The Penang government has bowed down to pressure to drop its own theme for the Merdeka Day celebrations.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced today, the state will follow the Federal government’s theme of “Sehati, Sejiwa” (One Heart, One Sout) for its state-level celebrations instead of “Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah” (Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy) theme as announced previously.

He said, the decision was made in line with the spirit of Merdeka and to protect the office of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri.

Guan Eng said, the retraction would also make way for the Armed Forces to take part in the celebrations after they announced they would join the parade due to the differing themes.

“The state government had decided to reconsider using the original them due to the withdrawal of the Armed Forces from the celebration.

“The Armed Forces’ salute to Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas is a tradition during Merdeka Day and it should be maintained.

“In the spirit of Merdeka and to protect the office of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri as head of state, we retract the ‘Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah’ theme with a heavy heart.

“The state government will use the same theme that had been announced by the Federal government,” he said at a press conference here today.

Yesterday, the Armed Forces announced it would not to take part in the state-level Merdeka Day celebrations.

In a statement, the Armed Forces stressed, the decision was made as the state’s theme was different from the Federal government’s slogan and was not in line with the spirit of the Merdeka Day celebrations this year.

The Penang Education Department had also issued a directive barring all schools in the state from joining the state-level Merdeka Day celebrations.

The Royal Malaysia Police too had decided to not participate.

Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid said the police will only take part in the state-level celebrations after the theme was changed to mirror the Federal government’s slogan.