Write an article about
I am proud to be a Malaysian. I am happy with all my friends of various backgrounds. I am grateful for the Malaysians who pay taxes which contribute to my pension after retiring as a professor from a public university.
I am also extra grateful for the non-Malay political parties that worked with a party that represents my community, an alliance which allowed the son of a police constable to study overseas and become a man who is trying to pay it forward to the country.
I am also thankful to God for giving me the health and knowledge to play a small role in our unity government on issues linked to education, interfaith relations and architecture.
But I will not display the national flag this year. There will be no Jalur Gemilang on the gates of my house in Kajang, nor on any of the cars I own. No way. As much as I love and honour my country, I now feel deeply hurt when I look at the flag.
I do not wish to buy a flag and then forget to count the number of points on the star to see if it is correct.
I do not wish to accidentally hang a flag upside down for 20 minutes while some other Malay person snaps a picture and posts it on the internet and spur a certain race-based party to lodge a police report.
I do not want to check whether the blue on the flag is the correct hue or that the number and size of stripes is accurate.
At 63, my eyesight fails me and my memory is not as sharp as before. All these frailties of a mere human being have absolutely no value to some politician seeking popular votes from his racial community and to some influencer trying to boost his or her stupid viewer numbers.
No, I will not buy nor display our national pride, the Jalur Gemilang. It is too dangerous and, more so, heartbreaking.
For me, the national flag no longer reminds me of our proud history and of our creed for unity. For me the flag is now a battleground for populism in scoring cheap political points.
It saddens me that a certain Malay politician is allowed willy-nilly to fling the word “traitor” at people of another race but is immune to criticisms despite being treacherous himself in terms of maintaining racial harmony.
This man is purposely disrupting our harmony as a nation just to make his party relevant to its vote bank – and to get himself re-elected, of course.
The blame cannot lie with this politician alone, but on those who have enabled him, by being bystanders and letting him get away with his actions.
It pains me. Not so much the antics of this particular politician, but our failure to protect the dignity of our citizen brethrens.
Then there are also friends of these politicians who, I am ashamed of saying, are academics like myself. Friends who also pounce on our hard-working and loyal citizens when there is a gaffe involving the flag.
Friends who keep mum when a similar blunder is committed by someone of their own race.
Worse than the deafening silence by these bystanders, however, is that the offender would be honoured with titles and political positions in the unity government. It is utterly embarrassing.
How can we call ourselves a nation and a people when we do not take into account the contributions of those who helped build this nation and are quick to denounce the entire community, strip them of any dignity all because of an oversight?
To be labelled a traitor and humiliated over a mishap that lasted for a few minutes is unjust in the bigger scheme of things.
To me, the real traitors are the politicians and those of that ilk who are quick to accuse and condemn without a shred of evidence in support, other than a snippet of a video clip.
I see no value in celebrating Merdeka or hoisting the Jalur Gemilang this year, when the flag is now associated with the actions of a self-serving politician.
The day does not remind me of how we cut loose from our colonisers, but only serves to recall the pain and sadness over the current state of the country.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
in 1000-1500 words .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing tags from
I am proud to be a Malaysian. I am happy with all my friends of various backgrounds. I am grateful for the Malaysians who pay taxes which contribute to my pension after retiring as a professor from a public university.
I am also extra grateful for the non-Malay political parties that worked with a party that represents my community, an alliance which allowed the son of a police constable to study overseas and become a man who is trying to pay it forward to the country.
I am also thankful to God for giving me the health and knowledge to play a small role in our unity government on issues linked to education, interfaith relations and architecture.
But I will not display the national flag this year. There will be no Jalur Gemilang on the gates of my house in Kajang, nor on any of the cars I own. No way. As much as I love and honour my country, I now feel deeply hurt when I look at the flag.
I do not wish to buy a flag and then forget to count the number of points on the star to see if it is correct.
I do not wish to accidentally hang a flag upside down for 20 minutes while some other Malay person snaps a picture and posts it on the internet and spur a certain race-based party to lodge a police report.
I do not want to check whether the blue on the flag is the correct hue or that the number and size of stripes is accurate.
At 63, my eyesight fails me and my memory is not as sharp as before. All these frailties of a mere human being have absolutely no value to some politician seeking popular votes from his racial community and to some influencer trying to boost his or her stupid viewer numbers.
No, I will not buy nor display our national pride, the Jalur Gemilang. It is too dangerous and, more so, heartbreaking.
For me, the national flag no longer reminds me of our proud history and of our creed for unity. For me the flag is now a battleground for populism in scoring cheap political points.
It saddens me that a certain Malay politician is allowed willy-nilly to fling the word “traitor” at people of another race but is immune to criticisms despite being treacherous himself in terms of maintaining racial harmony.
This man is purposely disrupting our harmony as a nation just to make his party relevant to its vote bank – and to get himself re-elected, of course.
The blame cannot lie with this politician alone, but on those who have enabled him, by being bystanders and letting him get away with his actions.
It pains me. Not so much the antics of this particular politician, but our failure to protect the dignity of our citizen brethrens.
Then there are also friends of these politicians who, I am ashamed of saying, are academics like myself. Friends who also pounce on our hard-working and loyal citizens when there is a gaffe involving the flag.
Friends who keep mum when a similar blunder is committed by someone of their own race.
Worse than the deafening silence by these bystanders, however, is that the offender would be honoured with titles and political positions in the unity government. It is utterly embarrassing.
How can we call ourselves a nation and a people when we do not take into account the contributions of those who helped build this nation and are quick to denounce the entire community, strip them of any dignity all because of an oversight?
To be labelled a traitor and humiliated over a mishap that lasted for a few minutes is unjust in the bigger scheme of things.
To me, the real traitors are the politicians and those of that ilk who are quick to accuse and condemn without a shred of evidence in support, other than a snippet of a video clip.
I see no value in celebrating Merdeka or hoisting the Jalur Gemilang this year, when the flag is now associated with the actions of a self-serving politician.
The day does not remind me of how we cut loose from our colonisers, but only serves to recall the pain and sadness over the current state of the country.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
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