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“Negaraku, Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku…”

For most, if not all of the Malaysian Students here in the UK & Eire, the melodic tune of our national anthem induces nostalgia in our bones. Poetry sleeps within our eyes as we mumbled the tunes of Negaraku, half-awake at 7am whilst the Jalur Gemilang is hoisted up proudly by the school prefect. In those star-dazed moment years ago, none of us really realised what that simple piece of cloth could mean to us as a nation. It was when we moved abroad, to a foreign land of different cultures and social norms, that we realised we took the unity and common love for the Jalur Gemilang for granted. 

The sense of belonging is what most Malaysians studying abroad misses the most. The famous Malaysian lah laced around perfectly coherent Manglish (to us, at least), interwoven with a sense of community and acceptance. This led us to appreciate our motherland more than ever, with the sincere hope that the ones at home, especially the younger generation, will appreciate the need to love and protect our beautiful nation. The Jalur Gemilang embodies everything we love about our country. Flags are a unique representation of a country, often flown majestically in international events and treated with the utmost honour and respect by its citizens. They are carefully designed to signify hardships in the past and the fight for freedom, symbolising the authority and sovereignty of the land, as well as the peace and unity of its people.

What we feel
However, today, we cannot help but notice that there have been numerous cases where our Jalur Gemilang has been disrespected. Truth be told, we were quite taken aback by the most recent episode of an incorrectly designed Jalur Gemilang, which was displayed during the opening ceremony of the 28th MABA Milo Lum Mun Chak Cup, a basketball tournament. The fact that many similar cases have surfaced in the past few years has made us worried about the pride and honour of our country.

In January 2019, Malaysian singer Santesh Kumar insensitively displayed an altered version of the Jalur Gemilang on his shirt on a local television programme, sparking outrage from netizens across the country. In the same month, controversial videos that went viral on Facebook showed Filipino lawyer-turned-politician, Elly Pamatong burning the Jalur Gemilang on two separate occasions. Back in October 2016, nine Australian tourists stripped down to swimsuits decorated with the Malaysian flag, emblazoned with the words ‘Budgy Smuggler’ to celebrate the win of their country’s representative, Daniel Ricciardo, in a Formula 1 race during the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Each case mentioned above illustrates the abhorrent act of flag desecration, which is ultimately disrespectful towards a nation and its citizens as a whole. Though as Malaysians we have the right to condemn these actions, this challenges us to defend our nation through the proper mechanisms rather than reacting emotionally. Whilst the government and relevant authorities have vowed to take strict actions against the delinquents, we believe that it is important that we start educating the public about the history and meaning of Jalur Gemilang. 

Historical Context 
Our ancestors despised the idea of the Malayan Union; our history textbooks made this very clear for us. After numerous public protests and street demonstrations, the British colonizers heeded to our demands. The short-lived Malayan Union was promptly replaced by the Federation of Malaya and shortly after that, the Federal Legislative Council announced a flag design contest, attracting more than 350 entries at that time. Three designs were forwarded to the public and a poll was carried out by The Malay Mail to  gather the public’s opinion. 

After a few weeks, the third design was voted as the most popular choice by the public. It was then approved by the ‘Majlis Raja-Raja Melayu’ after the legislative council swapped the colour of the canton and the stripes. The designer, Mohamed Hamzah, a 29-year-old architect at Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) in Johor Bahru, was then called in by the senior statesman, Dato’ Onn Jaafar to change the 5 pointed star which was deemed controversial due its resemblance to  the communist logo. Hence, the star was made to have 11 points instead to represent the 11 states of the federation at the time. This flag was first raised in the Sultan of Selangor’s residence and second, in 1957 at Stadium Merdeka in place of the Union Jack, symbolising newly gained independence from Britain. 

History was made in 1963 when the name “Malaysia” was adopted by the federation in conjunction with the addition of three new states; Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Additionally, the flag was amended to manifest three additional stripes and a 14 pointed star instead to reflect the changes made to our nation’s identity. Despite Singapore’s expulsion from Malaysia two years later, the design remained the same where the ‘14th’ state was replaced by the federal territories; Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. In 1997, the governing Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad named our flag ‘Jalur Gemilang’  to project the country’s onward drive towards continuous growth and success.

Meaning of Jalur Gemilang: 
Jalur Gemilang is also known as ‘Stripes of Glory’. The total of 14 alternating red and white horizontal stripes is an embodiment of the nation’s 13 member states and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. Red and white represents  courage and purity respectively. The top left corner of the flag consists of a dark blue canton, on which a yellow crescent and a yellow 14-point star can be seen. While the colour blue represents harmony of the people; yellow symbolises the royal colour of the Malay rulers. The crescent acknowledges Malaysia’s official religion of Islam. Similar to the stripes, the 14-point star is yet another face of the Malaysian states and Federal Territories.

Conclusion
Whilst we commend the authorities for taking a firm stance in this issue, we urge the government to also consider additional measures to not only prosecute but also educate the delinquents by raising civic awareness. While punitive measures such as fines or fixed hours of community service acts as an effective deterrent, we recommend mandatory civic classes for those who have been prosecuted with the current legislations in place (Section 504 of the Penal Code for intentionally insulting or provoking someone to break the public peace; Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 for using any indecent or abusive words or behaviour with the intention of breaking the peace; and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for wrongful use of network facilities).  These mandatory civic classes should be conducted by a governmental institution aiming to alter the detestable behaviour of those charged of the misconduct by enrooting elements of patriotism and devotion towards our motherland.

We would also like to implore the Ministry of Education and teachers to reinforce the importance of Pendidikan Sivik in schools. Perhaps the quality of the subject and its teachings should be made more meaningful to plant the seeds of patriotism from a young age and tackle this problem at the grassroot level. We call upon the whole of Malaysia to learn, understand, and appreciate the chronicles and true meaning of our nation’s flag. Let the Jalur Gemilang flag continue to soar high with pride and honour!