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Media statement by Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 26th July 2012: Najib should summon an emergency Cabinet meeting to change the divisive National Day/Malaysia Day theme and the ghastly Merdeka Day logo How much are Malaysian taxpayers being milked for the ghastly 55th Merdeka Day logo and the most divisive National Day/Malaysia Day theme ever conceived in the nation’s history? Is the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak so desperate about his electoral prospects and those of UMNO/Barisan Nasional in the next general election that the 55th Merdeka Day/49th Malaysia Day have to be hijacked to advance UMNO/Barisan Nasional interests by the elevation of the UMNO/BN election campaign theme of “Janji Ditepati” as the official National Day/Malaysia Day theme? If the National Day logo and theme are not changed, both will become laughing stocks for Malaysians and the world by the time of Merdeka Day on August 31 and Malaysia Day on Sept. 16. It is sad and shocking that this year’s National Day/Malaysia Day are no more conceived as national celebrations as they have been hijacked by UMNO/BN, blatantly using the UMNO/BN slogan which will divide rather than unite Malaysians, and yet nobody in Cabinet or government could see that this is just wrong and anti-national. I can confirm that when Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir was the Information Minister and chairman for Merdeka celebrations, he took pains to invite Opposition leaders to participate by ensuring that the celebrations were truly national events, rising above political parties. With the National Day/Malaysia Day hijacked by the imposition of UMNO/BN slogan of “Janji Ditepati” as the national theme, UMNO/BN are only ensuring that the 55th Merdeka Day and 49th Malaysia Day will be the most divisive one in the nation’s history, completely at variance and in contradiction with Najib’s signature policy slogan of 1Malaysia, where every Malaysian is to regard himself or herself as a Malaysian first and his race, religion, region and socio-economic status (and of course political affiliation) second. In fact, the hijacking of the National Day/Malaysia Day this year through the imposition of the UMNO/BN slogan is the latest and most potent example that the Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan is being undermined and violated - a living example of “Janji Ditepikan” instead of “Janji Ditepati”! The hideous 55th Merdeka Day logo is a real disgrace. This is a comment by one of the readers of the news portal, The Malaysian Insider: “Why is this logo hideous? Let me break it down for you. “1. Too many elements making it overly complex. When printed in small sizes, a complex design will lose detail or worse, look like a printing mistake. “2. Poor choice of font. Every typeface has a personality, and in this case, the designer did not even give this an afterthought. “3. Has too many fonts. The maximum should be two, anything more would cause confusion. “4. It was designed by an amateur with no proper design training. “5. The Malaysian flag is stock art, so it's no longer unique. Any tom dick or harry can just download the stock art and use it too. “It is an insult to everyone when the government passes off this unbearably disgusting powerpoint screenshot as a logo.Now come on guys, we can do much better than this! “K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple, Stupid)” The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should summon an emergency Cabinet meeting to change the divisive National Day/Malaysia Day theme and the horrendous Merdeka Day logo, if both and the Najib premiership are not to end up as butts of national jokes. *Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Ipoh Timor
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