MARCH 27 — Occasionally, due to the small interface, virtual chess opponents berate me for Trump and Gaza since a shrunken Malaysian flag next to my nick is mistaken to be American.
Fortunately, yesterday’s education ministry circular instructed students — regardless of uniform, sports attire, traditional wear — to adorn Jalur Gemilang badges daily. If not the world, Malaysians will at least know how the flag looks.
There’s poetry in that the “love thy nation” move was passed by the Cabinet on Valentine’s Day.
Compliance by April 21, which is less than a month away.
Parents to buy rendang and badges over the Raya holiday.
They’d be mindful the circular was specific.
Five cm long, 2.5 cm width. Don’t be cheeky by converting it to inches — two by one, the extra milimetres may cost your children merit points if confronted by a strict disciplinary master.
All around the world, Égalité via Fraternité
Rules and rituals to inculcate patriotism are common worldwide. Why?
Because the nation state is a construct. It requires artificial steps in repetition to imbue a sense of identity.
After all, while Sumatra and Malaya are closely linked, they were only one administrative zone for two years under Japanese Occupation. The long-term colonial divisions sealed by the 1824 Anglo-Dutch treaty consigned Malaysia and Indonesia permanently separate. Us, Malaya in Malaysia, and they Sumatra in Indonesia.
In the same vein, little culture or history binds Java to Irian Jaya’s head-hunters, and Malayans to Brooke’s kingdom or the not so little North Borneo Company of Dent and Overbeck.
Malaysia and Indonesia are not the only two countries to inherit colonial borders. The Philippines next door can attest to the Mindanao Muslim folks who said they never asked to be included in a grouping named after a dead Spanish king.
South and North Korea are split by Cold War contestations, as were East and West Germany for nearly half a century.
Events, geography, invaders and languages continue to plague nations. South Sudan was untangled from Sudan, and Eritrea’s exit from Ethiopia emboldens restive Tigray to try to follow.
Countries are brittle and nationalists use schools, buildings and anything available to strengthen foundations which are always challenged.
Malaysia’s new badge rule for state schools has merits. What is carrying an additional seven grammes — I asked AI — all day compared to nurturing love among countrymen for the nation? Will it really weigh us down? For young children, it’s nowhere close to the backpacks they lift back and forth daily.
But honestly, how heavy should a sentiment be before it is too heavy to bear?
Form and function
My organisation runs an arts project around patriotism annually. The participants are largely B40. A competition to suss out how our young feel and think about their country, and less about their artistic prowess.
As such, the three editions to date without fail are filled with symbols, pre-eminently the flag.
The art produced.
Children carrying flags, youths running with the flag, teenagers standing at attention beside the flag, and so on and so forth. What was absent primarily was their own interpretation of the country, not least the flag.
Reminds me of a Garbage track, Special, when Shirley Manson rues her lover: “Thought you were special with a mind of your own”. When the submissions come in.
I see art, I see repetition of state conditioning but no bravery, introspection or rebellion. No reimagining of their country and its symbols.
How can the omnipresent flag badge reinvigorate? More to the point, what of this new measure is different from all the previous “build a national sense” initiatives?
In my 13 state school years, not once did a teacher, technician, gardening staff or casual prowler asked what I thought of my flag and country.
Apparently, my thoughts on the matter were irrelevant when it came to loving my country. We are simply required to love it. And then my thoughts return to present day and the vitriol permeating in social media. Ten minutes of perusing the comments and I feel queasy.
Nothing shocks me but just the persistent and consistent negativity held by Malaysians against each other on the basis of identity politics raises serious questions of whether we do know each other as people. It seems those who look different are just caricatures.
Our art project was intended to allow discourse in a non-prohibitive format, using visuals. Remove the hangups.
I fear, however, they are just pretending. Giving what they think we want. What they are prepped to repeat, but not believe.
Perhaps in their private spaces they display animosity towards their fellow Malaysians.
For it seems, during my time in school and ever since, Malaysians are told what Malaysia and being a Malaysian means, and like exam questions, the masses keep the answers ready to pass. They are OK as long as they do not think about it.
Except citizenship is not a test.
And civic education, a series of conversations. The more the better.
The control freaks, or better known as our policy makers disagree.
They are convinced that discussion is uncertain but memorisation is better propaganda.
I’ll draw them back to the key idea at the start.
Nations are constructs, artificial in degrees. Their abstract nature requires discourse and debate.
Over here, our football fans assume Spain is simple to understand because they are Spaniards. Except many Basque and Catalonia people are not enamoured to stay under La Rojigualda just because they canter to trophies.
For instance, less known, Athletic Bilbao only fields Basque players in the league. Because the league is Spanish but they are Basque.
Yet Malaysia, a nation of 60 years, seeks to incorporate 33 races inside two land tracts separated by the largest sea in the world by telling its people they are a people, over and over. Thirty-four million Manchurian Candidates.
Gotta keep em’ separated
Absolutely brilliant.
They are adding badges now. Absolutely brilliant multiplied by badges.
Before Jalur Gemilang badges, they introduced name tags and later sports attire for hot days. Each new rule is formalised. Part of school-life. Except adornments without personality despite being ubiquitous are invisible.
To bring Jalur Gemilang into our children’s minds and hearts requires talking about Jalur Gemilang.
The teachers, the students. With each other. The disagreements are good to bring reflections.
But we won’t know, since we won’t risk it. Just wear the badge, daily, all of you. It’ll be part of your life without being part of your life. That’s a Malaysian-ism if there was ever one.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
