18/12: I won’t disappoint the people

The Star

Support me and I will not disappoint you, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
He said the support of the people gave him a greater sense of responsibility to strive even harder to ensure prosperity, harmony and development without leaving out any group.

“When people express their support, I feel my responsibility is greater. I feel I have to have greater determination, have to work harder. I will not disappoint the people.

“I do not want to disappoint you. If I have to work hard, I will work hard for you and the future of the country,” Abdullah told 5,000 people at a dinner in Puchong Indah.

He said he was pleased that the majority of the people did not want any disturbance including street demonstrations to ruin their business and upset their daily life.

“I value the relationship among Malaysians. I value the multi-ethnicity in the country. This is what gives hope for the future of the country,” he said.

He said this factor was taken into consideration in Barisan Nasional which subscribed to solidarity, cooperation, consultation and consensus.

He said that at Cabinet-level, decisions were made on consensus and that if there was disagreement, the discussions would continue until everyone concurred.

“Only then, can we achieve progress,” he said.

Abdullah said he was happy to see people of the various communities mingling together without fear at the dinner, demonstrating that solidarity was at its best.

At another function in Kuala Selangor, Abdullah said he wanted to see Selangor, which has successfully developed its manufacturing and agriculture sectors, move into agro-based industries.

“It is time to look into ways to bring added value and profits from agricultural produce and this can be done by developing agro-based industries,” he said when visiting a smoked catfish plant yesterday.

He said he was happy that the plant helped save catfish breeders who were facing bleak prospects when oversupply caused catfish prices to plunge.

Abdullah commended the Selangor Government and Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo for looking into innovative farming and manufacturing methods.

“Whenever I ask him (Dr Khir) to do something his answer is always 'we will do it' and he has never disappointed me,” he said.

He added that smoked catfish production was one of the projects he had asked Dr Khir to look into.

Abdullah also called on farmers to stop depending solely on the sale of their raw produce and adopt innovative processing methods to add value and price to their goods.

“We have moved from traditional to modern farming and it is now time to head into ‘new farming’ with agro-based industries,” he said.