Agong wants people to work with government

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Tuanku Abdul Halim inspects the guard-of-honour before presenting federal awards in conjunction with his official birthday at Istana Negara. – Bernama photo

KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah wants the people to work together with the government to ensure whatever plans and aspirations desired are realised.

He said no countries in the world could achieve progress and create a name for itself merely by depending on the initiative of the government without the support of the people.

“The responsibility to defend, develop and uphold the sovereignty of the nation rests on the shoulders of every citizen.

“I believe with the solid support and close cooperation between leaders and people, numerous successes can be recorded by the nation in the future,” he said during an Investiture Ceremony in conjunction with his birthday at Istana Negara here yesterday.

Tuanku Abdul Halim and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah also extended their condolences to the royal family of Perak on the demise of Sultan Azlan Shah and prayed that they be blessed with calmness, fortitude and strength.

Both their Royal Majesties prayed that the families of the passengers and crew of the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 (which went missing en route to Beijing) be given the strength in facing the difficult situation.

He said he appreciated and was thankful to all quarters which endeavoured in the operation to look for the MAS aircraft.

Tuanku Abdul Halim also stressed on the importance of going back to the actual aspiration in the setting up of the nation by the earlier leaders.

“I am thankful at the peace, stability and national prosperity all these while and pray we continue to enjoy them,” he said.

Tuanku Abdul Halim believed a strong unity could save the nation from numerous threats whether from enemies, plagues or natural disasters.

Furthermore, he said the Government Transformation Programme and Economic Transformation Programmes had surpassed their overall targets in 2013.

But, he said the government should not be satisfied and comfortable because there were still avenues and efforts which should be harnessed to achieve even greater successes.

“The nation has reaped much success including in escaping poverty from 60 per cent to 1.7 per cent in 2012 with hardcore poverty almost totally eradicated,” he said.

Tuanku Abdul Halim believed the nation was on the right track in heading towards a developed nation status by 2020 based on valid indicators which were recognised by bodies on the global level.

He also supported the efforts of the government in boosting the indisputability of its governance through the concept of strong transparency and eradication of corruption to enable the nation to obtain a better position in the 2013 Corruption Perception Index.

But, he said much more needed to be carried out at the government, private sector and people’s levels to combat corruption and abuse of power.

“I believe the government will continue efforts to curb corruption transparently and firmly regardless of rank and position or whether it is a high or low profile case,” he said.

In the meantime, Tuanku Abdul Halim said he had heard and acknowledged the dissatisfaction of numerous quarters over the Goods and Services Tax and was confident all grouses were being appropriately tackled by the government. — Bernama