Police: Pro-Anwar rally at court incident-free

What will it take to stop Isis using rape as a weapon of war?

The Guardian

Noor (not her real name), a 14-year-old girl from a small village in northern Iraq, was sold 15 times, passed from one Islamic State (Isis) fighter to the next. Each time, she was raped. Noor managed to escape and made her way, mostly on foot, to a refugee camp. There, she met Yanar Mohammed, an Iraqi women’s rights activist, who told me Noor’s story. “The worst moments,” Noor said, “were when one man would sell me to another. And I would have to hear them debating what my life was worth.”

I heard many more stories like Noor’s at a recent gathering of Iraqi and Syrian women’s rights activists in Istanbul. Some of the women had never met before, but they shared a common purpose: to end the scourge of rape unleashed on them by civil war and the ascent of Isis.

But how to do that? No soldier in a war will hold on to a weapon that does not work. So what will it take to disarm rape as a weapon of war?

A glimmer of an answer shone through the women’s harrowing stories. Activists from Syria and Iraq spoke of a subtle but critical shift in their communities to end the stigma surrounding sexual violence.

As recounted by the women in Istanbul, Isis has used rape to exert control and spread terror through communities. It has imposed draconian limits on women’s freedoms to work, speak or be seen in public, policing these controls through violence. Isis has abducted women and girls, sometimes by the busload, and sold them into sexual slavery.

Ordeals like Noor’s are neither random nor rare. Rape is useful for Isis: it traumatises individuals and undermines their sense of autonomy, control and safety. It triggers mass displacement when word reaches people.

But the most destructive power of rape as a weapon of war lies in the deep-rooted stigma attached to it. Survivors are ostracised, even blamed for the attacks. Families fear being tarnished by the stigma and banish wives, mothers and daughters. In the worst cases, people adhere to distorted notions of “honour” and kill rape survivors. In short, rape tears at the fabric that binds families and communities.

But something different is starting to happen in some of the Isis-controlled zones of Iraq and Syria. There, the sheer number of women who have suffered sexual violence seems to be creating a potential tipping point. The women I met, both Syrian and Iraqi, reported that with rape occurring on such a huge scale, some families are choosing not to reject their mothers and daughters returning from captivity by Isis. As Mohammed said: “It’s harder to blame a woman for having been raped when it’s happening to so many.”

We saw this change in Rwanda, where rape was a systematic weapon of genocide. Afterwards, the critical mass of survivors triggered a new national conversation on sexual violence, on the morality of ostracising survivors and on women’s human rights more broadly.

A similar shift may be possible now. If Iraqi and Syrian women’s rights advocates can uproot the community response that stigmatises and isolates rape survivors, the utility of rape as a weapon of war is diminished. It will not work to unravel communities. The strategic opening could be transformational for women and for warfare – but only if women from within affected communities can act now, while deeply rooted social norms around rape are in flux.

Grassroots activists in Iraq and Syria are already mobilised, reaching out to survivors and their families with aid and counselling. Some have set up emergency escape routes to activist-run shelters. Many regularly visit refugee camps, not only to bring relief supplies but to listen to women’s stories carefully and without judgment.

One woman whom Mohammed met in a refugee camp said that the first time she was raped, she asked herself whether she would survive to tell anyone about it. Speaking to Mohammed gave her hope, she said.

Activists like Mohammed have begun to change the conversation; in Istanbul, they referred to alliances forged with other activists and local officials, including prominent men. One Iraqi activist spoke of a local authority figure who has become an ally. At great personal risk, he condemned honour killing at a gathering of tribal heads. His brave act of solidarity opened a community dialogue in support of women’s rights.

All these are vital interventions, modelling a way for communities to stand by survivors and begin to render rape obsolete as a weapon of war.

As Mohammed said: “We want Noor’s community to see her not as a ruined, raped girl, but as a prisoner of war who was strong enough to survive weeks of torture and brave enough to escape.”

Sirul mulls revealing all on Altantuya murder

EXCLUSIVE After fleeing to Australia to escape the hangman's noose, former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar is now mulling answering the biggest riddle in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder - why did he and Azilah Hadri shoot dead the Mongolian woman and blow up her remains with explosives?

In a recent telephone conversation with Malaysiakini, Sirul (right) disclosed that several Australian media have requested for a "tell all" interview with him.

"I haven't decided (on whether) to do the interview," he said.

Asked if he would be prepared to spill the beans should he proceed with the interview, the former policeman replied, "Yes, I am seriously considering the possibility."

Malaysiakini learnt that several Australian television stations have approached Sirul, who is now being detained at the Immigration and Border Protection Department's facility in Villawood, Sydney.

However, negotiations between Sirul and the TV stations are still ongoing.

'I acted under orders'

Meanwhile, Sirul also told Malaysiakini that he did not know the murder victim or Abdul Razak Baginda - the political analyst and close associate of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who was discharged with abetting the murder.

"I was under orders. The important people with motive (to murder Altantuya (left)) are still free," he said, declining to elaborate further.

"It is not like I do not love the police (force) or the country, but I acted under orders," he reiterated.

Responding to a question, Sirul said he was doing fine at the immigration detention centre and is allowed access to a mobile phone as well as the Internet.

"I normally read Malaysiakini, Utusan (Malaysia) and Harakah to follow the latest development back home," he added.

The divorced 43-year-old father of two however is worried about his two children, both of whom are teenagers and had to stop schooling as a result of his incarceration.

Made a 'scapegoat'

Last month, Sirul and Azilah were sentenced to death after the Federal Court overturned their acquittal in the murder case.

There were numerous questions pertaining to the case. Chief among them was that the prosecution and courts failed to establish a motive for the grisly murder.

During the onset of the case, Najib, who was then deputy prime minister, swore in the name of God that he had nothing to do with the matter.

His former aide de camp, deputy superintendent Musa Safri, who told Azilah to help Razak Baginda (right) on the night of the murder, was not called to testify in the sensational trial.

During the trial at the Shah Alam High Court, Sirul had caused a stir when he claimed that he was being made a "scapegoat" to "protect their plans".

The former police commando was absent at the Federal Court when the verdict was delivered and news later emerged that he was in Australia.

The government had vowed to file an application to extradite him despite Australian law dictating that a person facing the death penalty in his or her home country cannot be sent back.

MIC man raps party boss for not respecting PM

 

Former MIC treasurer-general R Ramanan has lambasted his party’s president G Palanivel for his “lack of respect” in not attending a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday.

“His lack of respect for the prime minister and deputy prime minister (Muhyiddin Yassin) is appalling and he even had the audacity to send a representative who wasn’t even part of the 2009 central working committee,” said Ramanan in a statement today.

“What standing does any of Palanivel’s representative have to meet the number one man of Barisan Nasional with regard to this serious party matter?”

Palanivel had accused his deputy S Subramaniam of sidelining the former’s representative in the meeting with Najib yesterday.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/289484

He had sent S Sothinathan as his representative to the meeting with the premier to discuss the issue between MIC and the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Sothinathan, however, was blocked from entering the meeting and was only notified of the proceedings after it ended.

Meanwhile, although Palanivel did not attend the meeting because his wife was “gravely ill”, Ramanan pointed out how he had “miraculously” managed to issue a full-page statement barely minutes after the BN secretary-general (Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor) gave his press conference.

“This is despite him not being at the meeting to know what actually happened.

“The real reason he cowardly backed off from the meeting with his boss was out of fear that he will have to make another U-turn.

“Let us not forget his cowardly behaviour back in 2013 when he ran to the prime minsiter when it suited him to ask for his help to broker a peace deal which allowed him to stay on for one term without there being a contest.”

On Palanivel’s threat against the ROS, Ramanan (right) said the former was not the “interim acting president” of the ROS.

Therefore, he cannot direct the ROS to withdraw its letters, and neither can he suspend or sack them, said Ramanan.

“ROS determines if MIC exists or not and is empowered under Section 18 of the Registrar of Societies Act to safeguard the rights of members of a society under its watch and to make sure that party laws and constitution are strictly adhered to.

“Palanivel’s latest trick is to throw smoke screens to distract people because the ROS in its investigation found the formation of numerous illegal branches, which it called a serious offence under the Societies Act.

“Palanivel, who had been caught red-handed cheating and lying, then proceeded to divert the attention away from the crime that was committed by vilifying the ROS with unfounded accusations.”

The MIC president on Saturday had said he would go to the courts unless the ROS withdraws its letters to the party dated Dec 5, 2014, Dec 31, 2014 and Feb 6, 2015.
 

Subra: CWC to follow RoS directive

MIC president's move to challenge the RoS decision in court is a waste of time as it will destabilise and weaken the party.

FMT

PUTRAJAYA: The MIC 2009 central working committee (CWC) is to abide by the directive of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and solve the party crisis, party deputy president Dr S. Subramaniam said today.

“We will move through with what was conveyed to us by the RoS to take the party forward,” he said.

The RoS has directed the MIC to hold fresh polls for all elected posts between April and July this year. It also wants the party to clean up its voters’ list and branches established in 2012 as they were the only ones valid for the fresh elections. The RoS had nullified the party elections held in 2013 following complaints of irregularities.

Dr Subramaniam, who is the health minister, was asked by reporters if the CWC could meet and call for an emergency general meeting of the party without the presence of party president G. Palanivel.

Palanivel had said that he wanted to take the RoS to court over the nullification of the 2013 party elections.

Dr Subramaniam, who had earlier launched the MyNutriDiari application at the ministry, said the CWC could convene meetings and was empowered to make decisions as long as there was a quorum.

He stressed that the MIC crisis should be solved as soon as possible so that the party could move forward and focus on helping the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.

He also said that Palanivel’s move to challenge the RoS decision in court was a waste of time as it would destabilise and weaken the party, and indirectly affect the BN.

“The delayed and prolonged process is an agony, and 2017, 2018 is not far away.

“We need MIC to be active in many places. We need to resolve it as soon as possible and if we delay and resolve it in the end of 2016/2017, it is going to be a big bang on MIC and affect us tremendously,” he said.

Asked if the CWC was going to call for an EGM, Dr Subramaniam said an EGM was an option but he had no power to call for the meeting according to the MIC constitution.

“The constitution says only division chairmen or the CWC can call for an EGM. It is up to them,” he said. The party constitution says the quorum is 15 division chairmen or CWC members.
Asked about Palanivel disagreeing to the proposed BN secretariat to help solve the crisis in the party, Dr Subramaniam said the secretariat was merely to act as a facilitator and not to run the whole elections.

“I was told the whole aim is for the BN to help the party to solve the issue and not to interfere in running the party or elections.

“The power has been given to the 2009 CWC to run the elections. The CWC will do the branch listing and so on,” he said.

Yesterday, Palanivel expressed disagreement with a BN proposal to set up a secretariat to help solve the crisis in the party, describing the proposal as very disturbing.

The BN secretariat proposal came up at a meeting yesterday attended by BN chairman Najib Abdul Razak, BN deputy chairman Muhyiddin Yassin, BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Dr Subramaniam.

Palanivel did not attend the meeting.

Tengku Adnan said today the BN secretariat was just a proposal and it was up to MIC whether they want to accept or reject it.

He said there was no question of the BN wanting to intervene in the affairs of the MIC.

“We only made a proposal. It is up to them. We only wanted to facilitate (to resolve the crisis) and not interfere in the affairs of MIC. We have no interest at all to take over the running of the MIC,” he told reporters after handing over premises licences to budget hotel operators in Kuala Lumpur.

Tengku Adnan said if the MIC did not want to accept the BN proposal, then it would have to abide by the decision of the RoS on fresh elections.

– BERNAMA

Non-Muslims cast wary eye on Syariah Index

The Index, mooted by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, is seen as further evidence of the trend towards creeping Islamisation in the country.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The Syariah Index, mooted by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to expand the role of Syariah law in Malaysia, is seen by non-Muslims as further evidence of the increasing trend toward Islamisation in the country. Non-Malays including Muslims form slightly less than half the population while the Malays form 50.4 per cent of the population, according to the latest statistics.

The Government is under pressure not only from PAS, the Islamist Opposition, but also from within Umno which leads the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, according to Rian Maelzer in a CCTV report. “Kelantan wants to implement hudud law for criminal offences except rape.”

“Hudud, which prescribes punishments such as amputations and stoning, has won the support of Umno in Kelantan.”

The new Syariah Index will measure Government compliance with Islamic principles in areas such as law, the economy, politics and social issues and highlight areas for improvement.

Many Muslims, according to CCTV, want to see changes in Malaysia’s secular system which accommodates Syariah as family law applying only to Muslims. “Secular laws govern civil and criminal matters.”

There has been talk of a Syariah Apex Court system equal to the civil courts.

“We welcome the Syariah Index because our expectation is to expand Syariah to all fields we have in Malaysia, not only in the financing system, in the family matters, but to cover all aspects of daily life,” Jufitri Joha from Muslim Youth Movement told CCTV.

Political scientist Wong Chin Huat, among those quoted, lamented that the issue was between a “Malaysia for all and one for some”.

Legal experts interviewed pointed out that the secular Federal Constitution would have to be amended to significantly expand the role of the Syariah. “It can only happen if Umno and PAS work together.”

Convert cremated according to Hindu rites

Religious authorities failed to obtain consent of family to collect the body.

FMT

SEREMBAN: The Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Department was unable to prevent a Muslim convert from being cremated by his family according to Hindu rites.

Razak Abdullah @ M Machap, Sinar Harian reported, converted to Islam when he married Kosnibatu Ibrahim, an Indian Muslim, in the 1970s. However, he did not change his religious status at the National Registration Department (NRD).

When Razak, 74, passed away at an old folks home at Taman Bunga Blossom in Negeri Sembilan at 7.30 pm on Sunday, his five children took his body home before the department could claim it.

The department had rushed to Razak’s home in Taman Seremban Jaya in Senawang on Monday but they were too late because the family had already taken the body to a crematorium in Jalan Templer for the final Hindu rites.

“It is all Allah’s will,” said Mohd Zulkarnain Abdullah, an officer with the department.

Zulkarnain disclosed that Razak’s religious status was also stated in the birth certificates of his children as his “Muslim” name was used and he was listed as an Indian Muslim.

DAP’s SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar Ceramah has 3SAVE objectives – to save Anwar from prison, to save Pakatan Rakyat from disintegration and to save Malaysia from becoming a “failed state”

By Lim Kit Siang blog

This is the third DAP SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar Ibrahim Ceramah, the first in Taman Cheras Jaya in Selangor on Sunday and the second at the Han Chiang School Hall in Penang last night.

DAP proposes to organize hundreds of SSS Anwar ceramahs, vigils, gatherings and events throughout the country in the next three years before the 14th General Elections with 3Save objectives – firstly, to save Anwar from prison, secondly to save Pakatan Rakyat from disintegration and thirdly, to save Malaysia from becoming a “failed state”.

Anwar has exhausted the judicial process and lost out when the Federal Court returned a shocking 5-0 unanimous decision to dismiss Anwar’s appeal, as even the most pessimistic about Anwar’s chances believing that he would lose in the Federal Court appeal had expected either a 3-2 verdict or at worst a 4-1 decision.

Everybody was floored by the unanimous 5-0 decision. There were not only no dissenting judgment, there was no other judgment from the five-member Federal Court quorum, apart from the single judgment by the Chief Justice, Tun Arifin Zakaria!

Anwar may have lost in the courts of the Malaysian judiciary, but he has won two battles in the first week of his five-year jail sentence – firstly, the court of public opinion in Malaysia and secondly, the court of international opinion, as it will not be easy to find another Federal Court judgment in the past two decades which had met with such instant universal condemnation, not only inside the country but also outside.

Foreign governments like United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland (which declared that it would raise Anwar’s jailing at the next meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva), the European Union; international legal, parliamentary and human rights organisations like the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, LAWASIA and the Law Council of Australia and international press like Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist have all spoken up to condemn the Federal Court decision.

