Cultural Congress 2017 will help build TN50, says PM Najib

The Cultural Congress 2017 will be among the core ingredients needed to build the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) plan, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He said the components of the resolutions would be very important in the TN50 plan, in line with shaping the country’s identity.

“I dream of a modern Malaysian society. I wish to place Malaysia as the 20th best country in the world, not only based on its national per capita income, but on the apogee of its culture and dignity,” said Najib in his speech, when opening the Congress at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), here, today.

A total of eleven resolutions were approved at the Congress including upholding the the Malay language as the national tongue; Islam as the official religion, the Rukun Negara as the foundation for national virtue, the sanctity of the Federal Constitution; the importance of the Rulers’ Conference and the economic achievements of the Bumiputera.

Najib admitted that the influence of social media such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter seem to intensify cultures from outside which is totally different from local cultures.

“The use of ‘bahasa rojak’ has more or less eroded the integrity of the Malay language, apart from the use of SMS (short messaging system) language,” he said.

He said it is a major challenge to put people back to the right track, especially to realise a highly-cultured society.

“How to shape the curriculum at kindergartens? What kind of curriculum (is needed) and how can we ensure that the spirit of Rukun Negara is revived as the national philosophy?

"We want all people regardless of race to be able to speak the national language well," he explained.

Also present were Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Cultural Congress 2017 chairman and socio-cultural adviser to the government, Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim and UKM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Seri Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali.