Putra Jaya -Wishing Merry Christmas to the Malaysian Christian fraternity, MIC President and Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S.Subramaniam (pic) called on fellow Malaysians to respect and cherish good values of other religions which will enhance unity within multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysian communities.
The following is the full text of his Christmas message:
“I take this opportunity to wish Merry Christmas to everyone
Christmas, celebrated as one of the national festivals is another occasion which brings Malaysian communities of different racial and religious backgrounds together to celebrate with our unique Malaysian culture of ‘Open house’.
Every religion teaches us good values and moral ethics and Christianity is no exception. Christmas is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ who cherished and preached love and affection to his followers and his enemies alike . There are several lessons we can learn from the life of Jesus Christ, which is appropriate for all times especially for a multi-religious and multi-cultural country like Malaysia.
As we celebrate Christmas and travel to different destinations in our country to visit friends, relatives and places of interest to take advantage of the long holidays, I urge everyone to exercise care and caution in their travels and to remember their loved ones. I also advise travellers to follow speed limits and other road safety regulations so that perils of road accidents could be avoided.
Christmas and the long holidays that follow are also occasions for us to happily indulge in dinners and get-together meals with our loved ones. Once again as much as we enjoy our meals we should also exercise care to avoid over-eating and foods that are detrimental to our health. The Health Ministry has identified through extensive research that food habits of Malaysians are one of the main reasons for the rise in non-communicable diseases. The Ministry has also taken several initiatives to educate the public on the dangers of continuously taking foods with high sugar and fat content.
Therefore, on this Christmas celebrations, I urge fellow Malaysians to exercise moderation in their eating habits and to give due importance to their own health.
Let us come together as Malaysians to wish our fellow Christian friends a Merry Christmas and let us get ready to welcome the new year with renewed hopes and aspirations.”
