Time to embrace the Rukunegara in its entirety

Graphic: The Star

What has been termed the blueprint for national unity was launched as the Rukunegara on Aug 31, 1970, by our fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong. On July 9, 2020, Putrajaya launched the golden anniversary celebration of the “Rukun Negara”, spelt as two words. This deviation from the original may be considered a non-issue, but I consider this as serious as flying the Jalur Gemilang upside down – ignoring minor details can lead to neglect of the major transformational message of the Rukunegara.

There are two parts to the Rukunegara: the principles and the objectives. The five principles (pictured above) are what everyone knows. We are reminded of them continuously and children are made to recite them at school. During this golden anniversary year the principles were again emphasised and the Prime Minister urged Malaysians to practice them daily.