Assalamualaikum and Salam Sejahtera. Happy New Year and welcome again to 1Malaysia.com.my.

I am delighted to be able to speak to you again as we say goodbye to 2008 and bid welcome to 2009. It is now nearly four months since 1Malaysia.com.my was launched and how interesting those months have been. Many of you sent in your messages and comments to me on various issues and whenever I go through them, I feel encouraged that so many Malaysians want to be engaged and are interested to participate in building this nation by sharing their thoughts and views.

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I am happy to be able to reach out through 1 Malaysia again today. At the moment, I am enjoying spending some quality time with my wife and children. This short break will also give me the opportunity to catch up on my latest reading, "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency" as I take a bird's eye view... take a deep breath and reflect upon a perspective or two about the situational assessments on current issues in the country.

Our unique diversity is again strongly echoed this week. During this long school break, there is a hive of activity going on as Malaysians celebrate Christmas today and with Awal Muharram around the corner too. This is a great time to be with our families. I am sure many of us will make use of this respite to reconnect with our loved ones, after being apart due to work commitments, study or travel. I am doing exactly that at this very moment and I hope you surely are with your family too. At the end of the day, after a hard day's work, there is nothing like sharing our laughter with the family. Whether it is sitting together and watching television, having a long and memorable dinner or even enjoying a holiday together, the family bond is a key part of our lives. Naturally, it is a time to be thankful and jolly - let us share that with our loved ones. In this regard, we should also not forget to think of our police force, our soldiers and firefighters, relief officers, nurses and other emergency personnel who are on call, away from their family.

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Once again it is the time of Eidul Adha or Hari Raya Haji as many in Malaysia would call it. For Muslims the world over, this celebration revolves around two things of major significance in the Islamic faith. The first is the performance of the fifth pillar of Islam which is the pilgrimage to Makkah. The second is the ritual sacrifice or Qurban, which is symbolic of the Quranic story of the prophet Ibrahim who sacrificed his son Ismail on the command of the Almighty.

Both elements of the Eidul Adha hold particular significance for Muslims in Malaysia. For those on their pilgrimage, or having relatives who are performing the Hajj, the Eid will be full of prayers and hopefulness that their supplications and all their 'ibadah' will be accepted by Allah. For those performing the Qurban, the sacrifice is hoped to aid towards their spiritual cleansing, especially by giving meat from the sacrifice to the poor and needy.

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