Hoisting the Jalur Gemilang

The flag of Malaysia, also known as the Jalur Gemilang ("Stripes of Glory"), comprises a field of 14 alternating red and white stripes along the fly and a blue canton bearing a crescent and a 14-point star known as the Bintang Persekutuan or Federal Star. The 14 stripes, of equal width, represent the equal status in the federation of the 13 member states and the federal government, while the 14 points of the star represent the unity between these entities. The crescent represents Islam, the country's official religion; the yellow of the star and crescent is the royal colour of the Malay rulers;The red of the stripes stands for the bloodshed to earn independence. The white stands for the people and economy of Malaysia.

In blazon, the Malaysian flag is described as: "A banner Gules, seven bars Argent; the canton Azure charged with decrescent and mulletof fourteen points Or." This means "a red flag with seven horizontal white stripes; the upper-left (hoist) quarter is blue with a yellow waning crescent (i.e. horns pointing to sinister) and a yellow 14-pointed star." The first flag of independent Malaya was based on the Stars and Stripes of the United States, combined with Islamic symbolism. It had 11 red and white stripes and a blue canton, like the US flag, with a gold crescent and an eleven-pointed star, traditionally associated with Islam. Both the number of stripes and points on the star denoted the 11 states of the Federation. In 1963 three new states- Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak- joined the Federation of Malaysia. To reflect this the flag was amended to 14 red and white stripes representing the 14 states. When Singapore seceded in 1965, the flag remained unaltered. The fourteenth stripe is now said to stand for the federal district of Kuala Lumpur. The blue canton represents the unity of the Malaysian people. The crescent is for Islam, the dominant religion. The 14 points of the star are for unity among the states of the country. Yellow is the traditional color of the rulers of the Malay states. Red and white are also traditional colors in Southeast Asia.

Source: Wikipedia

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I've just hoisted Jalur Gemilang outside my home. It is fluttering proudly on this cloudy, muggy Saturday afternoon. This annual ritual always swells my chest with pride. It's an emotional thing.

Although some angry protesters at the abortive Bar Council forum a few Saturdays ago, demanded that people with my ethnicity deport ourselves to Hu Jintao's country and linked my ethnicity with porcine genes, I am shrugging it off. This land is my land, too. I don't have emotional ties with any other land.

Although I enjoy my pork, I also can't imagine life without nasi lemak, roti canai and beef rendang.

Some say that they won't fly the Jalur Gemilang this weekend. Some want to fly it upside down. But I don't accept such views.

I hoisted Jalur Gemilang right-side up because I have reason to rejoice that in the 51st year of Merdeka voices of differing views (not disorder) can be heard loud and clear. This is a space that was not fully available prior to 2003. And, with this space, the pivotal events of March 8, 2008 could take place.

Perhaps change, like Life, must be taken one day at a time as suggested by the invocation in the Sanskrit poem, Salutation to the Dawn:

Look to this day!

For it is life, the very life of life,

In its brief course

Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:

The bliss of growth

The glory of action

The splendour of beauty,

For yesterday is but a dream

And tomorrow only a vision,

But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day!

Such is the salutation to the dawn.