For the love of the Jalur Gemilang

I thoroughly agree with Sheih (Kickdefella) that Malaysia is a nation in distress ... However, I decided against flying the flag upside down for my own reasons ... - Tehsin Mukhtar of Me Only Better

Not flying it upside down. On Aug 3, Sheih launched a campaign to fly the Jalur Gemilang upside down as a symbol of the People's Frustration and a signal that the nation is in distress. Several blogs quickly declared their support for this cyber-strike.

But some of them have since changed their minds. They found out that they didn't have the heart to do it.

Pasquale of Barking Magpie is one of them:

"I can sense something that I thought I will never feel again. There are a lot of you morons out there that truly love your country very much. Then by all mean defend it people! .... So here is our beloved Flag!"

On Aug 5, the day I put up my own posting, Engku Emran of Between My Legs, a n old buddy and a new kid on the blog, called me up. He said he was disturbed by the whole upside-down flag business. We met at the Press Club that night to talk about the Jalur Gemilang.

Afterwards, he made a posting here that captures his pain:

"some bloggers have put up our beloved jalur gemilang upside down on their blogs as a sign of cyber-strike...apparently it is also the global code of distress signal...i was and still am terribly disturbed by this recent development...not by their actions (doesn't mean im for it though) but for the very fact that i care for the well being of all...again pls don't get me wrong here as the last thing i want is to mislead any1... I just need to get it off my chest thats all...good nite Malaysia..."

My own posting here drew well over 130 comments; easily more than 90 per cent were strongly against the idea of flying the flag upside-down as a sign of protest.

The overwhelming objection didn't come as a surprise. In early July, when I launched my own cyber-strike not all my blogger bros and sisters were supportive of my action or sympathietic with the reasons for going on the 48-hour strike (which were the same very reasons that compelled Sheih to launch his upside-down flag campaign).

Marina Mahathir and Wong Chun Wai went on strike even before I did as they were fed-up with the way politicians were treating the people and how things were going for the economy. But the two, especially Marina, had even less sympathy from som e fellow bloggers (please read Wattahack's Oh! How Hate Blinds Thee!).

I have decided to fly the Jalur Gemilang, full-stop. I will fly it not upside down nor half-mast, but the way it's supposed to be flown. Like Tehsin and Pasquale and Engku Emran (and Marina, Wong Chun Wai and Wattahack), I agree with Sheih that we are a nation in trouble. I won't go on another strike to prove that point because I believe I've proven my point.

For me, Sheih has proven his point and I hope that on August 31, when our nation celebrates her 51st Merdeka, we'll fly the flag together. Not upside down, not half-mast.

-rocky's bru