For the third time in ten days, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah reminded all Malaysians about the fundamentals of nation-building in a plural Malaysia as spelt out by the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukunegara.

Speaking at the investiture ceremony of federal awards and honours at Istana Negara yesterday held in conjunction with his official birthday celebration, he reminded all Malaysians not to play up sensitive issues in the interests of any party.

He said that every citizen has been promised rights and freedoms in accordance with the Federal Constitution, but that freedom must not go beyond the values that are fundamental to national unity.

He said: “So as in politics. There must be a line and limit that should not be crossed. If political polemics were left prolonged, sooner or later it will start taking its toll on the people.

“Believe me, the unity, peace and harmony that have been built over these 62 years, if we ever lose them, will be very difficult to get back.

“My advice is, let bygones be bygones, forgive and forget past disputes so that the broken relationship can be fixed and restored.”

In the past ten days, the Sultans of Perak and Selangor have also expressed similar concerns when they spoke on the importance of national unity and the dangers of uncontrolled spread of fake news and hate speech to destroy inter-racial and inter-religious understanding, tolerance and harmony in Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »