Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has outlined four elements to maintain stability and unity in the country, which were having a tolerant attitude, showing mutual respect, guarding sensitivities and mutual trust.

He said the people who have a tolerant attitude would accept and celebrate the diversity of races, customs and culture in the country.

Mutual respect for one another, he said would give space to each race in the country to practice their respective customs and culture.

“If there is mutual respect between us, among ethnic groups even though we are a minority...for example our respect for the Portuguese community is a good value as despite being a minority we never oppress them and in fact we accord them a good place in Malacca,” he said when speaking at the national-level Aidilfitri open house at the Hang Tuah Stadium here Friday night.

Also present were the Prime Minister’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Malacca Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob and his wife Toh Puan Zurina Kassim, Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Idris Haron and Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Najib said the people should not touch the sensitivities of another race and should in fact find a path or way not to hurt the feelings of a race.

He said the last element was the need to have the attitude of mutual trust between one another to enable the communities in the country to live in peace and prosperity.

He said Malaysia which would be celebrating its 56th Independence Day tomorrow was very fortunate because independence led to national progress and success.

Therefore, the Prime Minister said, the people should be grateful and heed the lessons from history so that the peace enjoyed today would be sustainable.

“If we are blind to our history, we would become citizens without strong identities and the value of independence means we must understand the meaning of independence,” he said.

Meanwhile, Najib complimented the celebration event organised by the Tourism and Culture Ministry in cooperation with the Melaka state government which displayed the capabilities of a minister and a chief minister newly appointed to their posts.

"Both of them, Idris and Mohamed Nazri have just been appointed to their positions...tonight is among the first tests for both of them and a part of their Key Performance Indicators and I would rate both of them as achieving excellent KPI," he said.

He said the selection of Melaka for the event was most suitable as the state has the cultural and historical values apart from being a major tourism attraction.

He said the event this evening was also part of the build-up to Visit Malaysia Year 2014.