LETTER | Harapan's expedient amnesia

LETTER | I am writing in response to this article.

The recent decision by Perikatan Nasional to use its own National Day theme and logo in states governed by the coalition has hit a raw nerve among supporters of the unity government.

They argue that the move will only further divide the country, especially since Merdeka is the time for the country to come together.

But just as demands for PN states to align their national theme and logo to the one used by the federal government, it has emerged that Pakatan Harapan states did the same thing when BN was in power.

Last year, the Harapan-controlled Selangor government used "Teguh Bersama" for its Merdeka Day celebrations, in a departure from the federal government's "Keluarga Malaysia, Teguh Bersama".

In 2020, the state used "Kita Merdeka" instead of the federal government's "Malaysia Prihatin".

In DAP-held Penang, the same happened.

For example, in 2012, it went with "Sebangsa, Senegara, Sejiwa" while the federal government under former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak went with "Janji Ditepati".

There were other departures over the years too.

The point here is not whether the respective state governments can use their own national theme and logo or not.

It is about how easy it is for the federal government’s supporters to forget that they were also behaving like PN supporters in the past.

But now that they have come into power, somehow they have conveniently "forgotten" about many of the things they have said and done in the past.

The brouhaha over the National Day theme and logo is just one of many examples in this nine-month-old federal government.

Didn't Harapan attack overzealous enforcement, especially by religious officials in the past?

If so, they must have forgotten going by the government's decision to ban Swatch timepieces that carry the LGBT theme.

How about the Home Ministry officials seizing two books from a bookstore last week although the publications are not officially banned?

Have Harapan supporters forgotten how they criticised BN in the past over such heavy-handedness? Or do they have two rules - one for themselves and one for others?

How about the use of the Sedition Act which Harapan had vehemently opposed its use of during the BN era, but has no qualms about using against Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor?

Or how a minister threatened social media trolls with police radio cars?

Let's not get started about how the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) can go around blocking access to websites that are not in favour of the government or how the agency constantly writes to Twitter (now known as "X") to report on users just because their views are not aligned with the Madani government?

Why not just charge users if they had broken any law?

Have Harapan supporters forgotten about these and more? I am truly disappointed with supporters of the unity government for the double standards to which they appear to adhere to. Their hypocrisy stinks to the high heavens.

In the spirit of Merdeka, all Malaysians need to, first of all, treat each other with respect.

We can start by embracing diversity in opinions and treat all Malaysians as equals, not applying one set of standards for ourselves and another, for the rest.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.