KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today warned ethnic groups not to make excessive demands from the government as it could strain national unity.

The deputy prime minister said the public must look at the “bigger picture” and accept that Malaysia is a multiracial country.

“I would like to remind our young leaders that managing a multiracial country like Malaysia requires a lot of wisdom. We have to always strike a fine balance between serving the interests of each ethnic community and fulfilling the interest of the nation.

“Sometimes, excessive demands by one ethnic community invite hostile response from other communities. This exchange of demands and hostile response will, of course, strain our ethnic relations and put national unity at stake,” the Umno deputy president said at the 4th Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit here.

Malay rights group Perkasa has led the call for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government to retain privileges and quotas for the main Bumiputera community although Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the national economy must move to a competitive and equitable basis. Other ethnic groups have long argued that the Bumiputera quotas only enrich the upper class but leave others poor and frustrated.

“If we want to see our nation move forward as a peaceful and prosperous home for every Malaysian, we have to be able to see the bigger picture. We have to put the interest of our nation over and above everything else, including narrow communal interests.

“We have to accept the fact that in a multiracial country like Malaysia, peaceful and harmonious ethnic relations are the greatest national interest. This we have to preserve and uphold with all our hearts,” Muhyiddin (picture) said.

The education minister also stressed the importance of quality education to eliminate racial prejudice.

“Raising the quality of our education also means increasing the capacity of our multiracial citizens to uplift their social and economic well-being. As economic and social alienation in a multiracial country usually leads to racial prejudices and unending ethnic conflict, raising the quality of our education now, I believe, will eventually eliminate the root cause of all conflicts and prejudices in the future,” he said.

Muhyiddin also defended the importance of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and said that it has provided Bumiputeras with better education.

“A concerted effort by the government under the New Economic Policy to help the Bumiputera community to gain access to better education had helped the Bumiputeras to elevate their economic and social status and be at par with other ethnic communities in this country. Eventually, we have overcome the problem of alienation among the Bumiputeras which was prevalent before the introduction of the policy,” he said.

He added that the country’s education policy has always been the cornerstone of nation building and unity.

“Since the publication of the Razak Report in 1965, our education policy has made national unity as its ultimate goal. Without denying the people’s right to mother tongue education, we aim at bringing together the children of all races under a national language as the medium of instruction,” he said.