By Thomas Lee
Ipoh Mayor Datuk Roshidi Hashim has issued a ruling to all shops and business premises in the city to fly the Jalur Gemilang on National Day on 31 August and the state flag during the Sultan of Perak’s birthday on 19 April if their want their business licences renewed.
Roshidi said those who failed to comply with the ruling would also be compounded or blacklisted.
According to Roshidi, the new ruling is part of the effort by the Ipoh City Council to inculcate patriotism among city folks, especially the business communities.
This is another of those nincompoop rulings by a smart-aleck Little Napoleon using blackmail arm-twisting tactics to enforce a gimmick found only in countries ruled by authoritarian dictatorial governments such as Nazi Germany or the Japanese Imperial Administration during War World Two.
In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler imposed a ruling that all business establishments, offices, institutions and private homes must fly the Nazi flag as part of the effort to inculcate loyalty and patriotism in the Third Reich among the German population.
During the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, all premises, both shops and residential houses, were forced to fly the Nissh?ki, the national flag of Japan, whether or not they loved Japan or its Emperor.
And taking the obviously illogical Ipoh City Council ruling, which only a dunce could think of, to its logical conclusion, then the Road Transport Department should also impose a ruling making it mandatory that all vehicles must fly the Jalur Gemilang or their registration will not be renewed. This will ensure (sic) that all drivers are loyal and patriotic.
The English word patriot has its root in the ancient Greek word patriots which means simply “fellow countryman”. In the 6th century, its Latin form patriota also simply mean “fellow countryman”. The abstract noun “patriotism” in the English language first appeared in the early 18th century.
Those who have studied the ancient Greek life, thoughts, history and culture will know and understand that “patriotism” in the Greek society comprised notions concerning language, religion, ethics, law, and commitment to the common good, rather than merely absolute identification with the state or what the Greeks called “polis”.
The famous Greek philosopher Socrates has been recorded as saying that patriotism does not require one to agree with and accept everything his country does. Rather, he said, a patriotic and loyal citizen would actually promote critical and analytical questioning in a quest to make his country the best it possibly can be and become.
In other word, a real patriotic and loyal citizen is not one who flies the Jalur Gemilang on their cars, shouts patriotic slogans, sing patriotic songs, paint their houses or vehicles with the Jalur Gemilang, bake cakes with designs of the Jalur Gemilang. All these are shallow, superficial and meaningless wild gesticulations.
A true loyal patriotic citizen is one who really loves his country, and is devoted and dedicated to ensure that the ideals of truth, rule of law, equality, justice and fairness will flourish among fellow citizens, irrespective of origin, colour, creed, gender, culture, or class. Such a true loyal patriotic citizen will stand up and speak out, without fear and favour, and be counted in the war against any injustice, corruption, discrimination, and irregularities in the administration of the country.
It is not just flying a flag, shouting slogans, and singing patriotic songs that make one a loyal patriotic citizen. Those who think that by enforcing such a ruling like flying the Jalur Gemilang will inculcate patriotism among the people are imbecile with real shallow thinking, not fit to be in a position of leadership.
Is any such shallow supercilious civil servant authorized to impose such a imperious and peremptory condition for doing business or getting a licence to trade? Note that such a ruling directly infringes on the fundamental human and constitutional right of the citizens to do business without hindrance, encumbrance and discrimination.
Instead of promoting patriotism among the people, such preposterous, ridiculous, and ludicrous ruling, with the unjust and unconstitutional condition that permits to trade will be withheld if the Jalur Gemilang is not flown in the business premises or shops, will result in deep resentment among the people. When the Japanese Imperial Army forced all building owners to fly the Nissh?ki, and to bow to very Japanese the people come across, did it create any love for Japan? Ask your grandfathers or grandmothers.
Patriotism cannot be enacted by legislation or demanded by force. Patriotism, like respect, can only be cultivated by winning the hearts and minds of the people.
Patriotism, Mr Mayor, is not in flying a flag.
Another hard-earned lesson from Zimbabwe.
OMG, next they will check if ppl wear or no wear underwear with Jalur Gemilang on National Day
Can fly Jalur Gemilang upside down or not aah, since d nation is in distress?
Must buy d flag fr a specific UmnoB/BN-owned shop or not aah?
No DIY-rules and DIY-regulations in Bolehland please!
Quickly check who got the contract to make flags.
Flying the national flag is no big deal, it is removing it that matters! Just take a look at some of the roof tops of shophouses and you can see strands of red and white cloth swaying freely in the wind on their flagpoles. These are the “remains” of some wonderful “jalur-jalur gemilang” which they have hung up years ago, probably to celebrate national day!
