Rakyat true protectors of leaders, says Najib

(The Star) – MUAR: The rakyat are the true protectors of the leaders, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak  said.

The Prime Minister said although leaders were often protected by policemen for security reasons, the rakyat were the true protectors.

He said while leaders in some countries used the back door to go up the stage, Malaysian leaders always used the front door.

He said, during his walkabout earlier in the morning, he enjoyed cendol at a roadside stall, not at a five-star hotel, and he felt safe being with the people.

Leaders, he added, should not feel scared to meet the people if they truly had the rakyat’s interest at heart and cared for them.

“It has been my principle to try to meet and shake hands with as many people as possible as I want to be close to them.

“If we can visit and meet them, we not only develop love and understanding, we will also see how government policies are implemented,” he told a gathering at Taman Tun Dr Ismail Dua in Sungai Abong, near here yesterday.

At another function, Najib said the national-type school system – which provides education in vernacular languages besides the national language – was only practised in Malaysia and not anywhere else in the world.

He said the country’s founding fathers agreed on this multi-education approach so that the different races of the nation could continue to use their mother tongue as well as practise their traditions and cultures.

“Our founding fathers had opted for integration – rather than assimilation – of the different races,” he said, when opening a new school block for SRJK (C) Soon Cheng in Sungai Abong.

Meanwhile, during a walkabout in Kluang town, Najib announced an allocation of RM105mil to solve the water issue in the district with the construction of a new dam and treatment plant in Kluang.