The Prime Minister said when he articulated the concept of 1Malaysia, he had decided that all Malaysians had to be part of the ‘journey’ to achieve the remarkable transformation of the country.
“National unity is not just about accepting and celebrating diversity. In the multi-religious cultural context, diversity also means we recognise the strength of each community,” he said during his speech at the 1Malaysia Malayali Community Luncheon at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre (MIECC), Seri Kembangan, near here yesterday.
He said with the skills, contribution, knowledge, ideas and the innovative capacities of every single Malaysian and the spirit of 1Malaysia, it was not impossible for Malaysia to achieve the target by the year 2020.
“We want to be part of the huge transformation of Malaysia, so that at the end of the journey, we want to be a modern, progressive, dynamic and truely successful 21st century nation called Malaysia,” he said.
He also said that knowledge and some of universal values would hold Malaysia in a good position to move forward as one nation. For example, he said the Malayalis community was really committed towards education, where in Kerala, India, for example, they placed education at the forefront of their personal agenda.
“The acquisition of knowledge and some universal values, will hold us in good stead as we move forwards as one nation,” he said.
Najib said the government had designed programmes — the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and New Economic Model (NEM) — to transform Malaysia into a high income nation, but it would not be meaningful unless there was a notion of being inclusive.
“Inclusive means we have to make sure that our policies benefit all Malaysians, we have to ensure that the system is fair, we have to ensure that every single Malaysian can realise their potential talent to the maximum, and inclusive within the context of 1Malaysia also means that we can take it up even further at a strategic level,” he added.
Najib also said that the Malayalis community in Malaysia had played an important part in contributing to the development of Malaysia since the 19th century.
“There are some distinguished contributions by the Malayalis over the years. The Malayali community contributed in many ways such as in plantation, trading, entrepreneurs, also created history for our rubber industry, as union leaders, doctors and also civil servants.
“On behalf of the government, I wish to say thank you to all Malayalis who had contributed to the development of Malaysia. I hope through AMMA (All Malaysia Malayali Association), you will continue to work for the well being of the community and also for the larger of the Malaysian community,” he added. — Bernama
September 20, 2010, Monday
No comments: