Chairman MARA¹ , Tuan Pengerusi Majlis, ladies and gentlemen, etc.

Today I have been asked to make a speech at this ceremony but before doing so, I would like to tell you a story as to how I made a mistake last week in maKing a speech at a Federal Land Development Scheme, Sungei Tiang in Kedah.

When I went to the Scheme, I was greeted by the Manager, all the settlers, all the school teachers and all the school children, and when I saw the general atmosphere of prosperity with rubber trees almost ready for tapping, with fruit trees bearing fruit, I saw a happy community with efficient schools, efficient teachers and healthy and progressive children, and I said in my speech that I never ever visited Sungei Tiang.

On my return to Kuala Lumpur I was told, and I checked up that in fact five years ago, I had visited this Scheme when it was just about to be started when it was in its virginal stage. Therefore, in my speech I was inaccurate in telling the settlers in the Sungei Tiang Scheme that I had never been there before.

The truth, ladies and gentlemen, was that I had not visited this F.L.D.A. Land Scheme for several years and I would not recognise the place because of the different atmosphere, the change and improvement in the way of life of the settlers, and the general air of prosperity which I found around me, as I stood on the platform talking to the settlers - the change in five years was beyond belief.

However, ladies and gentlemen, you may think there is no connection between my reaction on visiting a land scheme, compared with the ceremony which today I have been asked to perform, laying the foundation stone of a new MARA College.

But, I would like to point out to you that there is a very definite connection. In fact, there are many connections. The first connection is this; that my government, the Alliance Government have been accused of having no ideology; this is the only accusation that an impotent opposition can throw at us because in fact they are jealous of our achievement in the field of development.

My government, the Alliance Government, have in fact got a philosophy which is deeper than any other political party in existence in Malaysia.

Our philosophy is one of dedicated service to the rakyat of Malaysia, not only to the Bumiputera, but on the broader national development programme, also to our people in both the urban and rural areas, and it is our philosophy and our policy that development in the rural areas will go forward hand in hand with development in the urban areas.

Our policies are now beginning to bear fruit. Not only the fruits in Sungei Tiang, but in a thousand other place throughout Malaysia.

It is our declared policy, within the framework of our national development policy, to do all in our power to allow the Bumiputera to take their rightful position in the trade, commerce and industry of our country, while at the same time, to stimulate trade and commerce and industry in overall participation of all the rakyat Chinese, Malays and Indians, who can be called loyal Malaysians.

The other connection between today's ceremony and a Federal Land Development Scheme is that today I am called upon to lay the foundation stone for a new College for the Bumiputera. In Land Development Schemes, I am called upon to plant the first tree, or sow the seeds of the first plant; and so it is today, in laying the foundation stone for this new MARA College, I feel that I am sowing the seeds of greater Bumiputera participation in the trade, industry, commerce and business of our country.

But, as it is with a rubber planter, so it is with the politician - As a politician I can only sow the seeds; I can only plant the trees or plant the policy. The way which this tree will grow - the future Bumiputera of our country who will participate in this College who will be taught, trained and educated to play their part in our country's development, depends not so much on me and my fellow Cabinet colleagues but depends on the students themselves who come to join this college and the way in which they use the opportunities which the Alliance Government are ever willing to give them. The future of our Nation depends on the ability of our own citizens only to make use of opportunities to the full.

This is my message today; this is my message in our present rural development operation called "Gerakan MAJU".

A country does not become great, does not become stable, does not become economically viable, dies not become respected by the rest of the world merely by government policies; a country succeeds and prospers and advances by a combination of sound government policy and hard work, effort and energy on the part of its own people.

This is the theme both behind the laying of this foundation stone and behind our present phase of rural development called "Gerakan MAJU".

You take, for example, our history; when we were faced by Confrontation; when we were faced by the possibility of our sovereignity and independence being violated by Soekarno and his Communists, the whole country rallied together, Malays, Chinese and Indians; they contributed to the Defence Fund, they joined the National Service; they wrote dozens of letters asking how they can help, where can they help and when can they help to defend our country.

That was a great period in our history, a great display of our national unity, which made us the leaders of Malaysia; feel so thankful that we had this mass of loyal citizens behind us in battling against Confrontation, which was in those days of our common enemy.

Now that Confrontation is over, now that we are entering a new era in our history when development will again become the battle-cry; we must therefore ignite the same spirit of national unity in the battlefield of development so that each and everyone of us will give all that we have got, blood, sweat and toil towards development; then the Malaysia of the future, its prosperity and its progress will be assured. Why can't we? I ask all of you, Students of this college and every single citizen of our country: if we can unite together with renewed effort when the enemy is on our borders, let us apply the same principles and unite together in this economic battle of raising of our own standard of living; of raising our output and increasing our income, because, in our development and in our development progress lies the answer to the greatest enemy we have yet to face, the enemy which we will confront together with our new friends in Indonesia, the enemy of Communist domination.

1. Dato' Abdul Rahman bin Musa.