As I walked one morning to have my breakfast, I stopped and stared at a Malaysian flag that was in tatters. On the way home, I took it down and properly disposed of it among my worn clothes.
The flag is a national symbol that has a mythical sacredness for the nation.
As a kid, during the morning school assembly, we stood still at attention as we sang the national anthem, Negaraku, and saluted the flag, Jalur Gemilang, as it was raised slowly up its pole.
During the Merdeka month from mid-August to mid-September as we celebrated our country’s independence, the non-examination classes were asked to parade in front of our school as a Merdeka motorcade passed through. We, in unison with other schoolmates, waved the flag till the parade was out of sight.
The major shopping areas in the cities of Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown, Johor Bahru, Malacca, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching decorated their shops with the flag and other national symbols such as hibiscus flowers and cultural artefacts of the various ethnic groups.
The Malaysian flag would flutter in the air as people entered the premises. Even shops in remote towns and rural areas were decorated with small and big versions of the nation’s flag.
As I grew older, I lost the energy to wave the flag, but my children have taken over with excitement as they wave the flag during their parades while wearing costumes with futuristic designs such as depictions of Star Wars characters.
As the nation becomes more affluent, social norms, ideas and behaviour of the citizens also change. That’s why some segments of Gen Y or millennials identify themselves as global citizens. Some even long to migrate to other countries such as Australia, USA, Canada and the UK.
Economic failures such as inflation, high unemployment, dwindling opportunities and depression are the push factors for such migration. If not, they see the nation as a marketplace.
