Malaysians will be sucked into a "vortex of doom and gloom" if social media commentaries are allowed to dictate to them, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Idris Jala today.

In his Malaysia Day message, he argued that if social commentaries are to be taken as real measures, it would be as if "everything has gone south" in the country and "we should be defeated."

"Social media, being free and rife, opens up also spaces for people to air their grievances whether valid or otherwise.

"But I believe we are maturing as a society and can learn to differentiate hate speech from the truth of good people trying to do good work to make a real difference for our future," he added in his blog.

On the contrary, Idris ( right ), who is also the CEO of the Peformance, Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), believes there is "a lot going for us" in all areas.

"In the cacophony assailing many parts of the world today, and where ills, tensions, warring and strife dictate much of daily life, we are living a life of plenty," he said.

"Our political climate is stable. We are at full employment, and our poor have enough to eat. Our children go to school and our graduates have opportunities.

"We are attracting investments to our shores and multinationals are setting up shop. We are recognised for our talents and reforms, and are progressing headlong into a high-income, knowledge-based economy by the end of the decade," he added.

Idris also stressed that there are no "shortcuts" to creating more jobs.

"The most sustainable way to create high value and quality jobs is through private investments. It is as simple and as complicated as that," he said.

Pointing to the five-time growth in private investment under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), Idris said that he is "confident" that Malaysia's economy is "on track".

"The domino effect of investment is obvious. Investments create jobs.

"The more people are gainfully employed, the more revenue a government will receive through tax and consumption," he said.

"The more revenue we secure, the more government can spend on its people especially the poor and marginalised," he added.

Recently, Idris landed in the limelight when he criticised the use of the Sedition Act against law professor Azmi Sharom.

Though lauding him for his courageous stand, veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang was disappointed that the minister did not mention others, including opposition politicians, caught in the sedition dragnet.

He also challenged Idris to lead the charge in raising an objection to the use of the sedition law during Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.

Azmi was charged over his remarks on the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis which were published in a news report.