Government's Merdeka Hype To Reach Outer Space!

The "Jalur Gemilang", the symbol of Malaysia's independence and sovereignty, is already flying at Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, and the North and South Poles. Now the outer space beckons.

Come October, the Malaysian flag will fly off to outer space with the country's first astronaut.

The "Jalur Gemilang" was designed by Mohamad Hamzah, an architect at a government department in Johor. His design, which portrayed 11 blue and white stripes with a yellow crescent and star on the left side, was chosen from among three in a public poll carried out by the Malay Mail in 1949.

A few changes were made to Mohamad's design and the final version of the flag was approved by the Conference of Rulers in February 1950. On April 19 the same year, the Federal Legal Council endorsed it.

The flag, with standard size of six feet by three feet, has 11 horizontal stripes, alternately in red and white with the uppermost stripe being red, and a blue quarter with a crescent and an 11-pointed star in yellow.

The flag was approved by Britain's King George VI on May 19 1950 and flown for the first time at a flag-hoisting ceremony organised by the British High Commissioner a week later at the palace grounds of the Sultan of Selangor. The function was attended by all the Malay Rulers and officials of the British government.

Known as the flag of the Federation of Malaya, it was amended with the amalgamation of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, which gave birth to a new nation, Malaysia, in 1963. The number of stripes and points of the star was changed to 11 to represent the 14 states.

The Malaysian flag was flown officially for the first time throughout the country to signify the birth of the new nation on Sept 16, 1963.

Although Singapore seceded from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965, the number of stripes and points of the stars was maintained to symbolise the 13 states in the federation and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.

On the eve of Aug 31, 1997 in conjunction with Malaysia's 40th Independence Day, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced the Jalur Gemilang as the official name of the Malaysian flag.

The colour red signifies strength, bravery and courage in facing challenges, white for honesty and integrity while the dark blue canton represents unity and harmony of the people of Malaysia.

The 14-pointed star symbolises unity of the 13 states with the Federal Government. The yellow colour of the crescent and star is the royal colour of the rulers and the crescent represents Islam as the dominant religion. (Bernama)

***** Strength, bravery and courage; honesty and integrity; unity and harmony - sounds nice on paper but after 50 years where, I wonder have these ideals disappeared to?

As for sending our flag to space, no harm actually. But it does underscore the lengths to which some people will go to extract a bit of positive publicity.
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