COMMENT | As usual, every August, the Merdeka spirit fills the air. The Jalur Gemilang flaps on cars, motorcycles, and sometimes even on unsuspecting goats in kampungs.

This year, the trend seems to be these magnetic flags that can stick on your car bonnet or door, so you can speed around with our blue, yellow, red, and white proudly displayed.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to finish up a feature documentary film that my wife and I just shot on Omadal Island in Semporna, Sabah, starring the undocumented Bajau Laut who have been living there for generations and consider themselves Malaysians, but do not have birth certificates or MyKads.

So it actually makes me wonder, what does Merdeka mean to people who technically don’t...