True independence means nurturing a society that values diverse cultures, think critically, and actively protects harmony. To me, the meaning of freedom is breaking away from external rule to shape our own path. As such, Merdeka of the mind is cultivating critical thinking, intellectual honesty, and digital responsibility. I believe it is a personal duty in accepting that freedom requires individual accountability to one's family, work organization and community. In embracing differences by respecting Malaysia's multi-cultural, multi-faith identity, and shared destiny by standing strongly together through challenges.
In this context, I reached out to my expert aviation mentor, CPA Suppiah Subramaniam, former Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Executive Vice President Group Finance & Adviser to Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad, and GMR (India) joint venture for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) projects in Hyderabad Airport. Upon retirement, he had been involved for 3 years as Co-Project Lead, in compiling, editing and publishing the book “The Malaysia Airlines We Built”. He said, “To me, Merdeka gave us the country and it's citizens to fend for ourselves and excel in whatever field we were. We had to jointly strive to do well to meet the challenges that were inevitable in the aviation business. So, that's really what we did to become one of the best airlines in the world.”
During my oversea travels, I also include visiting our Malaysian Embassies to find out their latest economic contribution to investment growth & business development. I learned that the future of Merdeka in Malaysia centers on the vision of Malaysia MADANI and the long-term blueprint laid out in the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13) from 2026 to 2030. This vision shifts the definition of independence from historically remembrance to actively pursuing for the a modern, independent Malaysia focusing on economically resilient, high-tech, socially just nation. RMK13 targets expanding sustainability & green growth.
Share your Anak Malaysia stories and stand a chance to win prizes worth up to RM2,880! Find out how to join here. T&Cs apply.
Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.