COMMENT | This is a tale of two Merdeka's.

I was on holiday in Kuantan on August 31, when I decided to press scan on my FM car radio and it landed on 107.9MHz.

I heard this guy speaking in a very lively, almost sing song way, saying Muslims should buy from other Muslims, even if they have to pay more. Non-Muslim shops can sell something at RM1.00, but Muslim shops may have to sell it at RM1.10, because they don't have a chain of outlets. Buy from the Muslim shops, urged the ustaz (that's what he called himself), pay that extra 10 sen because that's your "jihad ekonomi" (economic crusade).

I was taken aback by this Merdeka Day message. The station 107.9MHz in Kuantan was Radio Klasik under RTM (it's 87.7MHz in KL). This was a taxpayer-funded government radio station that broadcasts nationwide, not a radio station set up by PAS...