COMMENT | Since childhood, whenever we watched sporting events, whether the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, or the SEA Games, the abbreviation used for Malaysia has always been MAS.

The national airline, Malaysia Airlines, also adopted the abbreviation MAS, and even Proton’s first electric car model was named e-Mas.

This abbreviation carries deep meaning; not only does it spark the imagination of equating the nation with gold, something most precious, but it also connects to the historical record of the name Malaysia.

Originally, Malaysia referred to a vast entity encompassing the Malay Archipelago, including the islands of Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore, and our own country.

In 1831, the French navigator Jules Dumont d’Urville named the archipelago region Malaisie on his map. Later, in 1835, Thomas G Bradford translated Malaisie into Malaysia.

When the nation of Malaysia was formed in 1963, the name chosen by...