SEPTEMBER 15 — Should our National Day be celebrated on August 31 or September 16? That is the question you might be pondering if you caught one particular Bernama report dated September 9 on the importance of understanding the celebration.

The report, among others, quoted Samarahan District Council chairman Datuk Peter Minos as saying that National Day should be celebrated to remember Malaysia’s birth as opposed to commemorating Malaya’s independence on August 31, 1957.

It is a logical suggestion that would resonate with many East Malaysians. But should it be done?

Here’s the logic part. The National Day celebration does focus on the independence anniversary of Malaya. Sarawakians and Sabahans share the joy but, really, it’s like celebrating a family member’s birthday —— you’re happy for them, but it’s not your birthday.

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And when that family member insists that it’s the entire family’s birthday, it can become annoying. Hence the recent directive by Communications and Multimedia Ministry in end-August that the National Day celebration should not be called Merdeka Day, nor should the figure “58” be mentioned.

The reason for that was essentially to make East Malaysians feel more included because Sabah and Sarawak only achieved independence six years after the peninsula did. For East Malaysians, the relevant figure this year is 52, not 58.

In this context having the National Day celebration on August 31 would seem a contradiction of sorts: Oxford Dictionaries for example define “national” as “relating to or characteristic of a nation; common to a whole nation”, which seems to apply more to September 16 than August 31.

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Of course this not to take away the significance of the 58th anniversary to the rest of the country. I hold that August 31, 1957 has some significance to East Malaysians in the view that the birth of Malaya as an independent nation paved the way for Malaysia to be born six years later.

Back to the issue though, should Datuk Peter Minos’ suggestion be taken up and applied — as in we start celebrating the National Day on September 16?

The logic is easy but the question is tougher to address. It comes down to this: Are we ready for that sort of change?

I think not. Not yet, at least.

It took 47 years since Malaysia was formed for us to start celebrating September 16 as Malaysia day and a public holiday beginning 2010. It also took 50 years since Malaysia’s birth for Sarawak to start celebrating its own independence anniversary on July 22 beginning 2013.

Even then awareness of the distinction between August 31 and September 16, at least anecdotally, remains somewhat pitiful. When the communications ministry announced last month that August 31 should be celebrated as National Day instead of Merdeka Day, for instance, the general reaction I saw from some West Malaysians ranged from surprise to mild upset.

Clearly so many people still consider August 31 to be the birth of Malaysia as a federation — either through ignorance or relying on the argument that Sabah and Sarawak joined the existing federation as opposed to forming an entirely new federation with the Federation of Malaya and Singapore in 1963.

With this in mind, changing the National Day from August 31 to September 16 would be a rude shock to these people. It would antagonise them not too differently from how the insistence that Malaysia turns 58 this year either irritates or downright upsets Sarawakians and Sabahans in hearing range.

According to the writer, many people still consider August 31 to be the birth of Malaysia as a federation. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
According to the writer, many people still consider August 31 to be the birth of Malaysia as a federation. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

So how? The only way forward to promote awareness of the history of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Malaysia. These things take time and we should let awareness naturally grow through active education.

Forcing this change now would only confuse and cause resentment among West Malaysians to whom August 31 is a very important date — not what the National Day celebration is meant to achieve.

Until awareness of the distinction of, say, between the figures 52 and 58 in year 2015, gains critical mass, it’s probably wiser to let the idea of September 16 as the appropriate National Day naturally form as awareness grows.

If there is political will to educate, we’ll get there eventually.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.