KUCHING, June 7 — Malaysia will adopt the “Segulai Sejalai” tagline to instil unity among its people of various racial and religious backgrounds from now on, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the tagline which means “Together in Unity” in the Iban Dayak language has attracted his attention due to the motto’s message of promoting unity.
“Tonight I want to make sure that the whole nation will adopt this tagline. That means whenever I talk about unity, cooperation, togetherness and strength in number among Malaysians, I will say ‘Segulai Sejalai’,” he said during the grand Gawai Dayak 2023 celebration at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) tonight.
In his speech, he also praised Sarawak for being able to remain united through thick and thin, and thus the whole nation should follow its example even though divisive elements do exist everywhere.
“Although divisive elements do exist all over the country, it is more controlled in Sarawak and we can thank the leadership of Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg for that,” he said.
Apart from that, he said that the unity that Malaysia has should not be taken for granted because achieving it among the people is not easy.
He also said that Malaysia must use its diversity as a strength to build the nation because diversity has the ability to either build or destroy the nation too.
“Hence we must remember what our forefathers fought for when they were fighting for the country’s independence and we must do our best to build the nation and take care of its people,” he said.
Meanwhile, when replying to Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah’s request in his speech earlier regarding the funding for the building of non-Islamic religious houses of worship in Sarawak and the native customary right (NCR) land survey, Anwar has agreed to look into those matters.
He said Putrajaya will allocate another RM10 million this year for the purpose of carrying out native customary rights (NCR) land survey, while he will refer the matter of allocating funds to build non-Islamic religious houses of worship in Sarawak with Abang Johari.
“The NCR land issue has to be solved as soon as possible while as for the building non-Islamic religious houses of worship in Sarawak, we might allocate whatever we have for the building non-Islamic religious houses of worship in Peninsular Malaysia, we will allocate for Sarawak as well,” he said.
Earlier on during the event, Uggah had said that for this year only RM2 million was allocated by the federal government for the purpose of carrying out NCR land survey while more funds are needed to help build more non-Islamic religious houses of worship in Sarawak.
Anwar also announced an allocation of RM350 million to build medical facilities in the state, including the proposed Sarawak Cancer Centre, laboratories and clinics.
Also present during the event was Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, Taib’s wife Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Raghad Kurdi Taib, Abang Johari, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Deputy Premier Datuk Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, various federal and state ministers and other officials. — Borneo Post
