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All the 193 MPs should make known their  stand to Cabinet before Wednesday whether they want the Negaraku to be reinstated to its 1957 form or  support a third version of the national anthem to be played on National Day without proper national consultation and mandate Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Petaling Jaya,  Sunday): All the 193 Members of Parliament, whether Barisan Nasional, DAP or Barisan Alternative, should make known their stand to the Cabinet before Wednesday whether they want the Negaraku to be reinstated to its 1957 form or  support a third version of the national anthem to be played on National Day without any proper national  consultation or mandate, such as a  parliamentary vote.  Sunday Star reported today that more versions of the national anthem have been submitted to the Cabinet which has until Wednesday to decide whether it will go ahead with its decision to “revitalize” the national anthem with a “more patriotic feel”.  It said that several variations of the new anthem where the word “Negaraku”  would be replaced by “Malaysiaku” had been submitted  over the past three weeks to the Cabinet, including  by the National Symphony Orchestra, RTM orchestra as well as the army and police force orchestras.  It offends the Rukunegara objective to “maintain a democratic way of life”  that the entire process to introduce a third version of the national anthem in 46 years had been cloaked in such  secrecy with the total  exclusion of the general public.  Malaysians are entitled to know the reasons why the government is tinkering with the third version of the national anthem in 46 years, less than three months before the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad steps down  after more than 22 years in the highest office in the land, without any  proper national  consultation or mandate.  Malaysians have the right  to insist that they should not  be  presented with a fait accompli on National Day on August 31 with a third version of the national anthem, foisted on the nation by the decision of a handful of people.;  Eleven years after the arbitrary, ill-considered and unauthorized change of the national anthem in 1992 to a marching rhythm, the government has conceded that it  was a big flop, as it  failed to “invoke the patriotic passion”   because of  the loss of the “essence of the national identity” – which is fully  agreed by Malaysians as the second version of the national anthem “fails to arouse the kind of zeal normally associated with an anthem”.   Members of Parliament should make their stand known to the Cabinet, whether by email, telegram or public statements before the Cabinet meets on Wednesday to decide on a third version of the national anthem in 46 years and I call on them to take an unanimous position  to call on the Cabinet to reinstate the Negaraku to its 1957 form and that there should be no change to the national anthem without a proper national consultation and mandate.  Any  change of the national anthem is a serious national decision which must not be rushed or decided hastily a few days  before the National Day, but  must be the  subject of months of extensive and comprehensive national deliberation in keeping with its national importance and capability to encapsulate  the “national soul”.  DAP hereby gives notice that if the Negaraku is changed for a third time in 46 years on August 31 without a proper process of national consultation and mandate, including a parliamentary vote, we will only recognize the Negaraku in its original form as  decided by a panel of judges headed by Bapa Malaysia and the first Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman before Merdeka in 1957. (17/8/2003) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman