such a simple question.. isn’t? it is a fact that Malaya achieved her independence from the British on the august 31 1957. no one can deny that.. it is also a fact that Malaysia was established on the september 16 1963. people have been celebrating independence day on the 31st of august all these while.. not including me.
on august 31 1963… Sabah attained self-government. Sabah’s independence day should be on that day but due to some objections, it was delayed to the september 16 1963. on that day itself Sabah was declared as an independent state and together with Sarawak who achieved her independence earlier (july 22 1963), Malaya and Singapore formed the Federation of Malaysia.
so… are we 51 years old or 45 years old? it’s an easy mathematical calculation. i say.. as a malaysian, we are 45 years old. i prefer to say that there is no independence day for Malaysia as Malaysia has never been colonized as a federation. i like to call it Malaysia Day because it was the day we have chosen to be together to establish a nation called Malaysia.
but since that day until now.. no one really care about this significant date. it is always stated that our national day is on the august 31st every year. there’s nothing wrong celebrating it since it was the date Malaya achieved her independence. but remember… Malaya alone.. not Malaysia. so what is the point of admitting ourselves as Malaysian when at the same time we are being hipocrite by not practicing it ?
