Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email It’s finally here! my first ever experience taking part in the independence day parade, at Dataran Merdeka. After many days of practising, we woke up around 5.45am on the 31st, still tired from last night’s trip to thefirework competition.
We reached kl sentral at about 6.15am and took the KTM Komuter to KL railway station. From there we walked to the Dataran. It was all fine, until Then said that she left her handphone at home! Hmm…happened a few times already, but this is really bad timing. That put a spanner into our plans. How are we going to meet up after the parade? So we decided that if we can’t find each other, then just return back to KL Sentral and wait at the our car.
Anyhow, I left her at the Dataran for her to find a good location, while I made my way to my contigent. We waited and waited till about 8.15am and the helicopters flew by. That was the sign that the program has started. At about 8.40am, we started our march. I was lucky to be positioned at the side and was given one of the placards as well. We marched through the tunnel and the sight that greeted us near the Dataran was awesome. The noise was tremendous and the whole are was brimming with people. There was an air of excitement and energy all around. This was nothing like the rehearsal we had for the last 3 days. This is the real thing.
Due to the noise, we had problem listening to the music and synchronise our march. So, the contigent had to shout “kiri†“kanan†(“left rightâ€) all the time. As we marched past the VIP podium, I could see Tun Mahathir, Tun Siti Hasmah, PM Badawi, Prince Andrew, and President Gloria Arroyo among others waving or acknowledging us. I also thought I saw Ms Jeanne yawning as well. It was a short walk past the podium, but meaningful indeed!
The heat was quite strong. We continued marching. Cheered by the crowd who lined up along the roads all the way till Jln Sultan Ismail junction. It was blistering hot, and many came with umbrellas and caps. We made our way past Medan Mara, Quality hotel etc., and dispersed at about 9.15am.
I rushed back to the Dataran to search for Then, but obviously it is a futile attempt. There were easily 20,000 people at the dataran. I found a spot near the TV3 crew station and saw the last 20 minutes or so of the parade. Among the interesting ones was parade by the K-9 unit which was well received by the crowd.
Towards the end, jet fighters made their entrance and gave a thunderous performance. The latest Suhkoi jets were also on show.
At the end, I witnessed the VIP leaving, starting with the Agong and his consort. And I’m pretty sure that while one of the ministers were leaving, a lady (who looked mentally unstable) ran across the road. None of the papers mentioned this. The secutity was quite lax and the guards were slow to react. Anyway, I couldn’t see what happened to her. By the way, Tun Mahathir received the loudest cheer when he took leave. Others must be envious of the support he has 🙂 Samy Vellu was alone as usual. Talking about Samy Vellu, MIC’s contigent were the only one who carried a banner claiming that they were the “pembela masyarakat India†(defenders of the India community†for the last 6 decades. Looks a bit out of place right?
Anyway, the ladies looked wonderful in the green sarees.
Well, the whole thing came to an end at about 10.30am, and I was walking towards the Bank Negara’s Komuter station when Then called from a telephone booth and said that she was at the Masjid Jamek LRT station. We decided to just meet back at Brickfields. I was thanking my lucky stars that nothing went wrong.
That’s when my nightmare started. I entered the Komuter station and waited for the train to KL Sentral. After 10 minutes the announcement came that there were some problems and delays are expected for trains towards Seremban. The crowd started to grow. After 20 minutes, the delays were extended to all trains. No idea when it will be resolved. Damn! KTM sure knows how to spoil a great event! The people there were cursing and many started to leave the station. There were about 150 people at that time. So, after waiting nearly 45 minutes, I decided to walk to Masjid Jamek LRT station, which took another 15 minutes. Finally reached KL Sentral at 12.30pm. A trip that was to end by 11am, took extra 90 minutes due to the stupid KTM service!
Met up with a tired and angry Then :), and left for a good lunch before hitting the sack. It was indeed a tiring a day, but a meaningful one as I took part in the 50th Independence Day parade. Oh ya..did I mention that Then’s handphone was in her backpack all the while? That was like rubbing salt on the wound!
For her version of the events on that day, visit her blog la…
By the way, photos were taken by Then. She managed to get a location at the front of the crowd, facing the parade near the VIP area. Bigger images at Picasa.
