PUTRAJAYA, 28 April 2009: Under the 1Malaysia concept, no Malaysian will be marginalised as it provides a fair starting point for people with potential to obtain government assistance regardless of their ethnicity or location, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.
Najib said that under the 1Malaysia concept, every Malaysian eligible for and in need of aid would be helped.
“No one will be marginalised,” he said, adding that no one should assume that they were second-class citizens in this country.
He said this was because every Malaysian was a potential human capital important to the country and that every one of them should be helped as best as they could be.
“Meaning, we can offer a start by providing a level playing field but we, as the government, are unable to guarantee the same outcome,” he said at the 10th Civil Service premier event at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here.
In other words, he said, the government could not play the role of parents, family or the local community, and the government could not also stand in for the need, want, effort and resolve of a student or trader or entrepreneur to succeed.
“What the government can do is to provide a fair starting point. In short, the main principles underlining 1Malaysia are togetherness and a sense of belonging in one large family,” he said.
Meritocracy not followed blindly
Najib said that under the 1Malaysia concept, the government had to ensure that no Malaysian was left unattended.
“For the government, meritocracy does not mean being fair blindly. Moreover, fairness means putting something in its rightful place,” he said.
He said the concept did not ever deviate from what had been enshrined in the laws of the land, such as the Federal Constitution, and the principles of the Rukun Negara.
“Like it or not, we have to acknowledge that the plurality of society is a reality that should be accepted. This is the basis of the 1Malaysia concept, acknowledging the reality and making it a platform to achieve success after success,” he said.
He said Malaysia had been successful because the plurality of society had been turned into a source of strength although many countries had crumbled due to the plurality factor.
Najib said the people had, in fact, experienced how mismanagement of the plurality of society had almost destroyed the nation during the May 13 tragedy of 1969.
He also said that the concept was not something new as it was a continuation of what had been championed during the era of the first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. — Bernama
