Flying the Jalur Gemilang with pride

Patriotic: Kampung Baru residents (from left) Loke, Lee, Aumbuthurai and Habibah holding the Jalur Gemilang as they decorate the community hall in the village. (Below) Yong (left) and Teng holding a flag as Joanna Goh Yoke Hwa waves the Jalur Gemilang in Ayer Keroh, Melaka.

GEORGETOWN: In a display of love and patriotism for the country, many new villages nationwide have decked their premises with the Jalur Gemilang to commemorate the month-long National Day celebrations.

Residents of Kampung Baru in Ayer Itam here spent a week to decorate their village with national flags.

Habibah Mat, 65, who is the village development and security committee chairman, said they started full swing preparations since mid-August.

“We hope to see our village glow with Jalur Gemilang in every nook and corner, ” she said.

Habibah said most of the committee members had lived in the village since young and grew up together.

“We share good ties and are always involved in various community-related activities.

“Because of this, our bond is strong, ” she said.

Habibah, together with several old-timers – Aumbuthurai Ramasamy, 68, Loke Huat Kim, 67, and Lee Eng Chye, 64 – took time yesterday to check out the decorations in the village.

Loke, who was born on Aug 31, said he would turn 68 today and was proud to celebrate his birthday on such an important and historical day every year.

“We’re also fortunate that all of us are able to gather and organise activities such as decorating our community hall to celebrate Merdeka Day, ” he said.

In MELAKA, Ayer Keroh New Village cherished two big Jalur Gemilang presented to them by the Melaka government.

Village chief Yong Lui Xiang said the two flags were so special for villagers in their time of need.

“We have hung smaller flags at all 123 houses in the village since Aug 10.

“But several villagers hope to get some bigger ones to decorate strategic entry points, leading to the neighbourhood.

“So, I’ve put in an official request to the state government.

“I was told the demand for Jalur Gemilang at most new villages was overwhelming, leading to an acute shortage, ” he said in an interview.

Yong said it was their responsibility as Malaysians to fly the national flag every year.

“I will keep the two flags as souvenir from the state government. It is something special and an honour for our village, ” he said.

Yong added that there were 20 Malay families living together with them since their forefathers settled here in the late 1800s.

Melaka Tengah new villages development officer Teng Wen Jie paid the village a visit and handed over the two flags to Yong.

Teng said so far, he had distributed over 300 flags to nine new villages.- Star