Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today reminded the people on the importance of retaining the present government and to support efforts carried out to determine the country's true direction.

The Deputy Prime Minister said Malaysians could now enjoy various benefits including peace and a strong economy due to the policies implemented by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

Speaking at the gathering of the leader with the people at the Padang Awam Bahau, here, he said although the peace enjoyed by the people now might be considered as insignificant by certain groups, it was however not easily achieved and was made possible through the sound policies of the BN government which had forged close cooperation and solidarity between the various races.

"Actually, many nations had gained independence at the same time as Malaysia or even earlier, but some of these countries could not progress nor achieve peace. Some of these countries were in fact more peaceful under their colonial masters.

"That's why we should not fear or be afraid because through the cooperation and consensus reached between the various races in the country under the policies of the ruling government, we continued to live in peace for more than 55 years," he said during his one-day visit to Negeri Sembilan.

He said the people's per capital income was also going up and had now reached USD9,700, and this was expected to go up to USD15,000 by the year 2020.

Muhyiddin said the continued support of the rakyat was also important in ensuring that everything that had been built since independence such as the judicial institution, Royal Malaysia Police and the Election Commission could be preserved without being jeopardised by any party.

The country's foundation that had been built with the strong support of the rakyat who understood the policies of the government all this while must be maintained, he said, adding that this was crucial because in the run up to the general election, the opposition would be hurling numerous slanders and would deny all the efforts taken by the government.

"Recently, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his YouTube posting, said Malaysia is bankrupt, but this is a lie because Malaysia, on the contrary, is not bankrupt.

"We have sufficient resources and the latest, the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) stated that we collected the highest taxes compared to the previous years with a total of about RM125 billion, that is why our country is not bankrupt but in fact had surplus funds," he said.

Thus, Muhyiddin who is also Umno deputy president, reminded the people to be wary of the slanders hurled by the opposition especially in the run up to the general election so that they would not be easily influenced.

At the gathering attended by about 15,000 people, Muhyiddin announced an allocation of RM4.1 million for the development of infrastructure in the Jempol Parliamentary constituency.

Later at a tea gathering with hawkers and the community, the Deputy Prime Minister announced an allocation of RM3.5 million for the redevelopment of the Bahau hawkers' centre.