Ruler: Uphold harmony and unity
Do not raise racial and religious issues for your political interests, says Selangor Sultan
KLANG: The lack of initiative to acquire an in-depth understanding of the nation’s history and the formation of its social contract is the cause of the issues and suspicion among the different races and religions recently, said the Selangor Sultan.
This, added Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, had threatened the harmony and unity of Malaysians.
“I would like to advise everyone, especially politicians, not to take the opportunity to raise racial and religious issues for their political interests and that of their parties.
“Society must rightfully realise that issues regarding race and religion are very sensitive in our community,” he said in his royal address at the investiture ceremony in conjunction with his 73rd birthday at Istana Alam Shah here yesterday.
Malaysians, he said, must not forget their origin and the history behind the nation’s formation as well as the formulation of its social contract, which was an agreement and understanding among the races upon independence.
He said those who wanted to give opinion on issues must do it prudently and within the limits of the law and without questioning what had been agreed upon and enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
The Ruler said everyone must take care of each other’s feelings and ensure that whatever they say do not hurt others.
Sultan Sharafuddin also expressed his regret over the recent incident at the Seafield Sri Mahamariaman temple, which had resulted in a fireman and members of the public injured.
He said he was also informed there had been extensive damage to property and vehicles during the incident.
“I regret very much that such on incident happened in Selangor. Something such as this would not have happened if we knew how to respect the law, culture, religion and the sensitivities of the country’s various races,” said Sultan Sharafuddin.
The Ruler advised Malaysians not to destroy what had been achieved collectively over the years by raising confusion and suspicion among the races and religions. He said it took such a long time to build a nation.
“Like the English proverb ‘Rome was not built in a day’, if we are not careful and create enmity between each other, the nation will be destroyed and shattered in the wink of an eye,” said Sultan Sharafuddin.
He also advised all state leaders and civil servants to keep away from graft.