Malam Merdeka? Malam Malaysia? Malam Kebangsaan?

i was reading The Star and came across this.

It's Hari Kebangsaan, not Hari Merdeka.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/30/focus/22197525&sec=focus

"Our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, in his wisdom and sincerity, decided on the term Hari Kebangsaan (National Day), which, inter alia, is meant to be a common multi-racial/religious/ regional celebration to re-emphasise the importance of developing and promoting a common national sentiment and patriotism, via the organisation of the main events as we now are familiar with at the national level and other celebrations which should be organised at sub-national levels by the people themselves."

if this can help make some people happy and minimize controversies, perhaps CMSA could consider naming our annual dinner Malam Kebangsaan instead of Malam Malaysia next time. That's just a thought from my side anyway. What do you guys think? Anyway, maybe some expert in Malay or linguistics could help me with this - is 'Kebangsaan' equivalent to 'Malaysia' in any sense? Urm, actually, does it really matter?

Anyway, moving away from that issue - let's have a look at the following articles that moved my heart more.

A true case of Merdeka spirit
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/28/focus/22184127&sec=focus

Unsung heroes of Merdeka
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/27/focus/22174725&sec=focus
(Ka-Mun, you showed me a video done by Petronas that is related to this topic. do you mind sharing it on the blog? thanks!)

Guys, let me tell you this - i had a great time working with my Malay and Indian friends on the team. i believe that we have managed to look past the colour, the race, the religion.. we are after all, part of a melody, that transcends differences. And this melody, is the melody of unity.

Selamat menyambut Hari Kebangsaan ke-51, Malaysia!