Hang A White Flag Outside Your House If You Need Essentials, Malaysian White Flag Movement
The white flag movement took Malaysia by storm today when it went viral on various social media platforms.
Kepada semua yang susah dan tiada makanan, naikkan bendera putih di kediaman anda. Biar orang sekeliling pakat bantu sedikit sebanyak yang termampu. Tolong jangan ambil tindakan yang meremukkan hati orang yang tersayang. Tak perlu merayu, tak perlu malu. Kibar saja bendera pic.twitter.com/BGy7muxcMc — Hafizol Hakami (@HafizolHakami) June 28, 2021
In a Tweet by Hafizol Hakimi that has since gone viral with over 16k retweets, he mentioned that there is no shame in asking for help from others rather than suffering in silence. The white flag is symbolic and help will be given, no questions asked.
They are encouraged to place a white flag outside their houses if they desperately need food and medical assistance amongst other things. In turn, neighbours and people around them can collectively pool resources to help in any way they can.
Zuraidah Kamaruddin, a politician from Pakatan Rakyat Party, PKR took to Facebook to show her support for the movement.
The movement aims to render assistance to those badly hit by the lockdown situation due to the pandemic in Malaysia. Netizens supports it wholeheartedly with the hashtags #benderaputih and #kitajagakita to trend the movement across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
However, there are some political and religious figures who are against the movement, saying that it is more harmful to give up in times of hardship and they should be reliant on God instead.
This courted the ire of netizens who slammed the commentary made because they believe that there is no harm in asking for help when authorities can’t be of assistance all the time.
Some respectfully disagreed with Nik’s comments, saying that there are people who refuse to seek help even when they are desperate due to pride and the white flag movement is one way they can use to ask for help with their dignity intact.
And some got political.
Malaysia is one of the countries worst hit due to the pandemic and the constant lockdowns to help control the situation is causing loss of jobs for some. The movement aims to help those people who need food and necessities but aren’t able to procure it for various reasons.
Reporter’s Opinions: I am not surprised to see the hashtag being hijacked by those with political agendas and the pathetic attempt to start a counter hashtag.
I don’t really get political but the power of social media is real and desperate situations can bring a whole nation to help each other. If that threatens some people, then maybe you should start doing what you’re paid to do.
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