However, is the country really free, especially from the mindset of exploiting one another?
Experts say that despite independence, little has changed, as the exploitation that the British practised is continuing even after they left the nation in 1957 – in the form of stereotyping, class and race divisions and economic dominance.
Black Flag Movement member Mohammad Alshatri said Malaysia was still tied to the “colonial exploitation mindset”.
This is clear from the way the nation is run, with class and race still playing a huge role in everyday life and even in getting jobs and appointments.
“Merdeka as a nation means we should be free of socio-economic hardship.
“As a nation, we got back our country from the colonialists, strived for a country without poverty with equal opportunities for all,” he said.
But that is exactly what the country continues to struggle with, as the younger generation bears the burden of the past generations, including with the current administration’s political, economic and ecological impacts, he said.
These impacts, Mohammad said, was caused by a deep-rooted colonial mindset, with politicians continuing to use the same divide-and-rule method to lord over Malays, Chinese and Indians.
“We are still using the British colonial methods of divide and rule as the framework for the nation,” he said, referring to policies favouring the Bumiputeras.
“Such policies are unhealthy as every racial group starts to think for itself when it comes to the economy and jobs.”
Although politicians use rhetoric to divide people as a way to stay in power, he said, such tactics are only because the three main races kept to themselves for decades after independence, causing them to be sceptical of each other.
Sociologist Syed Farid Alatas said the nation needs to know the struggle for freedom continues as “we are free politically but not genuinely free”.
He called on the younger generation to break that bondage.
“We may have achieved our independence but the struggle needs to continue,” he said.
Syed Farid said the stereotyping of Malays, Chinese and Indians comes from the way the British looked at the different races in Malaysia.
“The stereotyping we have against each other today was created by the British but we continue to think it is the reality,” he said, adding that such thinking has been internalised by Malaysians, causing divisions within the three main ethnicities in the peninsula.
Other than stereotyping, he said, Malaysia is still externally bound by economic control, despite independence.
“A few rich countries are still in control,” he told FMT.
For tertiary education, he said Malaysian universities are bound by US rankings, tied to criteria that are the norm in the US.
The US and European countries are still in control over the world economy while the US remains a major military political power. “The ability of few countries to veto others affects international relations with a country,” he said.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) Dr Michael Jeyakumar said Merdeka was important for the older generation who felt they needed to sacrifice to free the country of Western powers.
“They wanted to achieve their own potential. They had high hopes.
“Now we are free politically but we are tied down in many ways,” he said, referring to the indirect foreign colonisation of the economy.
Jeyakumar also said the country is not free to increase wages because of the fear that foreign direct investors (FDIs) would head to other countries for cheaper labour.
“We are not free to raise taxes too high, they can shift to Singapore and Thailand. We may lose FDIs,” he said.
The rich countries buy raw materials and commodities at cheaper prices and sell the finished products at higher prices.
“We hoped for independence. We are free but only partially. We are still being bullied due to fears,” he said.
To break free from such fears, he said, Malaysia needs to produce value-added goods and create an effective, regional domestic market within Asean.
“We should not be forced to devalue our work, lower our wages and taxes,” he said, adding that Malaysia needs to take the next step towards patenting goods and moving into creating value-added goods.
For Malaysia to be free of such bondage, he added, the young need to speak up and chart their future with proper planning and policies.