Happy Malaysia Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Malaysia Day!

 

We should do some serious thinking. It’s been 67 years since the Federation of Malaya attained independence from British colonial rule and 61 years since Malaya, Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore came together to form the Federation of Malaysia. [Singapore, of course, was asked to leave in 1965].

 

Every year those in Peninsular Malaysia celebrate both Merdeka Day on August 31 and Malaysia Day on September 16. Me included.

 

But why do we need to have two National Days? FMT columnist A Kathirasen raises a valid question. Shouldn’t Malaysia Day be National Day as it covers the whole nation? He is suggesting that we should all just celebrate one day, i.e. September 16. Methinks, it merits important consideration.

 

Every Malaysian knows that Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj (left) declared the independence of the Federation of Malaya on August 31, 1957 by shouting “Merdeka” seven times at Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur. But that was not the only occasion in which he did that.

 

The father of independence also shouted “Merdeka” seven times at the same place when he announced the merging of the Federation of Malaya with Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah to form Malaysia on September 17, 1963, a day after its official founding. The name “Malaysia” only came about after September 16, 1963.

 

August 31 does not have the same significance for Sarawakians and Sabahans as it does for those in the peninsula. Last year, Sabah celebrated August 31 as Sabah Day to mark the day Sabah gained self-governance from British rule, on the road to the formation of Malaysia. However, Sabah Day was only officially gazetted this year. In 2016, Sarawak gazetted July 22 as Sarawak Independence Day and a public holiday – and the state observed the 50th anniversary of Sarawak’s independence from Britain with pomp and ceremony on July 22, 2013.

 

If Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak had been granted independence on the same day – as was initially planned – we would all have only one day of independence to celebrate.

 

But thanks to opposition to the formation of Malaysia by Indonesia and the Philippines, the United Nations decided to send a fact-finding mission to the two Borneo states to ascertain if the people really wanted a Federation of Malaysia, and the formation of Malaysia was pushed to September 16.

 

The existence of a Merdeka Day, Sabah Day, and a Sarawak Day sadly illustrates the reality of the situation: Malaysia is not just divided between East and West by the South China Sea, but also by emotional attachment. 

 

I reckon, it is high time we exercise courage to properly bridge all this "separateness" and "separation" and that we truly become one. 

 

Can we do it, I wonder? Do we want to?