Country faces serious new challenges: Kurup
Published on: Monday, April 20, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said the country faced serious new challenges to its stability that has been weakened."Today we face serious new challenges which are critical. The stability that served as the vital root of our development has weakened. "We cannot be consumed by our petty differences, we need to be united to achieve our common interests. Let us have faith in one another, our nation and face our future as a nation.ADVERTISEMENT "We will never make real progress if our unity is constantly hampered by religious and racial controversies," he said.He said for the continued preservation of the unity that has been achieved, it is important the youths are instilled with a deep sense of patriotism and loyalty so they can appreciate the struggles (that those before them) have been through in upholding the unity. "We have come too far and sacrificed too much to let a minority of bigots to detract from our unity." He said this to the 21 participants of Workshop of National Unity for Youth by Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) together with Institut Kajian dan Latihan Intergrasi Nasional (IKLIN) at Promenade Hotel on Saturday.ADVERTISEMENT He said Unity and Integration are the most powerful weapon to advance the country. However, he said racial unity in Malaysia means different thing to different people. "Different people have different ways, ideas and outlook on how they view at things. The rest of Malaysia is however by no means preordained, our unity and our openness as a nation was and will always be our bedrock for progress.
ADVERTISEMENT
It was our mission for national unity and will continue to be a most important mission for us for many more years to come. "Our second Prime Minister said about unity, 'This is perhaps the most important quality required to be practised by present day citizen. The quality of tolerance, the ability for it in every one of us, irrespective of our racial origin to live in unionism and harmony in each other because without unity and harmony there will be no progress. And without progress there will be no prosperity.'"Therefore, maintaining national unity is not only critical for making Malaysia a peaceful and stable country but it is also vital for its progressive development and growth.Today if we watch the daily news and particularly social media where they like to add on things although it did not occur, it was made to appear as if it did. All sorts of things. "We witnessed with our eyes nations that were once at the pinnacle of civilisation, that were brought to total ruin by racial and religious prejudice and hatred."Religious and ethnic wars take the future away from millions of children who continue in makeshift camps with no food and clean drinking water let alone health and education."These grim images should remind us that the unity we have in this country too can be fragile and cannot be taken for granted. It must be safeguarded at all costs."When we look around the world we find that societies founded more securely on the European model of the nation state as sovereign entities whose political boundaries coincide with ethnic and linguistic ones are turning into multi-ethnic societies."History teaches us that the dedication of the energies and resources and imaginations of peaceful individuals are much needed to build a foundation for a better future. History is bound to repeat itself if we fail to learn the lessons of the past or because we choose to ignore the lessons of the past.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
"So let history be our guide and tutor so we may never again suffer the humiliation of a divided people for the sake of stability as much as economic development, a united Malaysia is prerequisite for the economic transformation of our beloved nation."Also present were IDEAS Chief Executive Officer Wan Saiful Wan Jan and IKLIN Director Ho Khek Hua.