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A tale of two flags

Tajuddin Rasdi

-11 Nov 2024, 07:30 AM

I have many Chinese Malaysians as friends and colleagues, and I don’t recall hearing any one of them wanting to abandon Malaysia to live in China.

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Several politicians from parties based on race and religion have on several occasions raised concerns over the waving of China’s national flag.

Before this issue came up, I had no idea that waving the flag of another country could be considered a crime punishable by the law. That was a real surprise to me, in this day and age of globalisation and the borderless internet.

A lawyer friend I had consulted said the law was created by the British during the colonial era, when the fight against communism and the idea of Malays siding with Indonesia were threats to national security.

However, is it valid now that there are no more communist or Indonesian threats to the country? Why is it okay to fervently wave the Palestinian flag but not to wave China’s flag?

Furthermore, as far as I can tell, it’s predominantly the Malays who waved Palestinian flags here while in the Teluk Intan incident, China’s flag was waved by Chinese nationals visiting Malaysia.

Let us also put on record that the Palestinians have a religious tie with Malays in Malaysia, while the Chinese in both countries have cultural and religious ties with one another.

So, why the fuss?

Relations with China

Plus, we have trade relations with China while we do not have any significant economic ties with Palestine.

We have 24,000 students from China enrolled at Malaysian higher education institutions.

I supervise four PhD students from China at UCSI University. I am told that Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, of which I am on the board of directors, has thousands of graduate students from China.

There were discussions about the clash of culture between the students from China and the conservative Malay-Muslim populace of Bangi, where UKM is located.

Double standard

The political parties making an issue of the China flags have obviously been supportive of waving the Palestinian flags.

During the Gulf War when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, the US went to war against Iraq. I never supported Saddam and Iraq but most Malays did and they waved Iraqi flags everywhere.

Why was that not a concern? According to the possibly 70-year-old law, the waving of any flag of any other country would be considered an infraction. Why the double standard over China’s flag and the flag of so-called Muslim nations?

Security issue

My father fought the communist insurgents when he was in the Police Field Force. My mother suffered so much anxiety having to care for six children while not knowing if my father would return home.

Eventually, she suffered from a crippling anxiety disorder for 30 years until her death.

The communists were a threat. My father was also on alert during the Indonesian Confrontation of 1964. I was two years old and can still remember my father bringing home a Bren or a Sten submachine gun. As a normal boy, guns were exciting toys then.

In the present day, Anwar Ibrahim has just returned from a four-day trip to China during which he discussed trade. Malaysia has normalised relations with China for decades now, since the time of Abdul Razak Hussein, the father of Najib.

The US no longer looks like a viable or even a decent partner in trade, culture and politics, and so we have BRICS, of which Malaysia is a partner country.

Identity politics

As in the olden days of the Melaka sultanate, we still have to look to China for our protection. In turn, we offer the Chinese people our country as their second home and for their holidaymaking. We are a peaceful country and that is a salable commodity of ours.

So why do these two Malay- and religious-based political parties raise such a hue and cry over the waving of China flags by Chinese nationals?

I have many Chinese Malaysians as friends and colleagues, and I do not remember hearing any one of them wanting to abandon Malaysia to live in China. They are all Malaysians and are happy to be so, despite the shenanigans of a few naughty race- and religion- based political parties.

The reason, to me, is obvious.

Both these political parties have no good idea on developing Malaysia if they ever come to power. These two political parties have no choice but to resort to old identity politics, turning China and the Chinese into bogeymen, in order to attract young Malay voters.

Outdated law

I do not think that the law about waving flags is relevant any more. As an academic, I share my knowledge and experience with the world and I read what the world says about many issues.

Malaysia, as a business-oriented nation, must cater to all markets willing to buy our products and not restrict ourselves to old boundaries of political ideology and cultural animosity. We must even use vaccines from non-Muslim countries in order to survive as part of the human species.

Would it be wrong for me to display the flags of all the countries that I feel I could learn from? It will never mean that I am disloyal to Malaysia.

The days of living under a rock with race- and religion-based issues should no longer be entertained because all religion is for all humanity and every one is part of the human race.