These flags were meant to be a symbol of patriotism and honour for the country but leaving them on the flag poles after they served their purpose and subjecting them to the natural elements have resulted in these “mutilated” flags swaying shamefully on flag poles!
Are the people who put up flags on national day aware that they should remove and keep the flags properly after flying them? Mutilated national flags constitute a “national disgrace” rather than a national pride!!!!!!
The Ipoh major should come to Sabah especially KK,Sandakan and Tawau to see for himself that how petrotic these illegal immigrants who operated hundreds of mini-buses fully decorated with both national and state flags on their own initiative .On closer look,most of these buses are not road worthy,some with no road tax,most have dubious licences,most time over speeding and over loaded. Now is that what the Ipoh major called “petrotic citizen ” In the first place,most are illegal,the authority concern should have stopped and arrested them. These culprit decorated their buses in order to avoid police and JPJ attention. Go to most illegal settlement within the cities and towns,you find hundreds if not thousands of national and state flags pretty decorated and flying high too.Closer look you find most of the water and electicity supplies are illegals and to your horror,illicit trading of drugs cigarettes,betting and gambling,but the authority just could not bother hence it’s pretty obvious there are hanky panky business going around in all these places.Are all these,what the Ipoh major is saying “petrotic ” Frankly petrotism comes from fair and equal treatment by the regime in power.Most people do not want to put up flag in their shop, building and home not that they are not loyal to the country but actually just wanted to show anger to the regime in power which is ill treating them.Come on Mr Major you can’t force petrotism on the people through threat here and there. Just show your fair and understanding treatment towards the rakyat, the people will fly the flags without a word from you.
Mr. Mayor, you need not to tell and check me when I should FART! I do it whenever I like! Back off, BN/UMNO suckers!
This is another good example of third class mentality not thinking outside the box.Just like a principal asking his students to wear school uniforms to school.Better all rakyat to batik 1 Malaysia on 31.8 and 16.9 every year.Break record in the world most people wearing the same shirts at the same time,
Mr MAYOR,I think the PEOPLE of PERAK will fly jalur Germilang with open HEART onces PKR took over PERAK.At the moment is BERAK.
LONG LIVE PKR
GOD BLESS U YB LKS
Mayors are true democracies are elected by the people, NOT chosen as in this sham democracy
Hi YB Lim, since you and Karpal are lawyers, can you advise me whether I can take the mayor to court if I refuse to fly the flags and the as a result Ipoh Mayor refused to renew my business licence ?
I think the Major should better use his time on taking action to clean up the environment (good lick of paint) and making sure that public toilets and streets are clean, rather than harping on non issues.
Please also remind him that the people is the boss, which meant that he should try to boss us around!
Make it as city council by laws that all buildings must be painted with logos of 1 Malaysia and national flags.This will truly reflect the spirits of patriotism and loyalty of perakians .
Patriotism, may we remind MCA, is defined as “Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full”.
He is trying to be a Hitler!
Doesn’t know who is paying his salary. Maybe he’s trying to get some cheap publicity just before the next GE?
Will it be ok to hang it on a broom stick or clothe line together with the undies?
I want to puke when read about ketuanan,questionig of islam and what..perlembagaan..And now what patriotism my ass..have to put the flag or ass up to show yr ass are ready to be fu..ck.d.What a third class mentality this fu..ki.ng morons’re trying to prove their correct way of thinking through their backside..seriouly.I’m asshamed of my countrymen till to be proud of malaysian myself.Beh tahan!!
PATRIOTISM and CORRUPTION cannot mix. A PATRIOTIC leader is not CORRUPT; a CORRUPT LEADER cannot call himself a PATRIOT. Base on that, most UMNOB leaders are not even fit to touch the Jalur Gemilang!
After all these years of being “sloganeered”, what do you expect of such jokers? to think out of the box? They believe in sybolism because basically that’s the best way to mislead others. Put up the flag but continue with negotiated tenders! what else do they have? nothing!
The same old “bulldozer” guards still trying to rule by threat & fear not knowing that the people can vote them out.
Yes, vote for clean change!
Another AMPU KAKI mayor, trying very hard to impress his political masters…..blooming mudhead does not see further than the tip of his nose! ….just like majority UMNOPUTERS, all blooming talk, no substance in their
peabrains…think of nothing constructive and productive!
He is a HP6 idiot to think and say such thing … too shallow. If all the so-called leaders think and act like him, God knows what is the result … bankrupt even before 2019.
///Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today reminded MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek not to make statements that can cause anger or are prejudicial to other races. Muhyiddin, who is also BN deputy…///–Malaysiakini
The statement by Chua Soi Lek is not even good enough to point to what a fair society this country should be, he has not even said that all Malaysians in the country should be treated fairly. Even if he had said that nobody in the country should have the right to feel slighted, let alone to get angry.
