Monday August 28, 2006
Diversity ‘a pillar of strength’
KOTA TINGGI: Malaysia’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity is the nation’s pillar of strength, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar
“The reality is that Malaysia is multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural. These should be seen as a pillar of strength, not weakness,” he said, adding that some foreign media tried to portray the multitude of races in the country as a weakness.
“They show clips of Chinese only mixing with Chinese, Malays hanging out with Malays, and Indians with Indians. It is as if our races do not mix together or get along,” he said.
Syed Hamid said Malaysia gained independence because its leaders were able to share their tasks and responsibilities regardless of race.
“We started to lead our own country in 1955. Only after they (the British) saw that we could lead and live together peacefully did they grant independence to us,” he said at the launch of Universiti Tenaga Nasional's (Uniten) Bakti Siswa Kemerdekaan programme at Kampung Sedili Besar here yesterday.
The programme, organised by Uniten’s student representative council, was aimed at improving the standard of living of the rural people.
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