I refer to the Malaysiakini report PM sees red over blogger's upside down flag.

When the idea of hoisting the National Flag upside down was mooted by Kickdefella in the early part of August, I was against it but at the same time decided that I am not going to comment on the issue.

The PM has expressed his anger and has used some strong words like kurang ajar. This is the first time I heard our PM say such thing and I felt I should say a few words about it.

Raising the flag upside is the military sign that is used by armies worldwide when they are in distress. It is hoisted when there are no further options available and the next available option is to surrender.

Soldiers in combat don’t usually put up the flag in such manner unless it is absolutely necessary. If it is seen by the enemy, they may just make a decisive decision that could ruin any chance of fighting back. For that reason, it is done as a last resort.

Coming back to what Kickdefella was saying, he wanted to raise the flag upside down as a sign of distress. I am not quite sure who is in distress. Was it him or was it the nation? Since he was encouraging the people to follow him, I supposed he meant that the nation was in distress.

In this aspect, I disagree with him. The nation is not in distress. I say this based on the following reasons:

a. While there is a continuous political struggle involving a certain part of the population despite the election being over, it does not mean the nation is in distress. The opposition and the people in power are fighting it out to reach their dreams. While this is norm, I see the battle is still far from over.

I do not expect anyone to concede defeat or to give up their struggle. This is the sign that the nation’s politics is very much alive and healthy (but it does not mean the methods used by both sides are healthy).

b. The majority of the people in this country are still going to work. Many are still employed. Jobs are plentiful. Their lifestyle may have changed slightly because of the recent changes in global economy but it does not mean that the people are in distress.

c. The economy is still growing though at a much slower rate. The army and police are very much non-partisan. The government machinery is still being abused by both the federal and state governments (including those in Selangor, Penang, Kelantan and Kedah) in making sure their agenda reaches the hearts and minds of the people.

I agree with certain people that the nation has been polarised further. This is not caused by Umno solely. This is caused by BN. The other component parties in the BN have failed to push for the agenda of ‘One country, One people, One race’.

The opposition has also failed to push for this agenda. We have DAP which on paper appears to be multiracial but in actual fact it is not. We have the PAS which seems to have been confused between religion and race.

The way I see it, we are all a party to the problem one way or another but this does not mean we have to show signs of disrespect to the flag and the country. If we truly love the country, than we have to put our hearts and souls into it and find ways and means to make it our home.

I still believe that there is a future for the country. I believe as long as there are people who continue to express their wish to have harmonisation, we would be okay.

As long as we have people like Teresa Kok, Gobind, Mukhriz, Muhyuddin and many others, we are still okay. We are not perfect but we are okay. We must work towards perfection.

Lastly, I do wish Kickdefella and many others would raise the flag proudly and properly during this coming Merdeka Day celebrations.

Let us do it together and show our neighbours that we care for the country, we are concerned for it and want to see it progress along.

We can show them that we, too, care and it is not only about the politics. Only we can make the difference. As such, I do not think raising the flag upside down is the way to do it.