Our near neighbours — Singapore and Indonesia — also commemorate their respective independence days in August.
August is also when the Philippines remembers the martyrdom of Benigno Aquino Sr in 1983, which led to the country's rebirth as a democracy 40 years ago.
While each nation's independence day is a milestone worth celebrating every year, we increasingly live in a rather lawless world where might seems right.
Thus, for smaller nations like ours, it is also worth pondering how interdependence — especially among near neighbours — may actually hold the key towards preserving our independence, moving forward.
There is, for starters, security in numbers. If we can align our policies more closely with near neighbours, such as Indonesia and Singapore, for example, our collective voice in the global arena would carry greater weight, compared with if we individually take a stand.
To be sure, we are all members of Asean, which incidentally also marks its founding every year in August. Asean is sometimes referred to as the most successful of regional groupings.
But Asean, to my mind, is perhaps the most successful non-entity. Its "success" owes much to an endless search for the lowest common denominator among its now 11 members.
Sure, it is a forum for countless meetings each year among its top leaders and government functionaries. The regional grouping has perhaps become too big and unwieldy, unable, therefore, to generate much of an impact on the everyday lives of ordinary people.
That is probably the secret of its success; that it is so innocuous to ordinary citizens of Asean countries.
We are facing transboundary haze originating in Indonesia, impacting many in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
If there is a trilateral forum involving our three nations, apart from the usual Asean forum, will it be more effective in tackling the haze and seeing to it that it does not recur almost yearly?
Amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, we should remember another strategic chokepoint, the Strait of Malacca, which touches our three nations.
It is in the collective interest of our three nations to ensure that freedom of navigation through this waterway will never be impeded.
Each of these three neighbouring countries punches above its weight individually in one arena or another. Imagine how much greater that clout can be if we combine our individual strengths and punch an even greater collective weight globally.
We know Asean is where it is because each of its member states is loath to give up any of its own sovereignty for the greater good of the whole.
Perhaps Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia can more easily subsume some of their own national interests for the greater good of all three?
In time, we may even show the way forward for Asean as a whole.
Our respective independence will surely count for more if we can hack more meaningful interdependence. - NST
The writer John Teo views developments in the nation, region and the wider world from his vantage point in Kuching
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