It's that special time of the year again -- to fly our national flag,
"Jalur Gemilang", with honour and pride.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun launched the Merdeka month celebrations this morning which also encompass the observance of Malaysia Day on Sept 16.
The celebrations started with "Fly the Jalur Gemilang" initiative in front of the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya from 8 a.m. attended by thousands of government servants and others in the federal administrative capital.
To get the participants into the right frame of mind, the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM), which is spearheading the month-long celebrations, had encouraged managers of buildings in the area to display the Jalur Gemilang in a big and attractive way.
Besides the Jalur Gemilang, this year's theme of "Di Sini Lahirnya Sebuah Cinta" (This Is Where Love Begins), which has been taken from a line in Sudirman Haji Arshad's popular song, Warisan, is also prominently displayed.
For Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, organising this year's celebrations has been exceptionally challenging.
Originally, he had wanted to have this year's celebrations to have the "wow" factor and to have a big impact on people from all walks of life -- ordinary folks, government employees, youths, students and the business community.
He had even looked into the possibility of going into merchandising the Merdeka celebrations from this year, especially with the special significance of the numericals of "5757", the 57th year of independence for the states in Peninsula Malaysia since 1957.
Unfortunately, Shabery had to take into account the double tragedies of MH370 and MH17, which somewhat dictated that the mood of the celebrations ought to be toned down.
To set the tone right, the entertainment part of the celebrations like fireworks displays has been eliminated while KKMM had also initiated the "Pray for Malaysia" sessions by Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in a big way last Friday and by Christians and Buddhists yesterday.
Shabery said that although one had to give deference and honour those who had lost their lives in tragic circumstances, the independence day celebrations must not be forgotten.
So how do we express our love for the nation? It could start with flying the Jalur Gemilang with honour and pride, the flag that was conceptualised by Mohamed bin Hamzah, a Public Works Department architect from Johor, who beat 372 others in a competition to design the national flag in May 1948. His artwork was finally chosen by the Conference of Rulers in February 1950.
The national flag's current official name of Jalur Gemilang was announced by the country's fourth prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, on Aug 31, 1997 at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, to symbolise the excellence of the nation and its strong, patriotic, hardworking and courageous citizens in every field.
Our flag is the symbol of our sovereignty, freedom, national pride and history. We can all shower more love for it from this year for this was where love began.
By Yong Soo Heong
-- BERNAMA
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