MAK GAYAH, 77, PUTS 300 FLAGS UP HERSELF

She decorates her home every August

RETIREE Rogayah Abu Hassan, 77, will never allow her age to get in the way of her love for the country. The single mother, known as Mak Gayah, will decorate her double-storey terrace house in Jalan 4/22, Taman Desa Harmoni, here with more than 300 Jalur Gemilang every year.

She said living in the Communist era in the 1940s had taught her the true meaning of being grateful for the country’s independence.

“Makcik (as she addresses herself) has always been excited to celebrate Merdeka, I would ask my children to buy the flags.

“The flags will remain at the places where I put them until the next Merdeka month. I will then take them down and replace them with new ones.

“I put the flags up myself. I use a ladder and chairs to place them in high spots. I have tripped and fallen while decorating my house, but that’s all right, as long as I feel satisfied. It’s exhilarating to see the flags fly.

“Since I moved here in 1998, I would place the flags without fail every year. It has been a habit since I was a child and lived with my family in Kangkar, Tebrau.

“To me, celebrating Hari Raya is not as exciting as National Day. That feeling of happiness, pride, and excitement whenever August comes is something that cannot be described,” said Mak Gayah, who won third place in the neighbourhood-level Fly the Jalur Gemilang competition for the residential category in 2014.

Mak Gayah said her four children supported her interest, despite living away from her, and would provide money to buy the flags.

She said the younger generation might not understand the hardship faced by people in fighting colonialists, especially the Communists.

“I was about 15 during the Communist era. At that time, we had to buy food using blue coupons.

“Our food was rationed; if there were four children in the family, we could buy four kati (2kg) of rice and four packs of mee siam in a week.

“Whether it was enough would be up to us. When the rice ran out, my mother would boil the mee siam and turn it into putu mayam and prepared masak lemak (santan gravy) for us.

“Father told us that the food was rationed for fear that people would feed communists.”

Mak Gayah said she hoped the nation would continue to be protected.

She said she prayed for peace to last and for “our future generation to live in peace”.

Mak Gayah’s only advice: “The hardship faced by the earlier generation, who lived in the era prior to Merdeka, must not be repeated.”