Onn Hafiz (centre) tossing yee sang together with (from second left) Lee, Ling, Ho, and Akmal Nasrullah during the open house.
JOHOR government will continue to support all cultural programmes to nurture and strengthen unity in its multiracial community, says Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
The state would not be able to function and provide services well without the people’s support and cooperation, he said.
“We provide help to everyone in Johor regardless of race, because we are colour blind when it comes to giving back to the people,” he said in his speech at the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association’s Chinese New Year open house at Wisma Tiong Hua.
Also present were Deputy Local Government Development Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, state health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon and state investment, trade, and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han.
Onn Hafiz also said that RM200,000 had been allocated to the association to organise a large scale Chingay parade on Feb 11.
The Machap assemblyman also said the state allocated RM2.5mil to the Southern University College and RM1mil to the Foon Yew High School last year.
“This is besides the aid we provided to Chinese schools in Muar and Batu Pahat.
“The state government is committed to taking care of the welfare of the Chinese community in Johor.
“The Chinese community plays an important role in developing the state and is one of the pillars that supports the unity and prosperity of the people in Johor.
“This is proven in the history of Johor, where in 1844, Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim invited Chinese planters from Singapore to plant gambier and pepper in Johor’s interior.
“As a result, between the 1830s and 1850s, Johor was the world’s largest producer of pepper and gambier,” said Onn Hafiz.
He added that Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar had also revived the royal title of Mejar Cina (Chinese Major) in September 2020 and bestowed it on oil palm estate manager David Wong Khong Soon as a continuation of Johor’s modern history.
During the programme, Onn Hafiz read a speech in Mandarin saying that this year would be a challenging one.
“But as the Johor Mentri Besar, together with the help of the state leaders, we will ensure that we lead Johor towards development and provide help to the people in the state,” he said.
Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association president Ho Sow Tong hoped the state government would continue working with the association to ensure the community’s welfare.
“We also hope the state government continues to bring in more investment to the state so that the locals will be able to enjoy the spillover and increase their income,” he said.
