KUALA LUMPUR: Celebrating one another’s festivals in peace and harmony is unique to Malaysia.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who took a few minutes to emphasise this to the press on Chinese New Year, however, said the custom was also in fact "normal for us".
“Of course, we celebrate together but this is actually unique as it is seen only in Malaysia where people can celebrate each other’s festivals in a peaceful manner.
“We respect each other. You have your customs, I have mine, (but) we can sit together and celebrate as good Malaysian citizens,” he told the press after attending a Chinese New Year celebration hosted by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
The Pakatan Harapan chairman, who had raised eyebrows when he opened former Barisan Nasional party Gerakan’s Chinese New Year celebration, also went on to say the intention was apolitical.
“There is no politics here. It is all about unity of the people of Malaysia that this country can have so many different races and tribes, and yet be peaceful and stable is unique.
“Look at other countries. They are always fighting each other between different races and religions, and they always have problems.
“They are fighting each other and they even go to war with each other, but here in Malaysia we are peaceful and stable.
“We can celebrate together and be together without fear of anything happening. Please remind yourself this is a unique feature of Malaysia that is not found in other countries.”
At the Gerakan headquarters in Pudu Ulu, its president Dominic Lau said the party was looking forward to working with Dr Mahathir for the good of the country, although it would remain politically independent.
Dr Mahathir’s presence at the open house had reprised questions about whether the party is looking to join Pakatan Harapan, but Lau insisted that he did not want the invitation to be misconstrued.
He said it was routine for the party to invite the prime minister to such celebrations as the prime minister was the country’s “number one man”, adding that Gerakan wanted to contribute to nation building as an independent party.
“It’s our tradition to invite the PM. We invited him last year but he did not come. This year however he did.”
Gerakan left BN months after the coalition lost control of the federal government in the 14th general election in 2018.
“At the moment, after we pulled out of BN, we still position ourselves as the third force in the country’s political arena. The most important thing is the ideology of the party, which is very simple and clear.
“We want stable politics in our country and we fight for fairness – irrespective of race, religion or culture. We are a non-ethnic party and we fight for all Malaysians. That is one of our basic principles, as is a moderate approach to ruling the country and the fight for justice and equality.
“I shared this with Tun (Dr Mahathir) and I think he agrees that we (all the political parties) have to work closely with each other for the unity, prosperity and the future betterment of the country,” he said, adding that all political parties were working hard to build a better future for the nation.
Also present at the celebration were Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali and Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.