A price tag of RM100 million for the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations is, by all copunts, ‘lavish’ spending, but to the BN why not especially when, at RM3 or 4 per head, it could reasonably be “justified once in 50 years …. in creating a sense of national unity for the occasion, which was priceless” as Datuk Dr. Awang Adek argued. (Whether it has really succeeded in creating the priceless sense of national unity for the occasion proportionate to the amount of spending expended is, of course, moot).

Sure, some politicians or cronies would have made some money from such spending (as would invariably happen) but spread between all, it is really peanuts, and not the main focus or objective of such lavish spending. This is obvious because when these guys want to make money, they don’t think in terms of RM100 million (where 10 or 20% is only RM10 or 20 million) shared between so many people from various ministries but in billions! A measure of what they think may be surmised from RM4.6 billion involved in Port Klang Free Zone (PFZ).

What Awang Adek said is true – that the main object of such lavish spending is to attempt creating a greater sense of patriotism (what he termed euphemistically as ‘national unity’) amongst Malaysians, who more than ever are divided along race and religious fault lines, with the view that when electorate are rallied or united by the government for a common purpose of love and loyalty for the country, such a sense of patriotism would, in turn, translate to votes benefiting the ruling coalition that rallied it!

What needs to be emphasized is that patriotism is not sought after here for its own sake or for the sake purely of the unity of Malaysians (how else can one explain the divisive policies such as Bumiputra/Non Bumiputra dichotomy, downplay of ‘Bangsa Malaysia’ and Declaration of the Islamic State in place?) but only to the extent that such call for it is expedient to garner votes for a very imminent election.

Patriotism – the sense of love and loyalty for one’s country – then has both the good and bad facets.

The good part when it is genuinely subsisting amongst the diverse populace is that it would unite people of different races, religions and cultures under a common cause and bond to work for the better of the country for all.

The bad part is when it is exploited by those in power solely for their own selfish ends to maintain or expand power.

Which is why some like Dr. Johnson would describe it as the last refuge of scoundrels as the ruins and devastation in history were also carried out under its banner to justify wholesale murderers : for example, Adolf Hitler rallied the Germans in the name of patriotism for the fatherland to conquer Europe and perpetrate the holocaust against 6 million Jews.

A less dramatic example in the local context is TDM’s clarion call for “Malaysia Boleh” by which we must have the biggest and tallest of every megastructure (Twin Tower, KLIA etc) straining the national coffers for motives that I need not elaborate here.