A reason why this Hari Raya is special

“We must strive to upkeep the best traditions and noble values of a truly free and democratic country, so we can all remain forever proud to call ourselves Malaysians” THROUGHOUT the world millions of Muslims are celebrating the most important festival in the Muslim calendar. Eid ul-fitri marking the end of month long Ramadhan.

I always admire and respect Muslims everywhere for being so disciplined in fulfilling their religious obligations during the Holy Month of Ramadhan.

The act of fasting is not only good spiritually but for one’s health as well, especially in a country where people are considered to be rather overweight.

The dawn of a magnificent spring

We in Malaysia have every reason to celebrate this Eid ulfitr in a special way as we have all just witnessed.

A month ago Malaysians from different ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural and social groups made an United and all out determined and unprecedented attempt, like no other, to make their voice heard and to rewrite history by creating their own destiny.

The people of this nation have exercised their fundamental constitutional right as entrenched in the constitution to vote in the General Election.

There was never such a patriotic demonstration of love and affection for the country by people from different ethnic , religious, cultural and linguistic groups for each other in the 61 years of its history as a nation.

The journey in this short period of six decades had been reasonably smooth but for one incident.

9th May marks the dawn of a new era which augurs well for this multi ethnic, religious and lingual country.

The peaceful, dramatic and tumultuous change through this incredible democratic process was a sign of a healthy democracy, for which we Malaysians can now stand proud on the world stage.

We must strive to upkeep the best traditions and noble values of a truly free and democratic country, so we can all remain forever proud to call ourselves Malaysians.

We must maintain what we have created today, no matter how difficult , lonely and long this journey is and will be, as in Christian’s journey in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, in the hope that others will one day come to see the wisdom of our ways and revert to the straight and narrow path to integrity and our collective overall wellbeing.

So help us God to make this nation a country which we can truly be proud of.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslim friends and Muslims everywhere. God bless MALAYSiA. God bless Sarawak God bless us all.