| By Rosli Abidin
Yahya
Several hours after the raising of the National flag, some small
flags used for private and public transportations were seen
lying across the road around several places in the Brunei-Muara
district. These flags must have not been stuck properly on the
vehicles and the drivers must have not known the flags are
missing. These flags on the roads were trampled by on coming
cars without anyone bothering to pick them up. Photo: Ms Lam
Miniature flags handed to
drivers were again at the centre of controversy.
Some drivers said some of the
give-away flags, which were pasted on vehicles' screen, only
lasted a few hours. Others saw their sovereignty symbols lying
on the middle of the road.
"After only several hours,
the miniature flag gave way and fell on the road. I could not do
anything, as they were many cars.
"I felt heartbroken as the
flag was hit by car after car," said a driver.
About 20,000 vehicles are
supposed to don the miniature flags as part of Brunei Darussalam
National Day celebration this February 23.
They said the free bonanzas
were of low quality and after only a few hours exposure on the
road, if they did not fall on the roads, the end parts of the
cloth were torn off.
"The wish of the Minister
of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin OKDSLDSP (Dr) Hj Awg Hussain,
the Chairman of the executive committee for the National Day
celebrations, who said national flags must be respected and
protected, cannot be fulfilled.
"Some of the flags may
need to be taken off as it is not nice to display a torn flag,
which is a nation's sovereignty symbol," they said.
They added the flags should
have lasted until after the February 23 celebration with the
hope that the atmosphere and enthusiasm in celebrating the
National Day this year will be more conspicuous.
While they were thankful for
the free flags, they felt the quality of the miniature flags
should be fully ensured in future.
"This is not the first
time it happened. Year after year the story is the same,"
they said.
The Borneo Bulletin saw the
woven strings that made the flags gave way after being blown by
strong wind.
Drivers said they expected the
sponsors for the miniature flags would not be happy with the
recent development because the suppliers who supplied the flags
to the public did not really care on the quality of the flags.
They felt the miniature flags
should undergo maximum quality control tests as the flags depict
the national pride.
The launching of the miniature
flags took place last Sunday in the open space at the Yayasan
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah in the capital. The event was
organised by the sponsorship committee for the 19th Brunei
Darussalam National Day Celebration.
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