Hibiscus - The National Flower of Malaysia

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to share a little about the speciality of the hibiscus flower. It is the national flower of Malaysia. It was declared as the national flower on July 28, 1960 by the Prime Minister at the time who is also the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj.

Here in Malaysia, the hibiscus flower is better known as Bunga Raya. Raya in the Malay language means celebration. So the flower symbolizes the celebration of our multicultural country. The five petals represent the Rukun Negara which are the five principle of Malaysia. The red colour symbolizes the courage and growth of the Malaysian people.

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The above is our Rukun Negara. The English translation too has been included. We recite it every Monday in school during assembly.

The hibiscus flowers are also used for its medicinal properties. The petals are used to make hibiscus tea. They are either used freshly plucked or dried and stored in a jar to be used later. All we need to do is heat them and bring them to a boil and drink as tea. I think adding some honey will also be nice. One of my aunty makes the tea for us when we visit her.

Hibiscus is also used for healthy hair. Both the flowers and leaves are used as the key ingredients in some herbal shampoos. There are also hibiscus hair oils which we can be used like a leave on conditioner. If you don't like the commercial hair products then you can try to make it at home. While it can be time consuming, the silver lining is that we can know for sure that the ingredients are natural and safe.

How beautiful is the hibiscus plant! I found it in Kuala Selangor near a restaurant that I went to a few days ago. They did always have it but I guess this is a special flowering season because it looked so pretty, full of freshly bloomed red hibiscus flowers.

Thank you for dropping by and I wish you have a beautiful day 🌺