King praises govt, najib
THE Yang di-Pertuan Agong yesterday thanked the government, headed by Datuk Seri Najib Razak, for developing the country. He also praised the prime minister for the government's continuous measures to address issues close to the hearts and minds of the pe
he says more Programmes will be introduced to ease the burden of the PeoPle
lauds the government for imPlementing economic transformation and Prudent fiscal Policies
King suPPorts ProPosal to formulate law to address faKe news
YANG di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V yesterday welcomed the government’s initiatives to tackle issues involving the people, especially the cost of living.
Commending the measures by the government to address issues that were close to the hearts and minds of the people, he said more programmes would be introduced to ease the burden of the people, especially through the establishment of the National Cost of Living Action Council.
“Allocations will continue to be provided to carry out more community-based programmes and projects for their wellbeing.
“Furthermore, targeted subsidies and assistance for the needy will be continued,” he said in his royal address at the opening of the first meeting of the sixth session of the 13th Parliament here.
He said in the face of global economic uncertainty, the government remained focused on and committed to prudently implementing fiscal transformation policies and national economic and financial management.
He said government finances were expected to be stronger following higher revenue collection, moderate growth in spending, continuing decline in targeted fiscal deficits, international reserves remaining strong and manageable and controlled federal government debts.
“The country is one of the preferred investment destinations and is expected to attract higher investments in 2018.
“It is hoped that the momentum of this positive performance can be sustained.
“As for the future, the country should continue to step up efforts because maintaining success is more difficult than achieving it,” he said.
“Thank you to the government of the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak), which has worked hard to develop our beloved nation.
“I pray that Malaysia and its people will continue to be blessed by Allah, and live in peace and harmony under His protection.”
The king urged the government to ensure that all the planned programmes and projects were implemented by taking into account the challenges the country faced.
He said the government would continue to implement transformation programmes to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of the people, as well as skills training and entrepreneurship programmes that increased the income of rural people, Felda and Felcra settlers, Risda smallholders, villagers, Orang Asli and Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak.
He expressed confidence that public transportation infrastructure projects that were in various stages of implementation would provide economic overflow and improve the wellbeing of urban communities.
He noted the government’s commitment to improve the education sector, which he said was the pulse of national development, by improving school infrastructure and quality of delivery of health services to the people.
He said the government would continue to strengthen efforts to combat leakages, malpractice and abuse of power in the public administration to make Malaysia one of the top 20 countries in the world.
He welcomed the increase in the index score of Syariah Malaysia, which was the government’s commitment to implementing the country’s administration based on provisions of the Federal Constitution that recognised Islam as the federal religion.
“In this respect, the value of moderation always championed by Malaysia has also gained worldwide recognition, and a resolution by Malaysia to address the spread of extremism and radicalisation was accepted by the United Nations General Assembly.”
He expressed satisfaction with the programmes and activities implemented by the government to empower women, including ensuring that they made up 30 per cent of people at the decisionmaking level.
Describing unity as the essence of peace, wellbeing and national stability, he said the appreciation of the nation’s historical heritage and mastery of the national language should be strengthened as the basis of the Malaysian identity.
He said he hoped that Allah would continue to bless Malaysia and its people so that they could live in peace and unity.