MALACCA, March 9 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak has slammed an opposition
leader for accusing that the intrusion by a group of armed militants in
Lahad Datu, Sabah since February 12 was a drama whereas members of the
security forces had sacrificed their lives to defend the country.
The
prime minister said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government had never
directed members of the security forces to stage any drama but instead
ordered them to defend and protect the country's sovereignty.
"Just think whether we can find actors who are willing to die in their act? Are there anyone who wants to volunteer to die?
"I believe no one is willing to do such an act," Najib (picture) said
in his speech at the official opening of the Federal Tower at the
Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC) in Ayer Keroh here today.
About
20,000 residents in Malacca attended the official opening of the
21-storey tower built at a cost of RM208 million to accommodate the
federal government departments and agencies in the state since August
2010.
Also present at the event were Malacca Chief Minister
Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam and Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk
Seri Dr Ali Hamsa.
Najib said that security issues should never be politicised because peace and national sovereignty were too valuable.
He said the people in this country should emulate the developed
nations such as the United States where security issues had never been
exploited despite the political differences that existed.
"The people there give their support to the men in uniform, they
don't belittle members of the security forces," he said. He said
national sovereignty and peace were crucial to enable the various
transformation agenda to be implemented by the government in efforts to
turn Malaysia into a developed nation.
The prime minister said the future of the country would be better if
the people could give their full support to the transformation agenda
which had been carefully drawn up and implemented by the government.
Najib said the government would not implement any policy or make
promises that would be impossible to fulfill like the opposition that
ostensibly wanted to give free higher education, abolish toll and the
National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans.
"As the English saying goes, there is no such thing as free lunch...
meaning that if we want to give something free of charge, there must be
another party paying for the service if we want to give it free to the
rakyat," he said.
He said there were several countries in the world such as in the
Scandinavian countries that could provide higher education free of
charge to their nationals, but they had to raise the tax to reach as
high as 75 per cent.
But it was different in Malaysia where the government succeeded in
providing wide access to higher education to the people without needing
to raise taxes, he added. — Bernama