Take a leaf from Sambanthan’s book
“MONEY comes and goes, but morality comes and grows. Compassion and moral values play a role.” These are the profound words of the late Tun V.T. Sambanthan that has been a great inspiration.
His many words of wisdom on unity is well remembered. Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma, while bad intent and deed otherwise. His legacy has touched the hearts of many, young and old, from different racial and religious background all over our nation.
A former United Nations secretarygeneral once said that “we may have different languages and different religions, but we all belong to one human race”.
Then national unity minister, Sambanthan, had been propagating this key message among Malaysians long time ago. The unity of our mularticle tiracial society is reliant on the level of tolerance and acceptance we have. The higher the rate, the higher the harmony.
Tun Sambanthan was appointed by then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein as the national unity minister in the 1970s. The portfolio is of paramount importance. This is the reason why he had been given this portfolio, said Abdul Razak.
The fifth president of MIC had displayed principles and integrity of the highest order. He kept his finger on the pulse of our multiracial community. We need to build bridges through dialogues and engagement, even with people who we are uncomfortable with.
This had been the clarion call of the then unity minister. The nation and the government has been according due recognition to this icon of unity.
Recently, Jalan Lintang in Sungei Siput was renamed as Jalan Tun Sambanthan. The 12-year effort to rename Jalan Lintang is finally over. The renaming of this 21km road is seen as important to preserve his legacy and his roots in Sungei Siput, Perak.
The credit goes to Kalimuthu, a councillor who mooted the idea in 2009. Also, the then federal territory minister Shahrir Samad took the initiative of renaming a series of roads in Little India Brickfields as Jalan Tun Sambanthan.
National unity and social cohesion cannot exist without trust and goodwill among each other. Dr. G. Periasamy, senior research fellow at the National Institute of Public Administration has rightly pointed out that the changing environment dictates that we can no longer work in isolation, but together in every situation.
The Community Leadership Empowerment unveiled by the prime minister on Feb 28 is yet another milestone in efforts to bolster national unity, while current National Unity Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique is coming up with a 10-year blueprint that emphasises unity in diversity by 2030.
We are moving along the right path and this is indirectly recognised as the country was ranked 20 out of the 163 countries in the Global Peace Index announced last year.