The seventh Majlis Selamat Tahun Baru Cina of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Mutiara Rini is most meaningful because school is not only the best part of one’s life, but even more important, students can be idealistic and must dare to dream big dreams to make Malaysia and the world a better place for everyone.

Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation and we are the confluence of four great civilisations of the world – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western.

Instead of the great diversities and the multi-colours in our midst being national liabilities, we have in our hands the challenge to leverage on the best qualities and values of these four great civilisations to achieve a great Malaysian nation which leaves lasting footprints in the history of human civilisation by being a world top class in certain aspects of human excellence and achievement.

This why Malaysians regardless of race and religion celebrate each other’s festivities, whether Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali or Christmas.

In fact, these festivities are given official recognition as they are declared National Holidays in Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »