KOTA KINABALU: Unity and harmony among the people remain the key to a nation's prosperity and development, says Sabah Chief Minister.
Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the people must protect and preserve the peace and harmony of this multi-racial and diverse country.
He said the nation is held by undivided togetherness and mutual respect. He added that strong unity among the people pushed a country towards success in development.
"We did not achieve this development since the country's formation in 1963 in just a blink of an eye.
"It took tedious efforts of our former leaders to bring us to where we are today, and we must protect and preserve what we have now," he said.
Hajiji said this during his speech at the state-level Malaysia Day celebration at the Padang Merdeka on Saturday (Sept 16).
Deputy chief minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam delivered his speech.
"Since Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) took the helm of the state two years ago, we have achieved a lot in terms of the MA63 rights, such as oil and gas, and we continue to fight for unfulfilled rights," Hajiji said.
He said the state government would continue to promote and foster close rapport with the federal government so that whatever was owned to the state as per MA63 would be returned in due course.
He said some of the success stories by the current state government include seeing the state getting a record high RM118.1bil trade value in 2022, compared to RM87.2bil in 2021.
Hajiji said this 35% growth was due to the positive economic activities.
He was confident that Sabah would be able to continue prospering if all government policies were carried out successfully.
In her earlier speech, programme organising chairperson Datuk Christina Liew called upon all Malaysians to truly understand and appreciate the Malaysia Madani concept that focuses on six main trusts - sustainability, prosperity, innovation, respect, trust and compassion.
"We must continue to protect what we have as Malaysians so that we can continue to enjoy better days ahead as citizens of this multi-racial, multi-cultural and beautiful nation we call home," said Liew.
