KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — The Rukun Negara will be recited in full in the Parliament at the opening of each term, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul announced today.
He said the implementation has been agreed upon by the Nation-Building Committee and the Race, Education and Human Resources Development Committee.
“I received a motion from the unity minister proposing for the Rukun Negara be recited in full, beginning with the preamble and followed by the five principles, in the House of Representatives," he told the Parliament today before the Question and Answer Time
The Minister of National Unity is Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang.
“I brought this to the Nation-Building Committee and the Race, Education and Human Resources Development Committee, and both have agreed to implement the recitation.
“Therefore, I recommend that the recitation of the Rukun Negara be done at every opening of the Dewan Rakyat term that is on the second day of the first meeting of each parliamentary term,” he added.
Rukun Negara, also spelled Rukunegara, is the five national principles of Malaysia drafted to promote unity after the deadly May 13 incident.
The five principles are: belief in God, loyalty to the King and country, supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law, and courtesy and morality.
The Rukun Negara also includes a preamble describing Malaysia's aspiration to become a united, democratic, just, liberal, and progressive society.
It is commonly recited in schools during weekly assemblies, and in some government functions.