Malaysia marks 50 years as nation
Two days of lavish celebrations have got under way in Malaysia to mark 50
years of independence from Britain.
Thousands of people enjoyed a laser light show in the capital Kuala Lumpur
before the national flag was raised at midnight, re-enacting the 1957
event.
Foreign dignitaries are attending a major National Day parade and other
events on Friday.
But the event comes at a time when debate is growing about what it means
to be Malaysian, analysts say. Some 60,000 people gathered in Kuala
Lumpur's Independence Square on Thursday evening to watch scenes of the
nation's last 50 years projected on to the capital's skyscrapers, the APF
news agency reports.
Fireworks lit up the sky and the national flag was raised in Independence
Square to mark the end of British colonial rule on the Malay peninsula.
Soul-searching
Friday's lavish National Day parade will also chart Malaysia's progress
over
the last 50 years. The parade will be led by war veterans and is reported
to involve some 10,000 participants, including secondary school students.
A fly-past by the Royal Malaysian Air Force and displays from the police
cavalry and tracker dog units will also be highlights of the occasion.
Several foreign dignitaries are attending the celebrations, including
Britain's Prince Andrew. Prime ministers from Thailand, Singapore, the
Philippines, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia arrived throughout Thursday.
Half a century of stability and development has transformed a poor
disjointed nation into an economic success story, the BBC's Asia
correspondent, Andrew Harding, says.
But this anniversary has prompted some soul-searching about Malaysia's
widening racial and religious divide, he adds. Islam has taken a more
conservative and assertive form, with Sharia courts challenging the
country's secular constitution.
The large Indian and Chinese minorities are becoming increasingly angry
about a much-abused quota system that restricts their access to education
and jobs.
With elections coming and political parties polarised along ethnic lines,
the country is struggling to cling on to its image as Asia's tolerant
melting pot, our correspondent adds.
p/s: The Non-Malays should have been very grateful since the Malay
Community has granted them the jus soli nationality. Otherwise, they will
still be who they were like in those British days.
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