Be moderate, PM tells folk on Chap Goh Meh

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak continued to tout his message of moderation, this time to a mainly Chinese audience of some 50,000 at a Chap Goh Meh celebration in Jenjarom last night.

“Even though we may differ in terms of faith, moderation exists in almost all religions... Moderation points to an understanding of not practising extreme, fanatical, militant or violent ideology among us.

“In Buddhism, I have been told, this is called ‘zhong yong’, meaning moderation,” he said, thrilling the crowd with his mandarin.

The festival, held at Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen temple, was jointly organised by Selangor BN and temple organisers.

In attendance were MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai, Selangor Umno deputy chief Noh Omar and Selangor MCA chief Donald Lim.  

The huge crowd was earlier treated to a myriad of performances from local and Taiwanese artistes, on top of its stunning light display.

“For those who believe in Buddhism and the concept of Zhong Yong, we can create a harmonious or ‘he xie’ society,” said Najib to applause from the audience.

‘Don’t let slip transformation opportunity’

This harmony, said Najib, is necessary for the government to continue carrying out “big changes” to the country.

“This is the concept of transformation, in mandarin it’s ‘zhuan’, and if we do this, all races will benefit,” he said, while urging the audience to support the effort.

“Don’t let this opportunity escape us, let us be the generation of Malaysians that will lift our nation to be a fully developed nation by 2020,” he said.

Noting that this was his second time here in three years, the premier took notice of the temple’s allocation request for a road.

“What did reverend ask for just now? She asked for a road? Sure, I will give the allocation.

“I’ll pass the requested allocation, because reverend is very good to me, so I am good to her,” he said.