Should Malaysia Day take centre stage?

THE Friday sermon for Wilayah Persekutuan on Aug 25 discussed the topic “Appreciate the blessings of independence.”

Independence is one of the greatest gifts bestowed by Allah to His servants. Through it, a nation is free to practise its cultural traditions.

With the achievement of independence, society is free from threats and fears. The economy can be expanded, education can be enhanced, politics can be broadened, the society is protected and, more importantly, citizens would be able to form their own identity and stand proud with other nations of the world.

Indeed, in Islam, being free and independent is considered the right of every human being. But it is not an absolute licence for us to violate limits set by Allah.

Our National Day celebration is a reminder for all Malaysians to appreciate our forebears in their fight for independence, albeit with tact and not force. The celebration, coming to its 60th year, is customarily grand and builds up from a month before. This is the month that most Malaysians express their patriotism and love towards their country by raising the Malaysian flag.

By the way, “independent” is defined as not subject to control by others and “national” is defined as of or relating to a nation.

And how about Malaysia Day that is celebrated on Sept 16?

The United Nations website shows Malaysia as the Federation of Malaya (FoM) that joined the United Nations on Sept 17, 1957 and on Sept 16, 1963, its name was changed to Malaysia following the admission to the new federation of Singapore, Sabah (North Borneo) and Sarawak.

FoM is a federation of 11 states where nine were Malay states (protectorates) and two were British Straits Settlements (colonial territories). Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah were British territories.

We have to bear in mind that Malaysia was not formed through the coming together of 14 states. Malaysia was formed when four nations – Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore – came together to form a federation on Sept 16, 1963.

It was an exceptional feat to be able to convince three other territories to come together to form Malaysia, again with tact and not force.

For the record, both Indonesia and the Philippines withdrew their ambassadors from Malaya on Sept 15, 1963, the day before the new federation of Malaysia was declared. The late President Sukarno regarded Malaysia as a “neocolonialist” plot against his country. This led to a period of “Konfrontasi” until the downfall of Sukarno in 1966.

Meanwhile, the Philippines claimed that North Borneo was part of Sulu but in 1966, President Ferdinand Marcos dropped the claim.

For the last few years, the theme for National Day and Malaysia Day seems to call for unity. Racial polarisation has become a matter of grave concern to all Malaysians.

It has to be addressed with a sense of urgency as it can become a major impediment to national unity and nation-building.

Do we not have the Rukunegara to foster cooperation among the various ethnic communities in the country? National unity is vital and key to Malaysia’s success. It is the bond that seals our nationhood.

Given the worry about racial polarisation and looking forward to national unity and nation-building, do we still want to focus on National Day or should we allow Malaysia Day to move to centre stage? This will give true meaning to the definition of national.

This is by no means to eliminate history but to give emphasis to the needs of nation-building. We must now craft the future for young Malaysians and also for future generations.

Let us sacrifice our differences for the sake of our beloved country. We must unite as Malaysians to continue to achieve greater success and progress.

This could not come at a more opportune time when our Muslim brothers and sisters will be celebrating Eidul-Adha on Sept 1. It is a “feast of the Sacrifice”.

Eid Mubarak (Blessed Eid) to all.