Sept 16 will be a national public holiday from next year to commemorate Hari Malaysia, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today.

Najib announced this today while explaining his 1Malaysia concept in Parliament.

azlan"We want the joy and sorrows of the people in Sabah and Sarawak to be felt by the people in the Peninsula," he said.

"Therefore, I would like to announce to the people of Malaysia that the Cabinet has recently made the decision to celebrate Hari Malaysia on Sept 16 starting 2010."

He added that decision was made to allow Malaysians to celebrate the formation of Malaysia under the 1Malaysia spirit.

Najib said that Malaysia Day will be celebrated with activities to strengthen unity, racial understanding, and the people's achievement in sports, socio-culture, culture and others to light up the spirit of 1Malaysia.

He also said that Aug 31 will be continued to be celebrated as the independence day to remind "us of the fight for independence from the colonialists".

Sept 16 signifies the formation of Malaysia in 1963 when Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined Peninsular Malaysia to form the federation. Singapore left the federation in 1965.

While Aug 31 marks the date of independence for Malaya in 1957, there have been murmurs of discontent among the people of Sabah and Sarawak who see it as Malaya-centric.

More flights to be introduced

Najib was replying to a question by Dr Marcus Mojigoh (BN-Putatan) who wanted to know about the people's acceptance of 1Malaysia and programmes needed to achieve it.

On the 1Malaysia concept, Najib said the concept which had become the thrust of administration was to foster national unity among various races including strengthening national integration between Malaysians in peninsula and those in Sabah and Sarawak.

The prime minister said to strengthen ties, more regular flights would be introduced and that more funds would be allocated for infrastructure projects like roads, water, electricity, schools, hospitals and clinics.

"With national unity, the country will become more stable, strong and peaceful. Peace is the most important foundation to achieve the objectives of Vision 2020 that will make Malaysia a developed country in all aspects."

"Unity had led to peace in the country for more than five decades. The price of peace is too high and can't be bought with money. Those who try to disrupt unity are the ones destroying the peace," he said.

1Malaysia concept is a continuation

To a supplementary question by Mojigoh on the identity of Malaysia compared to Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, Najib said it was based on other elements which had become the local culture and the country's strength.

"A look at the history of the formation of Malaysia revealed that we had chosen integration and not assimilation like Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. This showed that our leadership had an open attitude from the start.

"It was the best way as we can become strong based on unity and diversity. There is no other country like Malaysia," he said.

Replying to a question by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang (PAS-Marang), Najib said the 1Malaysia concept was a continuation of previous policies which had been implemented.

"The journey is the same. We can't reach the destination in one or two terms. We consider it a continuation and god willing, when implemented, the 1Malaysia concept will have values that support Vision 2020," he said.

Abdul Hadi asked whether the 1Malaysia concept meant that the government was sidelining earlier policies like Islam Hadhari, Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy and Vision 2020.

Decision lauded

In a related development, Gerakan welcomed the decision to declare Sept 16 as a national public holiday.

"Declaring Malaysia Day a national holiday will also give true meaning to the 1Malaysia concept," said Koh in a statement.

He also commended Najib for having answered calls by Malaysians, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak.

Koh, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of national unity said Aug 31 and Sept 16 were equally significant.

"Aug 31 marks the attainment of independence from colonialism, while Sept 16 ushered the birth of a new and bigger nation called Malaysia," he added.

Koh also noted that Gerakan was the first political party to celebrate Malaysia Day in Kuala Lumpur in a big way in 2007.

"This year, we did a special cyber countdown for Malaysia Day," said Koh.

[with additional reporting from Bernama]