"It is purely mine and some of my colleagues together" he told over 100 Singapore-based foreign journalists at a gala dinner organised by the Foreign Correspondents' Association (FCA) of Singapore here tonight.
Najib said the 1Malaysia concept was a Malaysian one and he categorically denied claims by some people that it originated from Israel or other countries.
Recently, Pakatan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had claimed that Najib’s 1Malaysia concept had similarities with the One Israel concept.
The Prime Minister said although the one concept was not new as many countries such as China used it to promote a sense of belonging or togetherness among its people, the 1Malaysia concept went beyond that, that it was 1Malaysia
– People First, Performance Now.
Najib who arrived here this evening with his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor upon the invitation of the FCA addressed the crowd for half an hour before taking questions from the floor for another 45 minutes.
The Prime Minister who began by speaking at length on the 1Malaysia concept said upon helming premiership, he realised that the Malaysian electorate wanted a massive transformation, and not in an incremental manner in the running of the
country.
Najib said the tsunami in the last 2008 general elections when the Barisan Nasional (BN) for the first time lost a two-third majority in parliament, was an indication that the people wanted massive changes politically and economically.
The Prime Minister explained how the 1Malaysia concept was conceived and its succeeding programmes came into being, such as the Government Transformation Programmes, New Key Results Areas and the New Economic Models, which became the main pillars of the concept.
He said the concept was a guiding philosophy for his government to serve the people irrespective of their race and culture, emphasizing that the ultimate goal of any government was to serve the people.
The Prime Minister said he now felt more relaxed since he had laid down the foundation for the development of the country and the immediate move now would be to execute all the programmes for the benefit of the people.
He said the ratings on his leadership as shown by recent private polls indicated that there was a strong confidence among the people as there was now a sense of direction on where the country was heading.
During question time, Najib said there was no possibility that Malaysia and Singapore would re-merge in future, saying "realistically, it will not be happening and too traumatic to have a political reunification."
He said he would rather see the people from both countries work together in all fronts, especially economically.
Najib also said there was no immediate plans to privatize the national oil corporation, Petronas, except for its two subsidiaries, as announced recently.
The prime minister and wife left for Kuala Lumpur after the dinner.
- Bernama
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