friends from other races and religions?
A friend in the police pointed out that I was an urban boy and grew up in a worldly and sophisticated setting. What about the chunks of my family in Kelantan who are Malay Muslims. Did my father's generation, in rural settings, grow up in apprehension of other communities?
So what does the Malaysian civilisation mean? Does it mean the tallest buildings? The most dense urban development? What about our cultural development; our literature, theatre, music and visual arts? Are they being developed?
Or does the Malaysian civilisation mean wrecking balls knocking out our colonial heritage to make way for larger buildings? Uprooting trees and razing forests for more concrete and brick structures?
Once, while driving up to Fraser's Hill, I found a whole housing and commercial development completely abandoned. Rows and rows of terrace houses and shoplots; empty, deserted and forgotten. I wondered how much forest was lost for this forsaken development. How many animals lost their habitat?
Our development seems to be so focused on urbanisation and that really isn't what civilisation is about. If it is, then let's hope the Malaysian civilisation isn't like that abandoned development in the forests leading up to Fraser's Hill; hollow constructs built in the ruin of others' homes.
Daniel has a deep passion for health, fitness, sleep and travel. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com