Merdeka and Malaysia Day double-celebration

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KUALA LUMPUR: With the coincidence of Aidilfitri falling on Aug 30 and 31, this year’s Merdeka Day will be celebrated jointly with Malaysia Day on Sept 16, a date that is particularly special for Sabahans and Sarawakians as it is the day Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak joined together to become the federation of Malaysia in 1963.

For most Sarawakians, Malaysia Day recognises the blood, sweat and tears shed by their forefathers and leaders to achieve independence.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) wanita chief Senator Doris Brodie said Malaysians were blessed to be able to celebrate the 48th Malaysia Day together with the 54th Merdeka Day, especially at a time when the world was faced with various challenges from economic instability, natural disasters and wars.

“However, we must not take the peace and stability that we are enjoying now for granted as all Malaysians must work towards ensuring peace and political stability at all times,” she said, adding that any form of extremism should be discarded and moderation practised instead.

Doris, who is also PRS vice-president, said that as far as Sarawak was concerned, it had developed into a progressive state. As such, it was important for Sarawakians, made up of a plural society, to remain cohesive to ensure its steady progress.

Gracie Geikie, managing director of UCSI Communications Sdn Bhd, said it was necessary for Malaysians to remember the significance of Sept 16, which was only just gazetted as a nationwide public holiday last year.

“As a Sarawakian, I am proud of our independence and what our nation has strived for,” she said.

However, there was a need to inculcate similar values of nationhood among today’s youth and impress upon them the true significance of independence as well as the legacy left behind by their forebears who fought for the people and the country’s sovereignty, she said, “or it would be just another holiday”.

Antap Geosources Sdn Bhd managing director Nathan Achuck said Sarawak had progressed by leaps and bounds through better facilities and other infrastructure since the formation of Malaysia.

Having travelled globally over the years as a geologist, he said he could appreciate the prevailing peace, political stability and racial harmony enjoyed by Malaysians.

“It makes me appreciate what we have because, as a nation, we have gone very far ahead of many countries that have proclaimed their independence before us,” he said, which made him proud to be Malaysian.

As such, he said it was important that people celebrated Merdeka Day and remember that the nation’s future should not be forfeited by petty issues that could cause mayhem and disunity.

Susan Angking, a banker whose family hails from Seruai in the Betong division said, “As someone who was born before the formation of Malaysia, I can see a lot of physical progress taking place but, of course, there is still a lot to be done to bring the rural folk into mainstream development.”

An officer of the Sabah Tourism Board (STB), Hana Sue Harun, 32, welcomed the joint celebration, saying it was a good start to acknowledging the significance of Sept 16.

“To us Sabahans, since Sabah and Sarawak joined to form Malaysia on this date, of course this is something we can appreciate. The fact that last year we, as one nation, started to observe Sept 16 (Malaysia Day) as a public holiday is a good sign.

Civil servant Roena Chu, 29, thinks it is a wise cost-cutting move to celebrate both National Day and Malaysia Day simultaneously.

The 54th Merdeka Day is being celebrated under the slogan ‘1Malaysia: Successful Transformation, Prosperous People’.

This year’s Sarawak-level simultaneous celebrations will be held at the State Legislative Assembly building in Petra Jaya and the Kuching Waterfront.