By Lian Cheng
BAU, July 22: The Old Raj flag is not a colonial flag but the original flag of the sovereign nation of Sarawak which existed for a century, says Sarawak Association for Peoples’ Aspiration (Sapa) president Dominique Ng.
The former Padungan assemblyman said those who equated the Old Raj flag with the colonial flag were those who did not understand the history of Sarawak.
Today, at the Sarawak Day Celebration held at Bung Orad, Grogo, Bau, two flags were hoisted. The first been the Old Raj flag which was hoisted in accompaniment of the former Sarawak anthem ‘Fairyland Sarawak’.
Following that, the Sarawak Flag was raised, where the current Sarawak Anthem ‘Ibu Pertiwi’ was sung.
“This flag (the Old Raj flag) is not a foreign flag. This was Sarawak’s flag for a century during which time Sarawak was an independent State, from 1841 to 1941, for a hundred years. We raised this flag when we were an independent nation.
“Many misunderstood. This is not a colonial flag, no. When we were ruled by the Great Britain, they did not use it (the Old Raj flag). They used the Union Jack.
“And when we formed Malaysia, we returned to the use of this flag (Old Raj flag) until 1973. Remember well, this flag was valid. It was not a foreign flag. It was not an invalid flag as claimed by those who did not understand our history. This was the original flag of the nation of Sarawak,” claimed Ng.
He said similarly ‘Fairland Sarawak’ was sung today because it was the Sarawak anthem for the independent nation of Sarawak.
“Even when Malaysia was formed, Fairland Sarawak continued to be sung. I used to hear it from RTM, the correct version of Fairland Sarawak.
“What we sung today was a bit out of tune, I am sorry. But the original version is still in RTM’s archives. And I promise you, one day, we will sing Fairland Sarawak in RTM again. Can we do that? Let us not be afraid of our own history,” said Ng.
He reiterated that Sarawak Day was in fact Sarawak Independence Day, but the fact was distorted as in 2016, former Chief Minister, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem had gazetted it as Sarawak Independence Day but it was later changed to Sarawak Day.
To him, the Federal Constitution may have restored Sarawak and Sabah to Borneo States but what had happened was still not enough.
“We are not only the Borneo States but we in Sarawak and Sabah have rights to be independent States within the Confederation of Malaysia,” said Ng. — DayakDaily
