COMMENT | As I was watering the plants in my father’s garden today, I took a glance around our compound and gasped upon noticing the absence of our favourite August flags.

For as long as I can remember, August has always been a special month in my parents’ home.

Before the month even began, my mother would take out both flags - Jalur Gemilang and the Penang flag - from the cupboard and give them a good wash by hand with some extra doses of fabric softener.

Once dried, Mum would then get the flags neatly ironed before passing them to Dad, who was in charge of making sure the flags danced in the air for the entire Merdeka month.

I remember those days when I used to be Dad’s assistant, standing and watching the flags being raised from a distance.

“How is it?” Dad would ask.

“Perfect!” I would reply.

Mom would have a big grin on her face, watching both of us from the veranda while enjoying her ginger tea.

Every year, without fail, my parents continued this August month tradition of ours. When I became a parent, my position as Dad’s assistant was taken over by my children. I would then join my mother at the veranda, sitting there with ginger tea in our hands, watching Dad and his grandchildren raise the flags oh so proudly.

This year, miraculously, the flags are still not up yet.

Intrigued, I disturbed my father who was religiously watching “Game of Thrones” on his PC.

“Ask your mother,” said Dad, his eyes glued to Daenerys Targaryen, otherwise known as the Mother of Dragons.

I then found my way to the kitchen where Mum was busy frying some ikan kembong for lunch.

“Ma, why haven’t we put up the flags yet? We are already ten days into the month of August,” I said in my broken Tamil.

“We are not going to put up the flags this year,” replied Mum.

Gobsmacked, I asked, “But why?”...