Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Sunday said national-level celebrations should not only be held in big towns such as Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Instead, he suggested that such celebrations, including Aidilfitri open houses, to be held in small towns or rural areas to give opportunities for the people there to also share the joy and meet leaders.
"National-level celebration should not just be held in Kuala Lumpur or Putrajaya, but it also should be distributed to the rural areas because the people there also want to celebrate.
"Apart from that, they also get the opportunity to meet leaders, and in this way we can forge relations with the local residents," he added.
The prime minister was speaking at the 2016 Aidilfitri Malaysia Open House, which was attended by about 50,000 people at the field of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Hutan Melintang near here.
Also present were his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor; Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and wife, Datin Seri Hamidah Khamis; Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz; Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein; Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and wife, Datin Seri Saripah Zulkifli and a few cabinet ministers.
Najib said hosting open houses at national level helped promote peace and harmony.
"This is something that cannot be denied. In some other countries you cannot have such celebrations because something bad may happen, that can cause harm to lives and properties.
"Remember that peace and security must not be taken lightly as we are still not free from security threats," he said.
The prime minister was referring to the arrest of 14 individuals in five states from July 14 to 20 for their alleged involvement with Daish militant groups.
"I urge everyone not to let riots and chaos that have occurred in other countries to happen here in our country to the extent that we cannot hold our festive gatherings," he added.
The prime minister said the political stability in the country was among the factors that enable such celebrations to be held.
"Recently, we held by-elections in Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar and we won in both constituencies. This shows that we are strong and have the people's support.
"Based on my visits to several countries, there are countries whose currency dropped 100 per cent because of their dependence on oil.
"We are grateful to have oil, oil palm industry, service industry like tourism, and because of that we want more people to come to Malaysia because the bring us revenue," he added.
On revenue that was returned to the people in the form of 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M), Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the action by some quarters in equating the government's aid for the people to fodder was an insult.
"Some have referred to the policy of giving BR1M as a heinous act and a form of bribery, (just like feeding animals). Giving BR1M cannot be equated to feeding animals," he said.
Najib said Malaysia is not the only country that gives financial assistance to the people because such assistance is offered by several countries but under a different name.
The Prime Minister said RM5.2 billion has been allocated to give out BR1M throughout the country while Perak will receive RM521 million and the allocation for Bagan Datoh is RM14.8 million.
"When the people receive BR1M, we are actually stimulating the local economy because the people will use the money to buy things," he said.
Najib also announced Bagan Datoh as a full district, making it the 12th district in Perak.
Prior to this, Bagan Datoh was Bagan Datoh was under the administration of the district of Hilir Perak.
It was gazetted as a district last June 15.
Meanwhile, 50 food and beverage stalls were set up for the celebrations which started at 2.30pm, offering traditional dishes like laksa; lemang; rendang and Jawa nasi ambeng.
Bernama
Sun Jul 24 2016
The prime minister was speaking at the 2016 Aidilfitri Malaysia Open House, which was attended by about 50,000 people at the field of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Hutan Melintang in Bagan Datoh. - Bernamapic
TSMC akan hasilkan cip 1.6nm menjelang 2026
Menurut TSMC, teknologi 1.6mm akan memberikan peningkatan prestasi sehingga 8-10% untuk voltan yang sama serta pengurangan penggunaan kuasa antara 15-20% pada kelajuan yang sama.
Anak syarikat SPNB berdepan tindakan penggulungan
Syarikat Wiradani Development Sdn Bhd telah menyerahkan notis untuk menggulung SPNB Aspirasi pada 3 Mei tahun lepas.
Bekas CEO 7-Eleven, Hishammudin Hasan dilantik terajui Al-Ikhsan
Al-Ikhsan Sports Sdn Bhd melantik Datuk Hishammudin Hasan sebagai ketua pegawai eksekutif (CEO) baharunya berkuat kuasa 17 April.
'Inflasi diunjur meningkat suku kedua kesan pelarasan cukai perkhidmatan, rasionalisasi subsidi'
Momentum inflasi diunjur meningkat pada suku kedua tahun ini kesan daripada pelarasan cukai perkhidmatan serta rasionalisasi subsidi bahan api.
Kontroversi UM: Sarjana ‘berkualiti rendah’ tak patut dijemput - PM Anwar
Anwar menyindir ahli akademik AS yang terbabit dalam kontroversi pro-Israel sebagai sarjana berkualiti rendah dan tidak mempunyai pencapaian luar biasa atau istimewa.
Agong, Raja Permaisuri zahir ucapan Ulang Tahun Keputeraan kepada Sultan Terengganu
Ucapan itu dizahirkan Seri Paduka Baginda berdua menerusi poster yang dimuat naik di Facebook Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar hari ini.
Ada wajah kita tak mahu berpisah, tapi terpaksa melepaskannya - Datuk Red
Menerusi perkongsian itu, Adnan mengatakan ada perkara yang dia terpaksa reda dan menerima takdir yang sudah tertulis untuknya.
Komen jelik nahas helikopter Lumut, peniaga didenda RM23,000
Seorang peniaga dalam talian didenda RM23,000 di Mahkamah Sesyen di sini, selepas mengaku bersalah atas tuduhan memuat naik komen jelik berhubung nahas helikopter TLDM.
Bursa Malaysia dibuka rendah, jejaki prestasi Wall Street
Pada 9.10 pagi, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) susut 2.29 mata kepada 1,566.96 daripada 1,569.25 ketika ditutup pada Khamis.
AWANI Ringkas: Pesawat ringan mendarat cemas di Subang
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.