President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has spoken about traditional values in Kazakh society and called on citizens to exercise restraint, reports infohub.kz.
During a conversation with journalists, the head of state answered a question about whether Kazakhs should adhere to the canons of their national ethics, showing restraint and respect for personal boundaries. The President emphasized that he himself initiated the work on forming a new culture of behavior among citizens and strengthening public ethics.
“I won't call it a campaign, but work. Because, observing the behavior of young people and even the elderly, I came to the conclusion that we need to recall our original traditions. It is not right when men start hugging and kissing each other, women kiss men, men kiss women. This was never in our customs. Moreover, people in military uniform. Generals start hugging each other. What is this? Can you imagine the marshals of the Soviet Union, the victorious marshals of the Great Patriotic War, hugging and kissing each other? Men should shake hands firmly, not offer a hand like a warm patty or a twig, and greet with a smile, but nothing more. That's how it always was. After all, you can put your right hand to your heart if you are glad to see this person, truly glad. And that happens often in life. So I myself initiated a new code of conduct, to be specific,” the President said.
According to him, Kazakhstan needs to instill a culture of cleanliness and order. “Who said we can't do this? Who said we don't love trees? You see positive changes in Astana now and in every city, whether regional or district. We have already set this task as the highest requirement for regional leaders. And we will pursue this because 'taza' means cleanliness, but it is not only cleanliness in the literal sense, which is important in itself, but also the purity of our thoughts, the purity of the soul. A famous classic wrote on this topic that cleanliness of the body gives rise to cleanliness of the soul. So we will proceed from this, because we must truly become a cultural nation, a clean nation in the broad sense. And only then will we be known throughout the world,” the head of state added.