A Member of Parliament (MP) has put forth a suggestion to give Malaysia’s giant flower, the Rafflesia, a new name in order to rid it of its colonial past, claiming that it was tied to an individual of low moral character.
The suggestion was made by Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad, who made the proposal during a Parliamentary session yesterday (Aug 19).
‘Let’s rename the Rafflesia flower to Anwar’
Acting Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani was in the middle of delivering his winding-up speech when Wan Fayhsal interrupted him with the renaming proposal.
“In conjunction with Malaysia’s 68th National Day, and in the spirit of Tambun (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) who urges us to view our history beyond the colonial framework, could the minister use his powers under NRES to rename Malaysia’s largest flower, the Rafflesia?
The name was taken from Stamford Raffles, our coloniser, a man without morals or ethics. Yet, we gave such a beautiful name to our national flower.”
Wan Fayhsal called upon Johari to propose to the Cabinet in renaming the flower, adding that it could be named after Anwar himself “as long as it is better”.
He argued that Malaysia should no longer live under the shadow of its colonial past after being an independent country for 68 years.
In response, Johari said he had taken note of Wan Fayhsal’s proposal and told him to put forth more name suggestions if he had any.
Watch the exchange here from the 3:41:00 mark onwards:
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