Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Paul Low said if the government is God-fearing, then there would be no need for him to be in the cabinet.
"If we have the fear of God, actually there is no need for me to be in the government.
"If we have this fear, we will be concerned for justice, good governance, integrity, the environment, fairness. We will not abuse the power that is entrusted on us ourselves as leaders.
"I am also speaking to my colleagues in cabinet and any leader in government," he said when delivering his speech at a Christmas high-tea reception organised by Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM).
If we believe in God, he said, then we have a reverence towards God and will be righteous and have integrity.
An anti-graft activist, he was appointed senator and made a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of governance and integrity.
'I believe in the spirit of 1Malaysia'
Low urged the Christian community to back up 1Malaysia, despite some policies which call into question the spirit of mutual respect called for in the programme introduced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"We ridicule and do not believe in it (1Malaysia) because certain people and leaders said certain things and looks like we are not serious about it. Sometimes, we even implement policies that contradict the spirit of 1Malaysia.
"Nevertheless, I believe in the spirit of 1Malaysia.
"I want to ask the Christian community and other communities - come back to promote 1Malaysia.
"1Malaysia should be more about the values we uphold and not about ethnicity. We can find common values among ethnic and religious groups," he said.
The spirit of 1Malaysia can be achieved through more dialogue with all parties to adopt the attitude of inclusiveness, he said.
'The nation will crumble'
Meanwhile, the Bible Society of Malaysia president Ng Moon Hing (photo) warned of the impact brawls at Low Yat and Kota Raya malls on inter-ethnic relations.
"Religious and racial polarisation is very rampant and has reached a very critical stage nowadays. It urgently needs to be curbed and arrested before an ugly explosion takes place.
"We have already seen two incidents of this (nature) in our shopping centres recently.
“The strength of our nation is and has been our multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-lingual society. If this is shaken, the nation will crumble," he cautioned.
While there should be freedom of expression, people must not cross the line and practice hate speech or incite hatred or invite harm on others, as well as cause damage to a place, he said.
The mall incidents which took place in July and last week respectively were followed by protests, scuffles and damages.
The high-tea was also attended by Deputy Federal Territories Minister Loga Bala Mohan and Selangor speaker Hannah Yeoh. -Mkini
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