KUCHING, Aug 14: There is no need to bring up issues like Malaya or Kuala Lumpur not treating Sarawak fairly whenever things such as the National Day celebration or even matters involving the national flag and anthem come up, opined political pundit Dato Peter Minos.
“So long as we are in Malaysia, we must respect and honour our National Day on August 31 each year, just like how we give salutations to our national flag and anthem,” he said in a statement today.
Minos pointed out that it is true that Sarawak formed Malaysia with Malaya and Sabah on Sept 16, 1963. He said it is also true that only Malaya got independence on Aug 31, 1957.
“But Malaysia had officially declared Aug 31 as our nation’s National Day. So why can’t we gracefully accept this national decision? What is there to query about it?” he asked.
He said many nations which are federations or confederations in nature, like the United States and Australia, have one common national day even though each state or province got its independence or freedom during different years.
“Once a common national day was declared, after some amicable compromises were arrived at, all states or provinces complied and no longer asked doubtful questions.
“There is a saying, ‘curse not your family just because you have differences in the family’, The same goes for a nation — “curse not our nation even if we as citizens have some differences with each other,” he added. — DayakDaily
