Society must be together with the government and the security forces in combating all forms of crime, violence and extermism, said Najib Abdul Razak.

The Prime Minister said security was an important aspect in the development of a nation and as such, it must be given attention by all quarters.

"Security is the main pillar of any nation because without security, it is impossible to bring development, in fact, we may not be able to sleep tight each night if we feel ourselves and the family are unsafe.

“So, combating crime and all sorts of extremisms which will lead to violence must be given serious attention not only by the government and the security forces but also the local leaders and society," he said.

The prime minister said this when opening the Muhibbah Community Complex and the 1Wilayah Persekutuan Kenduri programme at the Kampung Muhibbah PPR in Kuala Lumpur today.

The prime minister said the issue of security was among four items he, as head of the government administration, stressed and gave priority with the others being political stability, good economic governance and bringing benefit to the people.

For political stability, Najib said the government was not practising dictatorship but was upholding parliamentary democracy.

"Every five years we return to the people to pick the government they want. But between each general election, we must look after political stability.

"Thank God, the existing government has enough majority. The trumpetings by certain parties that the government would fall did not materialise when last year's budget was passed in Parliament with a large majority.

"Similarly, other bills were able to be passed in Parliament. We are not worried in terms of political stability," he said.

In this regard, the prime minister said the people must ensure national political stability and no quarters could threaten it.

"If we live without security and political stability, the people will lose," he said.

Steering the economy

On the issue of national economic governance, Najib said the country was always facing challenges and threats closely related to the global economy, but the government was still able to manage the national economy efficiently and prudently.

"We cannot escape the threats or effects of global economic expansions such as the Asian economic crises in 1997, 1998, we were also impacted. We were impacted very badly at that time because we have an open economy. Similarly, (we were affected by) certain economic crises prior to this.

"Today, we confront external environments which affect the national economy. For example, the price of oil. The national revenue drops by RM450 million for every dollar drop in the price of oil.

"The price of oil was US$110 a barrel a year ago, today it had dropped so significantly to RM$32-US$34 a barrel. Imagine, how many billions of ringgit of our national income disappeared due to the fall in oil price," he said.

He said, despite the challenge, the government could still govern the national economy well and this was proven by the positive recommendations from the International Monetary Fund and several international rating agencies recently.

"We received the recognitions of international rating agencies. If there are people who say our economy is not well managed, they are just making political talks and have bad intentions. International agencies conclude we are still administering our economy well," he said.

Najib said in whatever situation, the government would give priority and put ahead the welfare of the people.

"In general, we optimise effort to ensure the welfare of the people including providing facilities such as the Muhibbah Community Complex although the nation is besetted by challenges," he said.

The Muhibbah Community Complex, among others, encompassed the construction of a community centre hall, badminton court, library, senior citizen activity centre, 1Malaysia Clinic, kindergarten, and surau, which was approved for conducting Friday prayers, and a children's playground.

Work on the air-conditioned complex started on July 24, 2014, and was completed on Jan 18, 2016, giving comfort to 10,693 residents from 2,458 families in the Kampung Muhibbah PPR.

Also present at the ceremony were Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and his deputy J Loga Bala Mohan.

- Bernama