KUCHING: This coming Hari Raya, it is hoped that the people of Sarawak will be able to rid the feeling of distrust among one another to strengthen solidarity amongst the community.
This was said by the Head of State, Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, in his Hari Raya greeting.
“We must get rid of the feeling of distrust among ourselves because if we cannot work together and the strength of solidarity is not sustained, it will be very easy for outsiders to manipulate the people with lies and falsehood.
“The people, who can evaluate, do not and make efforts to know the truth will have the realisation and make efforts to strengthen the relationship among mankind.
“This will make our society to become more mature and will not become an easy target of cheating by foreign agendas and propagandas, which we all know, have bad intention towards the state and the unity and solidarity of the people,” he said.
He added that he hoped the people of Sarawak will take heed of this advice with an open heart as they celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2018.
“I hope we can all realise and make preparation for ourselves to become religious and God fearing human beings and have mutual respect towards ourselves.
“As followers of Islam, this is also the time for us to upgrade ourselves and our community so that we will not be left behind,” he said.
He explained that as Muslims, they hoped that they can disseminate the goodness of the religion to their friends and others.
“We must make conscientious efforts to become members of a community that follows the truest teachings of Islam so that people in and around us understand that Islam is right and beautiful for them.
“Even though Muslims in Sarawak represent a minority community, it remains a big responsibility because Islam organises activities to serve the welfare and preserve the rights of all the people regardless of their ethnic origins, religious beliefs, and customs and traditions.
“With the way of life of the community interacting among themselves in peace and harmony, we can feel proud and dignified that all of us can live together and have mutual respect for each other and everybody can practise his or her own religion without any restrictions and criticisms from any quarters,” he said.
The former Chief Minister said that this was the spirit that they wanted to absorb into the community which comprises diverse ethnic groups without having misunderstanding and quarrels among the members.
“I hope our tradition of visiting one another during Hari Raya Aidilfitri must be made continuous because it has already become a good trend for the people in Sarawak, comprising diverse racial and religious groups.
“For this reason, we celebrate the festival of Hari Raya Aidilfitri as a festival that gives joy and happiness not only to Muslims but to all races in our beloved state of Sarawak.
“For me, this is the message that I want to give the people of Sarawak regardless of their racial origins or religious beliefs,” he said.
