KOTA KINABALU: Malaysians must exploit the Chinese New Year Celebration as a channel to further strengthen unity and ties and ensure citizens of the country continue to live peacefully and harmoniously, said Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak.
In his Chinese New Year 2021 address, the State Assembly member for Usukan calls on the people to uphold the unity and harmony that they have long enjoyed.
“As Sabahans are people of various race and religion, we must be proud because we are still the best model for racial unity.
“I pray for the continued harmony and that no outside party will try to use our differences in ethnicity as a means to break apart our community,” he said.
Salleh said that the differences in opinions and views should not become obstacles for multi-racial people to continue being united.
He said that the Chinese New Year celebration is very meaningful for Chinese friends as it is a golden opportunity to strengthen ties with friends and families.
“I am fortunate because I have personally felt the merriment and happiness of the Chinese New Year celebration in the past.
“And because of that, I can also feel the difference in the Chinese New Year celebration this time around because we are celebrating it in an era of the new norms following the Covid-19 pandemic.
“However, we can still celebrate the Chinese New Year with happiness and joy,” he said.
Salleh is confident that the people will use the various technology platform available to bring them closer together by communicating via video call on FaceTime, Google Meet or Zoom, messaging applications such as Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal and Facebook Messenger, and be entertained together through social media platform such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
For the Chinese New Year Celebration this year, Salleh and his entire family wishes ‘A Happy Chinese New Year’ to all the Chinese community, especially those residing at Usukan, Kota Belud.-pr/BNN