Muhyiddin said that CSL’s statement can cause anger; that could be because Muhyiddin felt angry and thus all other Malays would, or he just wanted to bully CSL and silence him. If Muhyiddin did feel angry, it just shows that he felt his right to bully is being questioned.
40 years ago, in the name of not causing anger to Malays because of the wealth owned by non-Malays, NEP was established. By that justification, NEP has done what it did, like cancer cells and kill the mother body in the process. The special position of being weak became the justification to unfair gains. Now even a suggestion that what are unfair should not be continued is seen by the Muhyiddin to be ‘seditious’ that would cause anger.
CSL was hoping that he followed the right trend at the sweet words given by Najib to the MCA conference. Did Muhyiddin comment on CSL independent of Najib’s advice. If he did, Najib was a double-headed snake. If he did not, Muhyiddin is speaking for Perkasa and Mamakthir.
Charge that bugger at all cost!
Sue him for all his threatening remark.
Just only a “cacing” and wanna act big.
Challenge that bugger people of ipoh. Fly no flags at all come merdeka and see if that bugger dares to execute his threats.
Remember the HS and Sibu “vote barisan for money” experience? Reject all threats and unreasonable conditions. Show them in no uncertain terms that people of ipoh and perak are no push overs nor pussycats.
sorry deviation.
Free Malaysia Today quoted muhideen’s justification for wanting to keep umnoputras’ 30% corporate equity:
“The Malays have only achieved 18% equity while the Chinese have already commanded about 40% of our economy.”
Stupid. I said this before, I think. Economy is unlike a piece of property which is capable of ownership and ownership claim. Economy is about contribution purely. If the numbers he cited is true that means malays’ effort and contribution towards our country’s wealth is only 18%; whereas chinese contributed 40%.
Hoi cintanegara! Make sense or not according to your Prinsip prinsip Ekonomi Pokok Rambutan.
Muhyiddin should also claim that of the 18%, mot of them were owned by Mamaks.
UMNO uses statistics to lie. AAB and Najib said in 2006 that EPU would prove ASLI wrong for saying that Malays had exceeded the 30% ownership. Muhyiddin simply quotes the figure 18% which have remained so since 1990
If we can somehow overcome the hassle, inconvenience and disruptions to businesses when relocating, then all the businesses should gang up and refuse to fly the flag. Tell the Major to go fly kite instead. And all the businesses then relocate to another state or even to other countries.
Malaysia desperate need more businesses, be it FDI or local businesses. And yet we have someone here trying his best to kill business.
I always thought that patriotism is like respect; it has to be earned and not demanded for?
Let do it another way. If you fly flag for the whole August then all profit make in that month will be exempt from taxes. Every body will fly rain or shine.
A better way is for that mayor to pay RM100 for each day the shop flies the flag. All would be doing so from January till December, each getting RM36,500. High income status accomplished
In their kepala otak udang, patriotism is supporting UMNOB elites and everything they do including keeping for themselves the RM trillions meant to help the poor Malays. Yet they have the audacity to claim themselves as jaguh bangsa. Hey! all you in UMNOB, HUARK OFF!
Bangkitlah Rakyat Malaysia. Tumbangkan UMNOB/BN Demi Masa Depan Anak-Cucu Kita.
This showed how stupid and desperate Nutjib’s government are!
Faking and forcing rakyat for support.
72 percent popular rating, eh…!
All bullsh@t by merdeka survey.
Cannot lie to people ‘cos even the blind can see.
Go to the city and look around.
See how many are flying flags on their car this time!
Worse than the “sleeping PM” time.
Why not go and ask your JPJ and police to summon cars without flags or withdrew their licences.
In that way, you can get most people to show to the world that how popular you’re even if it’s fake.
By the way, my son came back from school recently and told me that his teacher had instructed his class to attend the merdeka flag waving parade, as ordered by education ministry.
I’ve forbid my son to attend not because I’m not patriotic but because I opposed the tyranical rule.
I was in Singapore on 9 August-the day Singaporeans celebrated their nation’s birthday with ‘true’ joy and ‘great’ pride. You could see their flags flying almost everywhere and the buildings in and around towns like Orchard Centre spruced up with a lot of entertaining programmes for Singaporeans and foreigners alike.
All seats in the stadium where their NDP was held were taken up months earlier!!
The Singapore government need not have to ask Singaporeans to fly the ‘Majulah Singapura’ flags or to tell them to be patriotic. Singaporeans of all races sing sebulat suara ” count on me Singapore………”
Now, Mr. Mayor, do you see the difference? By forcing rakyat to fly the Jagur Gemilang, you are actually slapping your own face and that of all UMNOB leaders.
