Malaysia is a peaceful and harmonious country, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
He said this can be shown through the various festivals celebrated by Malaysians, such as Hari Raya Aidilfitri, as all the races would come together to celebrate it.
"I see that when there is a day such as Hari Raya, we get to see that the unity (within our people) shines," Najib said during a live telecast of his Hari Raya Aidilfitri greetings at his official residence, Seri Perdana, here today.
The first day of Hari Raya is also the first year anniversary since the tragedy involving Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH17, which was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, last year.
Najib said no one, including the Dutch families, would forget what had happened and MH17 was an incident that would be remembered especially by the families of the victims.
"But behind this tragedy, it has united Malaysians and made us stronger and better than before," he said.
About 80,000 guests had thronged the open house hosted by Najib and his Cabinet ministers and the public were served with various delicacies.
Alluding to the melee that ensued over the weekend at Low Yat Plaza in Bukit Bintang, the prime minister reminded the people to not believe any news and to refrain from acting based on their emotions.
He said it was very important to defend what the past leaders have built for the nation as this would allow the country achieve its objective of being a developed nation by year 2020.