Diversity the strength of Malaysians, says DPM

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today said the diversity in various religions and races has been one of the biggest assets in Malaysia that should always be preserved and safeguarded.

Speaking at the National Christmas Day celebration held at Dataran Merdeka; Muhyiddin said we should always find things that would bind Malaysians amidst the diversity in religion and culture.

He said Malaysians should respect people of other faiths.

“The diversity should not be a hindrance and we share together the various religious celebrations with Muslims, Christians and other religions,” he said.

“Let us build on the tolerance of all races, sharing of the common values and strengthen on it and build on the unity of all Malaysians. Let us find and build a common ground in the diversity and respect each other.

“This is the strength of Malaysians as people’s rights to adopt different faiths is enshrined in the federal constitution. This is the main thrust of the people and we would strengthen these ties and relationships that will bind us further,” he said.

Also present were Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim and Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Murphy Pakiam.

Muhyiddin was met upon arrival by Rais and Murphy, along with other cabinet ministers and deputy ministers. Accompanying them were Santa Claus and ladies dressed as santarinas to the main seating. Cultural shows were put up by David Arumugam.

‘Prosperity not built overnight’

Muhyiddin reminded that the prosperity of the nation is not something which has been built overnight.

“There has been effort by all parties concerned including the planning done by the BN government and taking into consideration of the unity of all races as the thrust of the nation.

“We are thankful of the unity of the people and this is something which the BN government will continue to espouse upon that is to maintain the inclusiveness of all races and faiths. The 1Malaysia theme requires us to all think and move as one to build a progressive nation that could compete with other countries,” he said.

The deputy prime minister said we share the same future in the country of ours and let us share and chart the nation’s pathway to greater progress by preserving the peace by maintaining a high degree of tolerance and acceptance by the various races in Malaysia.

Muhyiddin said he is confident that events such as this would help build on the racial harmony.

Murphy, in his speech in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Tamil and Mandarin, said that during Christmas, Christians had prayed for the well-being of the country.

He also urged leaders of various faiths to teach other Malaysians to respect the various religions.

Over the past few years’ and in recent months the Allah issue has become a thorny issue between Christians in the predominantly Muslim population in Malaysia, as the Home Ministry and authorities had resorted to seizing books and video discs from Christians for usage of the word Allah.

Allah is mainly used by the Christian community in Sabah and Sarawak and also the Sikhs in the country.

This has resulted in the matter being brought to court where the Kuala Lumpur High Court had ruled on Dec 31, 2009, that the ban on the use of the word Allah to other faiths is illegal. The matter is still pending appeal at the Court of Appeal.