People like you, Mr. Mayor, and all UMNOputras should ask WHY, WHY, TELL ME WHY…………….?
Will I be arrested if I fly the DAP, PKR and PAS flags in my shop instead of the “Jalur Temberang”?
Taxidriver,Pls make sure there’s no cock and bull story inside your post. You are making a mountain out of a molehill. The fact is 14% of its population is systematically marginalized.
Let’s assume that the guy under the rambutan tree is right….14 pct of S’pore’s population is systematically marginalized. So that gives UMNO the right to systematically marginalise 37 pct of Bolehland’s population ?
And if your own marginalized people refuse to fly the flag, you want to make it an offence ? Or threaten not to renew licences ? Or evict them from the country ?
We can debate this with you anytime…even under the rambutan tree.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/only-9pc-of-chinese-like-soi-lek-poll-shows/
Take the porn actor to court to make him replace the ‘C’ in ‘mca’.
Suggested replacements include ‘conmen’, ‘castratees’, ‘cows’, ‘cintanegara’, ‘c#nts’…..
Thank Allah, Ipoh Mayor only threatened no renewal of business licences if no fly d Jalur Gemilang on National Day on 31.8 (betul ke? not 16.9?)
Nanti, response no good, Ipoh Mayor may rule keras, no flag, no patriotism, kena potong, macam ini
http://pixhost.ws/avaxhome/98/5b/00165b98_medium.jpeg
Its just so amazing the people running our country have no clue what proper principles of constitutional rights and proper laws are.
In the US, compulsory patriotism such as flying the flag is considered unconstitutional and a violation of the Bill of Rights such as freedom of speech.
You are absolutely right BigJoe. In a country not very far from here, a young girl was banned from school until she removed her head covering.
Ya, we should fly the flag, eat only Malaysian food, and stop drinking coca-cola, KFC and western food, and stop wearing jeans, and stop speaking other languages, and be ourselves … and become sakai.
As usual more interested in form than in substance. Maybe he hopes to score points with the court appointed BN State Govt.
Patriotism is a spirit, not a process. Once the people are imbued with a true patriotic spirit you do not need to threaten or arm twist them to show their patriotism. If you have to resort to such hypocritical measures, it is time you go back to the drawing boards to figure out what is wrong.
You are absolutely right BigJoe. In a country not very far from here, a young girl was banned from school until she removed her head covering. by cinta my-ass
The reason is too many racist and terrorist like this so called head covering people looming around this planet.
Mr. cintanegara (#36),
The world needs more caring people like you. I can see that you are very concerned about the welfare of others but, unfortunately though, you care only for those who have the same skin colour as yours, giving others the impression you are a racist.
Anyway, your worry and unhappiness over the 14% population who you claimed to have been marginalised by their own government is totally without basis. Recently Singapore’s Berita Harian carried an article by one Gun… Sil…(sorry, I forget his name)…… anyway this writer is a Singaporean of Malay origin. He said Singaporeans of Malay origin are happy and proud to be Singaporeans and hated to be lumped together with Malaysian Malays because, he said, they are different. They are Singaporeans who berdikari not like xxxx who were spoon-fed ( relying on tongkat ), hence they became ”manja and ”mala or spoilt and lazy” Very obviously, Mr. cintanegara, Singaporeans of Malay origin do not want you or even Mahathir to poke your noses into their business. They are happy and living comfortably in their own negara yang tercinta.
I am quite different from you, Mr. cintanegara. I am very concerned for the more than 68% of Malaysians who are systematically marginalised by the UMNO-led government who keep blowing their own trumpets that they are Juara Bangsa, yet we see that a big percentage of Malays together with the non-Malays are neclected by the Juara Bangsa government.
I would like to add that all Malays are hypocritical and bad. Except for the small group of greedy without maruah UMNOB Malays, the vast majority are god-fearing and good people. So, Mr. cintanegara, you fall on which catergory??
Repost last para……
I would like to add that except for a small group of greedy and tiada maruah UMNOB Malays, the vast majority are god-fearing and good people. So, Mr. cintanegara, you belong to which category??
“They are Singaporeans who berdikari not like xxxx who were spoon-fed ( relying on tongkat ), hence they became ”manja and ”mala or spoilt and lazy”” Taxidrebar.
xxxx? U mean those muddarfaarker goodfornothing busturd umnoputras whose existence on the face of this earth came about as a result of some unintended recyclying of unwanted sperms?
Dear dagan,
Siapa yang makan cilli, dialah yang terasa pedas.
When Patriotism becomes forced you have Fascism.