KUALA LUMPUR: The five principles of Rukun Negara, introduced five decades ago, are key to racial harmony and unity towards ensuring continued success and stability of the country, said director-general of the National Archives, Datuk Azemi Abdul Aziz.
He said the five principles, namely Belief in God, Loyalty to King and Country, Supremacy of the Constitution, Rule of Law, and Good Behaviour and Morality were important to be imbibed by all to strengthen unity among the country’s multiracial people.
“Although we have the Malaysian Constitution as the constitution for us to uphold and refer to, we see the principles of Rukun Negara as the essence of the constitution. These are the principles we must all uphold as citizens of this country.
Azemi (right) at the Rukun Negara Hour programme produced by Bernama Radio on the topic ‘Warisan Bangsa dan Negara’. — Bernama photo
“We need principles that can bring together every community to turn this country into one where unity and peace prevail and that is also moving forward,” he said during the Rukun Negara Hour programme produced by Bernama Radio yesterday with the topic of ‘Warisan Bangsa dan Negara’.
Therefore, he said, the five principles of Rukun Negara should be re-empowered so that it could be better appreciated and practised by the community, especially the younger generation.
“Every community needs to continue to instil the spirit, appreciate and strengthen these five principles because historically, it has been proven to be good for the country and could turn Malaysia into the best country in the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, Azemi said the National Archives of Malaysia had nearly 100 collections related to the Rukun Negara in the form of files, publications, pictures and others that could be used as reference.
“Interestingly, we also keep the Rukun Negara Book that had been printed in braille format as well as the vinyl record of the Rukun Negara song sung by Sulaiman Masri,” he added. — Bernama