Anwar’s case ranks with two other cases in Malaysia as the top trio which embodied the greatest travesty of justice.
The second case is the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The latest news in Malaysiakini today is about former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar, who is a fugitive in Australia from the hangman’s noose after being found guilty together with another former police commando Azilah Hadri, of the 2006 murder of Altantuya, whose remains were blown up with C4 explosives.

Malaysiakini reported that in a telephone conversation, Sirul said he is considering the possibility of “telling all” about the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, as he was “acting under orders” in the murder of Altantuya and “the important people” with motive to murder Altatunya “are still free”.

Although the courts did not establish the motive for the murder of Altantuya when convicting Sirul and Azila of the murder and handing down the death sentence for both, public interests demand that the motive for the Altantuya be probed and established as both police commandos have not known Altantuya in the first place and have no motive of their own to kill her.

I belive that most Malaysians believe that if Sirul and Azila have to be sent to the gallows for the murder of Altantuya, it will be a gross travesty of justice if the “mastermind” of Altantuya’s murder gets away scot-free as this “mastermind” must join Sirul and Azila in the death row.
The third case is the death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, which remains a mystery as nobody believed that Beng Hock had any cause or reason to commit suicide by jumping off the 14th floor of MACC headquarters to his death.

I stand by what I said at Teoh Beng Hock’s fifth death anniversary, that he was killed by person or persons unknown and his killers are still large, and justice demand that Beng Hock’s killer or killers be identified and brought to justice.

The first objective SSS Anwar campaign is to “Save Anwar” who is facing ten-year political oblivion, i.e. five years of jail sentence followed by another five years of disenfranchisement of his civil rights, where he could not stand for elective office or even to exercise his constitutional right to vote.

If the voters stand united and vote out the UMNO/Barisan Nasional from Putrajaya in the 14th General Election and the Pakatan Rakyat forms the new Federal Government of Malaysia, then the conditions will be there for Anwar to regain his freedom and even to fulfil his destiny as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The second SSS Anwar objective is to “Save Pakatan Rakyat”. UMNO strategists see the death of Tok Guru Nik Aziz, as the opportunity to revive their “Unity Government” (UG) proposal to destroy the Pakatan Rakyat, as during his lifetime Nik Aziz had uncompromisingly opposed any idea of UG.

This is why UMNO and BN leaders want the Chempaka by-election to be uncontested purportedly as a mark of respect for Nik Aziz while they will go out in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election in Penang.

This is indeed a most astounding turn of events, for UMNO to talk about showing respect to Nik Aziz when for 23 years, UMNO and Barisan Nasional had discriminated against the PAS Kelantan state government in terms of infrastructure development, and the most heinous example is the denial of RM12 billion oil and gas royalty to the Kelantan State Government from 2005.

If UMNO really respects Nik Aziz, then Najib should immediately announce the return of the RM12 billion oil and gas royalty to the Kelantan State Government.

The return of RM12 billion of oil and gas royalty to Kelantan State Government would work out to returning RM7,000 per capita to the 1.7 million population of Kelantan, which is not a small amount considering that the per capita GDP at current prices of Kelantan is the lowest and poorest in the country – in the region of RM10,000.

The return of RM12 billion oil and gas royalty to Kelantan is more meaningful than just UMNO staying out of the Chempaka state assembly by-election in Kelantan, as ther latter will only allow the UMNO conspirators to continue to hatch their strategies and plots to divide and destroy Pakatan Rakay by luring PAS with the temptations of “Unity Government”.

I remain very intrigued however as what the promoters of “UG government” really meant, when it is obvious to all that there is no unity in UMNO itself, with former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir going all out to topple Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Umno President and Prime Minister of Malaysia.
In fact, many are openly asking whether Najib could survive this year or even mid-year as Prime Minister in view of escalation of the internal UMNO campaign to bring him down from the highest office in the land.

To save Pakatan Rakyat, I have mooted the proposal of an Eight-Year PR Roadmap where the three PR component parties of DAP, PKR and PAS “return to basics” and reaffirm commitment to the two fundamental principles which had been the secrets of the PR success in the 2008 and 2013 General Elections – strict adherence to the PR Common Policy Framework which had formed the bedrock common principles of the three component parties in the coalition, and the operational principle of consensus regarding the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council as the highest policy-making body for PR.

