THE MALAYSIAN FLAG

By Datuk Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid Jumat

1. When the late Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of Singapore, was asked how he successfully managed a disciplined city-state with a multiracial and multi-religious background, he simply replied, “Swift prosecution!” 

2. That, he emphasized, was the key to maintaining respect for the Constitution and harmony among citizens. 

3. Below are examples of swift prosecutions carried out by the Singaporean authorities—without endless investigations or perceived interference from political parties with vested interests. 

4. As long as the Malaysian government continues to tiptoe around sensitive issues for fear of losing votes, true peace in this country will remain elusive. 

5. Stern action MUST be taken against any provocateur—regardless of background—and they must be made an example of so that no one dares to test the limits with seditious tendencies in the future. 

6. Too many gaffes have occurred recently—most of which have insulted the Muslim faith—only to be followed by hollow apologies. 

7. The latest: the Malaysian flag depicted without the crescent moon, which symbolizes Islam as the religion of the federation. 

8. To make matters worse, the Chinese national flag was shown in perfect form, while ours was desecrated—by a Malaysian media outlet of the Chinese-language stream. 

9. It would not be unreasonable to question where their loyalties truly lie, especially on the very day Xi Jinping was in town. 

10. Yet another example of their bias can be seen on their front pages, shown below. 

11. This was published the day after the coronation of the Sultan of Johor—an event that hadn’t taken place in 55 years. I leave it to you to decide where their allegiance lies. 

12. Ironically, that very Sultan is now His Majesty the King of Malaysia. Long Live the King! 

13. The blatant violation of our national flag—displayed at a Ministry of Education event, no less—is dangerously becoming a trend. This cannot be tolerated. Those responsible must be punished swiftly and severely. Let’s take a page from the Singapore playbook if we truly seek national unity. 

14. These perpetrators have given real meaning to the phrase “a thousand apologies”—what was once just a figure of speech. They seem to fall back on it repeatedly for gaffes that are increasingly hard to believe are genuine mistakes. 1

5. Well, mistakes are just that—if you choose to believe in them. But when they morph into seditious provocations, followed by endless apologies, often accepted by gullible and overly forgiving leaders, they become a threat to national security.

No More “Charity” For MCA

1. UMNO must reclaim the Malay majority seats of Air Hitam and Tanjung Piai, which we allowed MCA to contest out of our misplaced camaraderie. 

2. Ours has been a party of compassion since decades. Often this trait gets exploited by ingrates taking it for granted. 

3. Since 2009, MCA has been taking potshots at UMNO to the point that we have become a punching bag for them, conveniently claiming that we are the reason for their failure to win back Chinese votes. 

4. While UMNO does not sleep with nor support PAS when they want to impose drastic “Islamic” laws that might hurt the feelings and way of life of the non-Muslims, MCA seems to have no qualms about embracing DAP and the Chinese chauvinistic NGOs in questioning the sensitivities of Malay Muslims taking advantage of our sensibility in the name of their race. 

5. To the best of my knowledge, no Malay BN candidates have stood in any Chinese-dominated constituencies, while there were many Chinese and Indian BN candidates who stood in Malay-dominated ones. This is testament that the Malays are a sensible lot and were responsible for placing them in Parliament.

6. Two glaring cases are that of Air Hitam and Tanjung Piai. They are the only seats in Parliament won by MCA, and on the backs of Malay voters. The other one is Tapah won by MIC. 

7. While many may think MCA stayed with Barisan Nasional out of loyalty and camaraderie, on the contrary, they have no choice but to stick or be damned into oblivion on its own, having no chance with DAP being the dominant Chinese party in West Malaysia. 

8. In GE15, approximately 95% of the Chinese voters in the Peninsula supported our opposition, which clearly meant that even the majority of their own party pathetically voted against them. 

9. Gone are the days when we dismiss their operatives’ attempts to offend us while they “pretend” to disavow or apologise for it . They’ve cried wolf too many times in our books. 

10. We shouldn’t tolerate wolves in sheepskin among us anymore, especially when their existence in Parliament is at our behest. 

11. We can win our battles facing our enemies on our own without the “fake friendly fires” in our midst.

12. Our Final Advice To The MCA Is To Tow The Line Of Unity In The Barisan Nasional. Stop Playing With Identity Politics, Or Just Ship Out!