PM: Principle of 'wala' contributes to election victory
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he was impressed by the spirit of loyalty or 'wala' accorded by silat exponents to their leaders which should also be adopted by other organisations including political bodies.
He said such important principles in the field of selfdefence, if adopted, would help in the struggles and victory especially in the general election.
“If we are ‘wala' and loyal, we will not fight between one another, if we are wala' and loyal to the instructions we will certainly fulfil them, if we are ‘wala' and loyal then the attitude of boycotting will not arise as well as shooting oneself in the leg, sabotage and others.
"When I demand for ‘wala' from all of you, it is not in the name of Najib Razak but in the position of national leader of this beloved country, Malaysia.” he said before thousands of silat exponents at the 2018 Mammoth Gathering of National Silat Instructors organised by the National Federation of Silat Exponents (Pesaka) in Gombak, near here yesterday.
The Prime Minister said other principles adopted by the silat world such as the courage to face challenges, strong spirit, personality and noble characters and strong discipline should also be appreciated to determine the achievement of a particular success.
According to Najib, if these values were adopted it could avoid the prevalence of crime, disunity, enmity within the community and strengthen solidarity especially among the Malays.
“The Malays would be more daring in facing challenges, the Malays will not accept defeat, they will determine our glorious era, ”he said.
Explaining further, he said although the Malays now held national power, in the system of parliamentary democracy practised, the power was returned to the people every five years.
He said the government today was certainly close to the world of silat and the exponents of the art of self-defence endeavoured to defend it in the name of religion, race and country.
Meanwhile, Najib also announced that he would give a contribution to Pesaka to build a national silat complex which would become the centre for the organisation to carry out activities to empower the national art of self defence.
He also announced that he would approve an annual grant to Pesaka to be used by the organisation to run activities besides looking after the welfare of silat teachers and exponents but did not give details on the amount of the allocation for both purposes.
Also present at the event were Pesaka president Tan Sri Mohd Ali Rustam and ‘Mahaguru Muda' of the Pertubuhan Seni Silat Lincah Malaysia Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Tan Sri Omardin. - Bernama