TELUK INTAN, March 1 — Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin called on the people in the country to unite in whatever situation facing them to ensure their success and prosperity in future.

He said the key to the country’s progress and stability depended on the racial harmony that existed among the people.

“Unrestrained show of distrust, suspicion and dissatisfaction among the races should be avoided because it certainly will create instability and conflict, which in the end will result in the country losing and becomes futile efforts made by the government and past leaders,” he added.

He said this in his speech at the national-level Chinese New Year Open House at Dataran Menara Condong here tonight.

Muhyiddin said the diversity in religion and culture among Malaysians gave the people the opportunity to celebrate the Chinese New Year with the Chinese community in peace and harmony.

“Tonight, the people of Teluk Intan, who are from various races, religion, culture and language, together celebrate Chinese New Year and this indirectly reflects the uniqueness of our country, Malaysia.

“We are thankful with the situation in our country, which is peaceful and stable, compared with several countries which are in conflict and their people suffering,” he added.

He said the practice of holding open houses had brought many benefits, especially in efforts to enhance racial unity among the people in the country, apart from becoming an attraction for foreign tourists.

This, he said, served as a platform in building and further strengthening unity and brotherhood in the society.

Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said the federal government was targeting to attract 29.4 million foreign tourists to the country this year, which is the Malaysia Year of Festivals (MyFEST) 2015.

“MyFest 2015 will certainly propel the momentum of the country’s economic growth, especially tourism industry,” he said, and hoped the programme would continue to be carried out because it served as a catalyst for the government’s intention to generate income of RM168 billion, with the arrival of 36 million tourists by 2020.

The country’s tourism industry, he said, would continue to be one of the main contributors to the country’s socio-economic development.

“It is the second largest source of revenue, after manufacturing products, and also the sixth largest component in the Malaysian economy in 2013, contributing RM51.5 billion to the Gross National Income in 2013,” he added.

He said despite the country facing various disaster last year, like the floods in several states last December, it had brought the people together.

“Malaysians, regardless of race, religion and political ideology, come together to help ease the burden and suffering of the flood victims.

“This shows the unity of our people is alive and well,” he added.

In facing current economic challenges, Muhyiddin said the government recently announced several proactive measures to ensure the country’s economic growth and development remained on the right track in response to the changing global economic landscape.

He said the current economic problem facing the country currently was a short-term cyclic phenomena and the government had and would continue to take necessary measures from time to time to address problems facing the people. — Bernama