Celebrating the 'union' of Malaysia

Does this analogy accurately reflect the current situation in regards to the celebrations of Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day, for Peninsular Malaysia (the husband) and Sabah and Sarawak (the wife) respectively?

“That reflects reality,” prominent Sarawakian academician Dr Jeniri Amir told Astro AWANI in a recent interview in Kuching.

“The Merdeka that we celebrate every year on Aug 31 is of 1957 before Sarawak was part of Malaysia, which was formed on September 16, 1963. We have never celebrated the independence of Sarawak which falls on July 22 (1963),” said Jeniri, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).

Jeniri said that for the longest time, the rakyat and leaders have asked for Malaysia Day to be recognised. However, the request was only accepted after current prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that from 2010 onwards, it would be a public holiday.

Jeniri said this recent change can also be atttributed to the change in political landscape since 2008, where the political gravity shifted to Sabah and Sarawak.

“This was due to the poor showing of Barisan Nasional, including Umno, in the Peninsular. So whether they want to or not, they are forced to listen to the voices and aspirations of the people in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

This year, coincidentally, the Sarawak government officially recognised July 22 as the first day the state had its own Chief Minister, and the date is now regarded as ‘Sarawak’s Merdeka Day’.

However, when asked about the importance of these dates, Jeniri stressed that Malaysians should not be too obsessed or overanalyse these dates. Though at the same time, he said that the people should understand and appreciate history.

“I think we should not dwell too much on these dates. I think it is enough that we have Aug 31 and Sept 16.”

“If we find other dates to be gazetted as public holidays, then that’s too much. Malaysia already has too many off days,” he said.

Jeniri said that it was impossible for Malaysians to just forget about Merdeka, despite certain quarters thinking it should be downplayed, as it was a date that Malaysia became truly free from British control.

“If you remove 1957, those in Peninsular will go mad! It is a really significant day. In Sarawak, July 22 was only brought up this year, as if there are certain desires by political leaders to highlight this particular date. But I still think we shouldn’t be too obsessed with these dates,” he said.

Jeniri said the importance was for all Malaysians to be aware and understand the significance of the days.

“Without Sabah and Sarawak, there would not be Malaysia, it should be acknowledged as an important day in the history of forming of the modern Malaysia.”

In that vein, he said that the same importance should be placed on both Aug 31 and Sept 16.

“At the same time, Sabah and Sarawak cannot disregard what happened in 1957, because without that, what we have today also would not have materialised,” he said.