In the past, as Merdeka Day approached, schoolchildren were required to bring along with them to school coconut leaf sticks and glue, recalled Halimah Mohamed Sadique.

The national unity minister said the pupils will draw the national flag, colour it with crayons and stick it to a coconut leaf stick.

In those days, there was no such thing as buying a ready-made flag as can be done now, said Halimah in relating her days as a teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan Assunta Convent in Kuantan before she ventured into politics.

She also said that the events of Merdeka Day, now referred to as National Day, will include singing the Negaraku national anthem and reading out the Rukun Negara pledge in class.

Making the national flag is a learning process that enables the pupils to understand the meaning of the red and white stripes, the blue colour...