Yeoh stands by her speech
KUCHING: Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Hannah Yeoh has defended her speech made in the city last Saturday.
She could not comprehend why the local media had lashed out at her for not respecting Sarawak, in way she said "is far from the truth".
"I spoke extensively on the future of young Malaysians especially issues concerning children - protection for them, childcare policy, education and poverty.
"I have also said that we must guard this Malaysia Baru (New Malaysia) fiercely because it took us a lot of hard work and long time to get here.
"The local media in Sarawak has attacked me for not respecting Sarawak. This is far from the truth," she said in a press statement yesterday.
She was at the Malaysia- China Friendship Park for a town hall session themed 'A Day of Patriotism' organised by the Movement for Change Sarawak (MoCS).
In the statement, Yeoh said rebuilding Malaysia would require unity for everyone to work together.
She pointed out that Malaysians had long been divided by race, religion and now region with sentiment such as Sarawak for Sarawakians only.
"We need a Malaysia Baru that focuses on us being one."
According to her, the federal government, for the first time, intends to recognise Sarawak and Sabah's rightful position in Malaysia.
"I am in complete support of all efforts being made by the new Pakatan Harapan administration in recognising and enforcing the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
"Malaysia is a federation - three regions as one nation. If we intend to see this being realised in its purest form, then every region in this federation must commit to being one," she asserted.
Yeoh opined that any sentiment or political rhetoric that sought to isolate one region and exclude her people from the greater nation could not be healthy for nation-building.
She said she had travelled here to not just speak at the session but also meet the stakeholders handling customary child marriages in Sarawak.
She added that it was also for her to learn more about the issue, to engage and to receive feedback.
"This is the true essence of respect. I am convinced with this Malaysia Baru we have, we need strategies to fix old problems and repeating the same old methods will not yield new results," concluded Yeoh.