Blogger owns up to Jalur Gemilang alternative, says aim to educate

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — One person has owned up to waving the Sang Saka Malaya flag instead of the Jalur Gemilang during the 55th National Day countdown here last week but defended the act as an attempt to educate the public about the country’s history and not a bid to replace the national flag.

An unidentified person, known only by his online handle Singa Selatan, had blogged about the incident in two entries over the weekend after his act provoked a firestorm that has turned political with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet accusing the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition bloc of being behind the plot and suggesting a bid to turn Malaysia into a republic.

Screenshot of the Singa Selatan blog site.

“Saya dan saudara Zairi shafai adalah individu yang bertanggungjawab membuat dan mengibarkan bendera Sang Saka Malaya dimalam sambutan kemerdekaan di Dataran Merdeka. (I and Zairi Shafai are the individuals responsible for making and flying the Sang Saka Malaya flag during the Independence celebration in Dataran Merdeka),” the blogger wrote in an entry posted last Friday.

“We do not represent any political party, be it from the government or the opposition, we represent the youth who wish to project truth and history that has attempted to be drowned out by the responsible parties, and clearly have no motive to change the Jalur Gemilang to Sang Saka Malaya, because Sang Saka Malaya has been turned into the Jalur Gemilang today,” he added in his Bahasa Malaysia entry.

The blogger said his posting was not an attempt to seek publicity for himself or his friends but to shed light over the controversy and their reasons for displaying the “panji keramat” (sacred pennant). 

According to the blogger, the Sang Saka Malaya — which sports a crescent moon and an 11-pointed star in the top left corner of the flag against a two-striped red and white background — was used by the first Malay party, Kesatuan Melayu Malaya (KMM) formed in 1938, that had fought against the colonial British for the country’s independence.

“That is why I feel that this flag is qualified to be flown on the night of the independence (celebration) apart from Jalur Gemilang. There are many tales full of hardship behind the Sang Saka Malaya,” he said in the blog.

However, in a separate entry posted two days ago, the blogger said he was stunned to see copies of a pamphlet calling for the Jalur Gemilang to be replaced with the Sang Saka Malaya and denied responsibility for its distribution.

“We have no intention to urge the government to replace the Jalur Gemilang with the Sang Saka Malaya. 

“But we intend to change the government to a government that is more transparent,” the blogger wrote.

Opposition leaders from the DAP-PKR-PAS pact have denied they were behind any bid to replace the national flag, deploring the allegations from their political foes as “baseless” attempts to gain points ahead of the 13th general election due soon.

Political rivalry between the BN and PR blocs has intensified in recent days as the window for the next polls narrows in a race that could see a regime change in Malaysia for the first time in 55 years.