If we stay loyal to these two fundamental principles, I am confident that PR stands a good chance of replacing UMNO and BN in Putrajaya in the 14th General Elections, creating the conditions for saving Anwar to enable him to meet his destiny as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The third SSS Anwar objective is to “Save Malaysia” from joining the ranks of a “failed state”.

Two days ago I met a Malaysian returning home from Singapore for the Chinese New Year holidays. There are about 400 employees in the Singapore office of Microsoft, and 80 per cent of them are Malaysians.

Other countries are scouring the world for talents to lure them to contribute to their national development, but for decades Malaysia had been driving away our talents and youths overseas because they cannot find comparative employment and recognition in their own country.

The continued educational, economic and environmental decline in the country, the worsening of racial and religious polarization with the rise of extremism, bigotry and intolerance and the unchecked deterioration of all the indices of good governance, are threatening to turn Malaysia into a new “failed state”.

We must not allow this to happen as Malaysia continues to hold the promise of greatness with the human talents from a plural society and the natural resources that we are blessed with – which is why Malaysians must unite for the third SSS Anwar objective to “Save Malaysia”.

(Speech at the third DAP SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar ceramah at Gurun, Kedah on Tuesday, 17th February 2015 at 10 pm)

Malaysia is 'partly free' in human rights report

The Sun
by Lee Choon Fai

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia was given a "partly free" rating in human rights report, Freedom in the World 2015, along with a downward trend due to the government's frequent use of the Sedition Act last year.

The report by international rights group Freedom House involving 195 countries also noted uses of defamation law to silence critics and also the harassment that Shi'ite Muslims are subjected to.

"Malaysia received a downward trend arrow due to the government's use of the Sedition Act to intimidate political opponents, an increase in arrests and harassment of Shi'ite Muslims and transgender Malaysians, and more extensive use of defamation laws to silence independent or critical voices," the report said.

From a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being most free and 7 being the worst, Malaysia received a score of 4 or "partly free" for both political rights and civil liberties with declining rights noted with a downward trend arrow.

Singapore also received a score of 4 for both political rights and civil liberties, while Thailand saw a significant decline and received a score of 6 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties, and Indonesia received 2 for political rights and 4 for civil liberties.

Countries achieving a perfect score of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties included Japan, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Czech Republic, Germany, France and New Zealand, among others.

Countries that were awarded the worst possible score of 7 for both categories included North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Tibet.

Government To Enhance Efficiency Of Services For All Communities - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- The government will continue to enhance the efficiency and integrity of its services to assist all communities, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Tuesday.

It would continue to serve the 1Malaysia commitment of a united nation as the country neared Vision 2020, he said.

In his 2015 Chinese New Year message posted on his blog, NajibRazak.com, the prime minister said the Lunar New Year was one of the biggest celebrations in the country as it signified the turn of the Chinese calendar and the beginning of a new chapter in life.

He said it was the time when family and friends came together in celebration and in gratitude to appreciate the old and embrace the new.

"Today, we are all guests...welcomed into the homes of our Chinese neighbours, in the true spirit of 1Malaysia, to experience the rich traditions of the Chinese culture.

"My family and I have always appreciated the hospitality of Chinese Malaysians, particularly at this time of year," he said.

The Chinese New Year reminded the people of the diversity that made Malaysia extraordinary, he said, adding that the fabric of the country had been woven by the various ethnicities, languages and faiths that completed the nation.

"It is this diversity that we celebrate, cherish and protect," he said.

Najib welcomed visitors to the country during the festive season, saying: "Wherever you might find yourself in our beautiful country, I hope the distinct sights, sounds, smells and tastes of our revelry will inspire you."

Despite the challenges of last year, Chinese New Year represented a new beginning for Malaysia, Najib said and expressed the hope that the year of the peace-loving Goat would bring continued harmony and strength in unity for Malaysia.

"And may the year of the Goat also bring each of you happiness, prosperity and good health. Happy New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai," he said.