KUALA LUMPUR: Though the government is moving forward in its betterment of the nation, it is disappointing that the opposition leaders continue to feed the people with slander.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said, Malaysia's Global Peace Index (GPI) 2017 and World Happiness Report 2017 proved that the opposition’s repeated slander of the country being not peaceful was false.
“There’s still much room for improvement to make Malaysia the best among the better countries and that's what we are doing now.
“Unfortunately, in our quest to move forward, the opposition seems to be in a state of hysteria in insisting that our country is weak and falling behind,” he said in a blog post today.
Salleh said, the reports also revealed that allegations made by opposition leaders were merely persistent slander to intimidate the people and raise public hatred towards the government.
“The opposition’s allegations were far from the real facts. If we (government) gave the real data from government reports, they simply dismiss it as a false data.
"But with this data, what is the rationale for the opposition parties to claim that Malaysia is unsafe and not peaceful?
“Why don't they appreciate the government's efforts that have made Malaysia a safe and prosperous country for the people?" he asked.
The GPI released last month placed Malaysia as the 29th most peaceful country in the world among 163 countries, a position much better than major nations such as the United Kingdom (41st) , the United States (114th), China (116th) and Russia (151st).
Malaysia's position was also much better than most of the 10 Asean countries, such as Laos (48th), Indonesia (52nd), Vietnam (59th), Cambodia (89th), Myanmar (104th), Thailand (120th) and the Philippines (138th).
Salleh also slammed the opposition for claiming that Malaysians were not happy with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration due to factors such as high cost of living, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the widespread of corruption and unchecked crimes.
“The World Happiness Report 2017 issued last March placed Malaysia on the 42nd spot among 155 countries, much better than several Asean countries except Singapore (26th) and Thailand (32nd).
"Does not this data show the level of happiness and well-being of the people, unlike what is portrayed by the opposition? This is what I have been saying, that the opposition parties have been spreading slander about the success achieved by our country.”
The report released by the United Nations had placed the Philippines (72nd), Indonesia (81st), Vietnam (94th), Myanmar (114th) and Cambodia (129th).
Poland was on 4th), Italy (48th), Russia (49th), South Korea (55th) and Hong Kong 71st.
The value of happiness is gauged using eight indicators, namely the country's GDP per capita, government social support, the people's life expectancy, the people's freedom to make life's choices, the generosity of the people, the corruption rate, the level of confidence and the people's humanitarian attitude.