R. Vijay Kumar
Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, officiated the “Rumah Terbuka Vasaki 1Malaysia 2012”, 1Malaysia Vasaki Open House 2012, organised by the Sikh Community of Malaysia held on May 7, at the Dataran Merdeka.
In his speech, the PM asked from the Sikh Community for “Vishwaz”, the Punjabi word for trust as he said that it was vital for the development of the nation.
The PM took the opportunity to praise the Sikh community for their various achievements in the areas of education, recording his admiration to the community for their efforts to uphold the Punjabi language and to hand it down one generation to another. He also recorded gratitude to all Sikhs in history who gave up their lives in the quest for a free Malaysia.
The PM came with a list of government commitments to help the community with fianancial aid worth 1.6M to the Gurdwara Council. The aid would be for land to build 3 new Gurdwaras, for the upgrades of existing Gurdwaras, to education in the form of education funds and books, upgrading of the Jalan Loke Yew crematorium, where most Sikh funerals are conducted.
He stressed that the government’s efforts were a very clear manifestation of the it’s sincererity to reach out to various communities, including the Sikh Community in this country and that the 1Malaysia concept of being inclusive, fair, and sustainable is being realised and relevant.
The PM announced that as of next year, all Sikh goverment servants will be a given a day off on Vasaki in recognition of this important spiritual event of the lives on Sikhs.
Video by, R. Vijay Kumar, Citizen Journalist
Article by, Marianne See Kameron, Citizen Journalist
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