Every issue must be handled more maturely and calmly, says PM

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today any issue that crops up from time to time must be tackled in a more mature and calm manner, based on the concept of the rule of law and dialogue management with all parties.

The Prime Minister said he believed that when all parties could sit together to discuss and find a solution, whatever tension that arose from any issue that cropped up could be avoided.

"So, whenever an issue crops up, we must tackle it in a mature and calm manner without any feeling of emotion," he said when addressing the monthly gathering of the staff of the Prime Minister's Department, here.

Malaysia, as a multi-racial country, was generally respected because of the harmony that existed between the various communities and must always protect the cordial relations by addressing whatever issues that could jeopardise the harmony.

"It is pointless to be proud of our success all this while if any major pillar that upholds the harmony collapses. This means that whatever we have built all this while is totally meaningless," he added.

In his speech at the first monthly gathering of the department this year, Najib also touched on the country's determinatiion to implement the agendas outlined in the National Transformation Policy.

Many perceived the year 2014 as most challenging that required many nations to undertake reforms on the structure of their respective economic policies, he said.

"In my opinion, any nation that is willing to undertake economic reforms in terms of structure, with more accurate policies that are streamlined from time to time, then that country will be able to see a more sustainable economic growth," he said.

Najib said that was why the National Transformation Policy would continue to be implemented with commitment this year in order to achieve the objective of becoming a developed nation as the deadline approached nearer.

However, he said, in the implementation of whatever policy, the prosperity of the people had never been neglected, citing the subsidy as an example.

"...the subsidy rationalisation for example, it does not mean that we totally abolish the subsidy abruptly. There is no nation in the world where its development allocation is RM49 billion while the allocation for subsidy and incentives amounts to RM42 billion," he said.

"In one aspect, this ratio reflects that the government is concerned about the people's burden, but we cannot allow this situation to go on because it is not sustainable. We reduce the subsidy in stages, where we can do so to help the low and medium-income group, we must implement it," he added.

Najib said he was confident that if the economy grew stronger and the national revenue improved, the development projects could be increased, and all the facilities for and welfare of the various groups, including the civil servants, could be considered from time to time.

"But all these must be based on a growing and much stronger economy. This is what I want to clarify," he said.

Najib also said the pledges made during the election had not been forgotten, including the aspiration to ensure better prosperity for the people, a national economic growth of five per cent or more, economic transformation that was strategic in nature and human capital development, which formed one of the important elements in the efforts to attain the developed nation status.