I am a proud Malaysian. Ask anyone who has known me for the last 50 years or so! In fact my entire family is made up of proud Malaysians, all 30 of us, thanks to my Dad and Mum.

Today, though my loyalty, my feeling of patriotism and my feelings about celebrating the Golden Jubilee are mixed. I am not sure, all things considered, whether I should be celebrating. Therefore, I decided that this year I will not fly the flag; which I grew up saluting and always respecting and almost always flying.

In 32 years of public service, I used to keep a flag in my office. So, I flew the flag daily for all those years. Maybe it is because I respect the flag too much that I will not fly it this year; especially because of the many crooks and thieves who may also be flying it. All kinds of rule-breakers are flying it, some even breaking rules while flying it.

And it appears that it is merely our symbolic way of saying everything is okay, when it really is not. The original \’Merdeka spirit\’ is not there any more, to my heart and mind. If the Tunku were alive today, he would maybe even cry at how we have abused his dream.

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What then is the real meaning of flying the Jalur Gemilang? First and foremost the flag to me is the symbol of our nation; much like the Federal Constitution and the Yang DiPertuan Aging are symbols of the nation. Both these are supra-political but national institutions.

They transcend party politics and exist to defend the interest of the nation and never only the sectarian interests of any one group. This symbolism is important even for the modern generation; especially to teach them our older and age-old values and civil courtesies. We must therefore not abuse flag-flying or make it a farce.

Much like the keris which is a symbol of traditional Malay authority and feudal power, the flag is a symbol of everything we call the Federation of Malaysia. Neither the keris nor the constitution should be waved for political and sectarian interests. The keris should be preserved for purely Malay cultural events involving the Rulers, to my mind. The Federal Constitution should not become a tool of anyone\’s political manipulation, as Raja Nazrin Shah has rightly reminded us.

I believe there was in fact a time when only the King\’s and Sultan\’s cars could fly the flag on their vehicles; and in other countries, only the Malaysian Ambassador\’s car could fly the flag. Today, we have everyone flying it in every which way, to the point that the symbol may be losing its true meaning. Some symbols need to be treated with dignity and honour.

Better off today?

Today, we approach 50 years of sovereignly free and politically democratic existence. That was the singular dream of our Founding Father Tunku Abdul Rahman: to have one united nation. But are we more united and more caring of every other Malaysian, as he envisioned it?

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Would the Tunku be proud of all of us and our conduct? Are we in fact not abusing our democracy to serve only particular and sectarian interests of the visible majority? I am only asking because I have serious and sincere doubts.

Recently, someone sent me one of those emails which stated some astounding facts and figures. Are these correct? Are these true? If not, someone had better refute these so-called \’facts and figures\’:

1. Is it factually true that out of the five major Malaysian-owned banks, only one has multi-racial ownership while the rest are owned and controlled by Malays? Does this augur well for national unity?

2. Petronas is our national petroleum development corporation. Is it true that 99 percent of its directors are Malays? If so why? What is the logic for this after 50 years of independence? Do non-Malays make up only 3 percent of employees in Petronas? Is it further true that 99 percent of 2,000 Petronas gasoline stations are owned by Malays? Does this also include the ones in Sabah and Sarawak? Is it further true that 100 percent of Petronas projects must be given to those with bumiputera status?

3. Is it true that only 5 percent of recruits into the public services are non-Malays? It is also true that as you move on in the public service career towards Putrajaya that the number of \’other\’ representation drops to about only 2 percent? Should not there be \’a reverse discrimination policy\’ that gives special preferences to non-Malays to live, work and enjoy the privilege of being in Putrajaya? Would the late Tunku really be proud of Putrajaya, given that we use his name to abuse his spirit of national unity?

I could go on and on as the email had a host of other related issues. But, I think the three are good enough to make the point.

But, my even more serious question is how much of all this the bottom 30 percent of Malaysia own. Is not the answer to this question simply a matter of our own free and democratic political will? This does not involve colonial powers, American capitalists, the Jewish agenda or even an Overseas Chinese plot. It may even be a agenda of the ummah !

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Therefore, as we turn 50, is it not time for the nation to mature in our thinking and reflectively consider the real values that we are teaching our children and our grandchildren? I can categorically state that the current values are not the true and original values of Merdeka.

So, how can we love this nation even more under such austere circumstances, when most of our basic rights and privileges agreed to under the Social Contract have been reinterpreted and abused? For that matter, are we really much better off than 50 years ago? I am not sure. I really am not sure.

Sure, materially we are better off. Even in terms of religion, we appear to be better off. But, morally, ethically and spiritually are we better off? The true and honest Merdeka spirit of 50 years ago is not simply about celebrating something of the past; it must also have meaning in the present time and give some sense of hope for the future; to our children and grandchildren. Such a real spirit cannot be manufactured through posters, billboards and coloured lights; while millions in public funds are in fact wasted to advertisers.

False pride

Do we all feel a sincere and honest feeling of patriotism and can we say we are proud to call this country our home? Or, do we have a nagging doubt that we may be in a bad dream? Worse still, will those of us who are older and know so, publicly admit that we were in fact better off ethnically in the past?

How can we be proud to call this our home when the governors whom we trust are stealing and abusing public funds on daily basis? I am sorry to say that more of our so-called leaders today are crooks than upright people. There may be more crooks among titled people than ordinary ones. Bribery and corruption is now a way of life; but we have no will-power to deal with it.

But worst of all, I do not see any public policy will or seriousness in addressing all the issues we face related to integrity, especially integrity of our system of governance. We somehow seem to be very clever to miss out on the major issues and focus on the minor ones.

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We attack a young rapper but cannot see a corrupt and abusive local councillor who cannot explain where he got the money to build his multi-million dollar home. He gets more time in the cabinet than the rapper singer? Why? With more than 40 percent of our police officers living beyond their means, was this discussed by the cabinet – did it even discuss issues raised by Raja Petra Kamaruddin?

Come on Malaysia, are we serious? Can we really celebrate with all this happening around us? Let us look at more cases – rape of green lungs, abuse of authority in local government, mismanagement of state assets through abuse of contracts via state-linked companies, and the bailout of companies.

Next, look at our judiciary which does not know its left hand from its right, although they all swear to uphold the Federal Constitution. They abuse our rule of law by making decisions which abuse the integrity of our system of constitutional governance. They allow their private values to cloud their judicial minds and hearts, although they have sworn otherwise. Instead of then resigning, they occupy the position of power and, through adjudication, consign justice to the dustbin of Malaysian history.

They allow Islamisation to creep in by the back door. Now the Chief Judge of Malaysia even says that we should do away with the common law system and use the \’non-common\’ Islamic values of jurisprudence. One previous Lord President was tried and sacked for this very offence.

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In the same context, state governments enact religious rules that abuse the public civil space and reduce the livable public space of non-Muslims. Moral policing becomes a public space activity and now even includes non-personal and family matters. Citizens of different faiths thereby lose their freedom of conscience and choice of faith by administrative fiat of the backdoor.

So, can anyone give me one simple and good reason to fly the flag? I gave my reasons for not doing so and have explained this to my children. I know I may be a poor example to others. I am sure my father too will be upset with me. But my plea is \”I can do not other\”, as Catholic reformer Martin Luther said as he disagreed with the Church in his time.

In closing, let me quote Dr Dzulkufli Ahmad who wrote in almost similar spirit. I agree fully with him. He concludes his article on partriotism with the words: \”Patriotism, in the final analysis, is about defending the nation against aggression, especially from the misdeeds of the government of the day!\”

May God continue to bless Malaysia, nevertheless.