Let the Rukun Negara be the theme

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C_PC0007623THANK goodness, the quarrel over the theme for the 58th anniversary of Malayan independence (1957) between the federal government and the state government of Penang is over.

In the first place, the controversy was unnecessary.

Had the Penang government stuck to its guns by insisting on the use of the word ‘Bersih’ as part of the theme for the celebrations in the state, the children from those schools selected for the parade and other activities would not be taking part in the show this year. Not that I can understand for one minute what’s wrong with wanting a ‘bersih’ celebration, and nation.

Banning the youngsters from the celebrations would have been a great national shame indeed. Imagine the disappointment for the participants. They had spent hours of rehearsals and all that would have been wasted.

The impact of such a decision on the young minds would have been negative. Sometime in the future, they will realise that they have been made tools of political expediency by their leaders.

Fortunately, cool heads have prevailed but the damage has been done. Let the show go on. A lesson has been learnt: national celebrations must never be tainted by dirty partisan politics. Let’s keep celebrations, well, ‘clean’.

If each state in the federation can freely choose its own theme for a national celebration, Sarawak, has a very popular theme to contribute – Sarawak for Sarawakians.

Although technically the state was not in Malaysia in 1957 and therefore Aug 31 is none of our business, yet we are celebrating it together with other Malaysians, as if we had also achieved independence from Britain in 1957.

By the same token we expect our Peninsular Malaysian brothers and sisters to join us in our celebrations of July 22 next year. That date is important as it marks the handing over of political power by Britain to the local leaders to rule the state.

Sarawakians love parties.

We have been participating in the National Day celebrations since 1964 because we want Malaysia to be a success. After all we helped form the federation and we want it to work according to the original plans, agreements, terms of merger and promises, made by the founding fathers.

If many Sarawakians don’t fly the Jalur Gemilang, they are not being unpatriotic or disloyal to King and country. To us, patriotism and loyalty can only be tested in times of war when the sovereignty of the nation is at stake. In times of peace, we don’t count much anyway.

A compromise

There should not be any more controversy over the choice of the theme for the National Day celebration. By way of a compromise, I suggest that we agree to adopt the five pillars or principles of the Rukun Negara – each pillar for each year.

For 2016 – Belief in God;

For 2017 – Loyalty to King and Country;

For 2018 – Supremacy of the Constitution;

For 2019 – Rule of Law;

For 2020 – Courtesy and Morality.

Belief

It does not mean that we need believe in God only in 2016 and forget about Him during the following four years. Those who believe in God believe in Him every second of the day anyway. Malaysians must be free to call Him by a name of their choice. For instance, the Iban Christians in Sarawak have been calling Him ‘Allah’ since 1848 in their prayers, hymns, songs and other supplications. We will continue using the Word until kingdom come.

Loyalty

In 2017, the theme will be ‘Loyalty to King and Country’. It does not mean that we should only be loyal to our King and the country during that year. We have been loyal all these past many years and will still be in the future.

Should we be invaded by an enemy – God forbid – we shall defeat the enemy with all our hearts and with all our might, believing in God Almighty that in the end we shall be victorious.

Constitution

It does not mean that we recognise the supremacy of the Constitution as the supreme law of the nation in 2018 only, and for the other years we need not recognise that supremacy. Not at all.

Perhaps, the organisers of the celebrations for that year should include the reading of the federal and state constitutions as part of the festival activities. In Sarawak, I suggest people read Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and Article 39 of the State Constitution. Tell others what they are for and show results of their implementation for the past 50 plus years, if any.

Law

It does not mean that only this year must we abide by the rule of law and observe also the various adats and customs – wherever they apply at all times and in all places.

Here lies the importance of the respective role of the legal fraternity, the lawmakers, and the law enforcers, in affirming and preserving the rule of law as well as intervening wherever and whenever the administration of justice in the country is being perverted.

Courtesy

By 2020, our national character will have been moulded for four years, as God fearing, constitutionally correct, law abiding, and loyal citizens of the country. By then, we will behave ourselves better by being more courteous and more morally upright. We should be better citizens by then.

After a five-year cycle is completed, the same yearly theme may be repeated until we can consider ourselves as almost true blue Malaysians, forgetting about our ethnic origins.

Country’s image

As a member of the global village, Malaysia is being

judged by how our lawmakers, the law enforcers and the legal fraternity behave in observing the tenets of the Rukun Negara – especially the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law. They are a cut above the ordinary mortals in this respect – in the forefront in terms of safeguarding the good image of the nation.

EVERY Malaysian is encouraged to participate happily in the celebrations tomorrow.

Come Malaysia Day on Sept 16  – just around the corner – we will be celebrating another national event of historic importance, hopefully with equal gusto and spontaneous enthusiasm.

For Sabah and Sarawak, this is the 52nd anniversary of our participation in the celebrations as equal partners of Malaysia. We are celebrating the day along with our brothers and sisters in the peninsula, a historical anomaly but don’t quarrel over anomalies. Accept them as such and move on.

Happy days are ahead if we look at the bigger picture. We can be good, not ideal, Malaysians. if we make a habit of observing the Principles of the Rukun Negara. The trouble is that many of us do not even remember all the five principles.

I have copied them from somewhere, for my esteemed reader to keep. A quiz for you – what’s the theme for next year?

Comments can reach the writer via [email protected].