National Day celebrations at community level can be intensified - Annuar

This includes celebrations at all parliamentary and state constituencies, villages and schools.

"I do hope that this will be a new practice, to have the National Day celebrated by all segments of society, not only at the national level and just on the morning of the day itself.

"I hope the celebrations at the community level, including villages nationwide, can be intensified," he said after the recording of a special talk show, Merdeka65, with Astro Awani here today in conjunction with the National Day and Malaysia Day (HKHM) 2022 celebrations.

At the same time, Annuar also expressed hope that more members of the public, as well as civil societies, corporate bodies and private companies, will fly the Jalur Gemilang in the spirit of love for the country in conjunction with the upcoming National Day.

Annuar said he believed that the spirit to celebrate the National Day is high among the people but most of them were waiting for the eve of Aug 31 to start flying the Jalur Gemilang when it could be done throughout the National Month.

"But it's okay. It's their choice. What's important is that we want to see the celebrations in every corner of the country and joined by all segments of society.

"Apart from the celebrations, we can also show our love for the country through our postings and contents either on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and any other social media platforms," he said.

Annuar said what was equally important in celebrating the National Day is to observe the meaning of independence as the country was able to celebrate it physically after entering the Transition to Endemic phase, besides experiencing a good recovery process in terms of economy and employment opportunity.

Annuar, who is the main organising committee chairman for the HKHM 2022, is among the four Cabinet ministers representing different races invited to discuss the issue of unity and patriotism on the talk show.

The other three were Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan and Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.

The Merdeka65 talk show will be aired on Astro Awani at 8.30 pm tonight.