PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today urged Malaysians to be tolerant and considerate even when in a disagreement. 

Speaking at his monthly morning briefing to the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya, Dr Mahathir used the open house concept practiced in Malaysia as an analogy to explain how to live harmoniously.

“In this Hari Raya mood, there are so many open houses, not just the Muslims but the non-Muslims also attended. Everyone enjoys the food and the company no matter who you are.

“What is unique about this open house celebration is everyone can come together. We eat and sit together, talk to each other. In life we meet all types of friends from all races and this includes crossing path with your enemies.

“This means we need to have a good relationship with everyone. Being tolerant is important to keep things calm. If we are not tolerant and considerate it will be hard for us to do our jobs,” Dr Mahathir said.

Dr Mahathir later reminded civil servants that they must not get easily displeased when being criticised.

“I read in the newspaper today that we (government) are not what we are supposed to be. It is not entirely true but we must not get angry when are being criticised.

“If we find it is true then we must improve ourselves to be better. In the PM’s department sometimes we work with those who we can’t get along with but that is why I said that we need to learn to be tolerant.

“We must accept differences to get the job done,” Dr Mahathir said.

Before ending his speech, Dr Mahathir also urged civil servants to be forgiving in order to move forward as one.

“In the month of Hari Raya let’s seek forgiveness. This is a new government, we are just a year old. We need to fix the relationship between the old administration and the new administration.

“If we find ourselves in a dispute, we must remember that it is important to forgive so that we can work together in our effort to complete our tasks,” Dr Mahathir said. – July 1, 2019.