Selamat Hari Malaysia! Today is the day where all the Malaysians celebrate the 51st Malaysia Day! Malaysia Day is held annually on the 16th September, to commemorate the establishment of the Malaysian federation on the same date back in the 1963. Our current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has listed 16th September as a national public holiday, since 2010, after a question-and-answer session at Parliament on 19 October 2009. Therefore, Malaysians will have two celebrations related to the country's independence, 31 August (Hari Merdeka) and 16 September (Hari Malaysia).
Today is Malaysia Day, and in the words of our founding father, "The great day we have long awaited has come at last – the birth of Malaysia."
This special day back in the year 1963 has marked the joining together of the Peninsular Malaysia (or Semenanjung Malaysia, in Malay), Sabah (formerly known as the North Borneo), Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia.
"We do so because we know that we have come together through our own free will and desire in the true spirit of brotherhood and love of freedom," Tunku Abdul Rahman had said on September 16, 1963.
The history behind Malaysia Day:
The formation of the new federation was planned to occur on 1 June 1963, but was later postponed to 31 August 1963, to coincide with the sixth Malayan independence. Several issues related to objections of neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines to the formation of Malaysia delayed the declaration to 16 September of the same year. The postponement was also done to allow the United Nations team time to conduct referendums in Sabah and Sarawak regarding the two states participation in a new federation. Prior to the formation of Malaysia, Sarawak gained its transitional administration on 22 July 1963, while Singapore and Sabah began its transitional administration from the United Kingdom on 31 August 1963, thus coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the Malayan independence. The formation of Malaysia was made possible through the introduction of the Malaysia Bill to the Malayan Parliament on 9 July 1963, and consent from Tuanku Syed Putra, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, on 29 August 1963.
"In a warm spirit of joy and hope, 10 million people of many races in all the states of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah now join hands in freedom and unity."
Malaysian Community in Singapore Institute of Management (MCSIM) would like to wish everyone of you a Happy Malaysia Day once again! Cheers! :)
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