SHAH ALAM, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said today modules for programmes to instill nationalism and patriotism, such as those organised by the National Civics Bureau (BTN), should take into account solidarity in a multiracial community.

He also said that Islam as the official religion and Bahasa Melayu as the national language, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, should also be seen as the bases for integration of the people in the country.

Abdul Khalid spoke to reporters after presenting Quality Day 2009 awards to Selangor government employees, department and agencies, here.

He said regardless of whether the federal government agreed or disagreed with the state government's decision to prohibit its employees and students of its tertiary institutions from attending the BTN courses, the move had sparked debate on how to effectively instill in the people love for the country.

It would be good to have discussions among various groups, including political parties, non-governmental organisations and academicians, so as to identify a suitable model to instill in the people love for the country, he said.

Abdul Khalid said the state government could train its officers to be more proactive by understanding the constitution, knowing their self worth and exposing themselves to thinking as proposed by motivational expert Edward de Bono to face challenges.

In his speech earlier, the menteri besar said one of the challenges of the Selangor government was in making available services so that the state's rising population, augmented by people who have migrated there since 2007, felt that the state was safe and clean.

He said the state government had received many applications from developers to build closed community housing areas, which showed that the safety aspect was a long-term and difficult matter to overcome but at the same time it did not reflect the progress of a state.

Abdul Khalid said he wanted to avoid turning Selangor into an elite area such as Makati, Manila, in the Philippines where perimeter walls were higher than the houses and broken glass was embedded on the top of the walls to stop intruders from getting in.

He said it would be preferable to have housing estates such as in some places in Australia where there were no fences and the people were able to live in peace and comfort and cooperated with one another to maintain their parks.

Abdul Khalid said that this year the state government had made available an incentive of RM100,000 for every local authority which was able to collect up to 90 percent of taxes and 70 percent of the arrears in taxes as of 2008.

The local authorities which received the 2008 tax collection performance awards were Sepang, Gombak, Kuala Selangor, Klang, Sabak Bernam, Petaling, Hulu Selangor and Hulu Langat.

In KUALA LUMPUR, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin dismissed claims that the decision to review the curriculum of BTN courses showed that the government was giving in to the demands of the opposition political parties.

The Cabinet had discussed a proposal to review the curriculum to adjust it to the present circumstances, he told reporters when asked to comment on yesterday's Cabinet decision to make the curriculum more suitable for all communities in line with the 1Malaysia concept.