KUALA LUMPUR – A Pakatan Harapan lawmaker has proposed requiring all MPs to sing the national anthem, Negaraku, in the Dewan Rakyat every morning prior to the start of proceedings.
Speaking in the august House, Mohd Sany Hamzan (Hulu Langat-PH) said this would serve as a sign of love that MPs have for the nation.
“To demonstrate our love, may I suggest that after the recital of the doa, we start the Dewan proceeding by singing Negaraku,” he said during his Budget 2023 debate in Parliament here today.
“This is our country, our homeland, the land where our blood spills. If we don’t love and care for our country, who are we going to rely on for that?”
His proposal was met with claps by fellow MPs present in the hall during his speech.
Parliamentary proceedings typically start with a doa recited by the secretary of the House, followed by either Minister’s Question Time or the oral question-and-answer session.
Sany, who is a Amanah central committee member, also made several other proposals to further instil love for the country among Malaysian citizens.
Among other things, he suggested MPs empower the use of Bahasa Malaysia, including by pushing for a policy mandating only the use of the national language on road signboards.
He also proposed requiring all residential units fly the Jalur Gemilang throughout the Merdeka month this August.
Separately, he asked if the government had any intention of reviving the National Service Training Programme, which was scrapped in August 2018, during Pakatan Harapan’s first stint in federal power. – The Vibes, March 7, 2023
