Don’t fall into trap of complacency, says Najib

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysians must not fall into the trap of their own success and be complacent, or they may find themselves being overtaken by other countries. 

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the 50th Merdeka celebrations over the weekend had managed to showcase Malaysia’s achievements to the world. 

“Despite all our past achievements, however, we must continue to look ahead and beyond Vision 2020 and towards the year 2057. 

“We must take into account the changes that will occur. 

“We have to continue to upgrade ourselves or we will be overtaken by other new players in the field. We don’t want to fall into the trap of our own successes,” he said in his speech at the monthly gathering of the Prime Minister’s Department here yesterday. 

Najib said civil servants must also work harder to achieve the 6% average for the country’s growth, as forecast by the Government earlier. 

“We must aim for a growth of above 6% or even 6.5% during these last few months of the year because growth for the first two quarters was at 5.5% and 5.7% respectively.”  

Najib said it was important to ensure that early investors in the Iskandar Development Region, who have poured in some RM4.1bil, received the best service and treatment from civil servants so they would spread the good word about Malaysia and become the country’s spokesmen. 

“We must show these early investors that we can fulfil and satisfy their every wish. From the time they start investing, we must protect them as our clients and take care of them,” he said, adding that in his negotiations with the investors, many of whom were from the Gulf states, they had asked for a guarantee from the Government not to change its existing policies or goalposts.