I know it's a little late but I wanted to include this post as it was a first for me.
It was the first time I was at Dataran Merdeka to see the merdeka parade. August 31st is Malaysia's Independence Day, and each year a parade goes through Merdeka Square.
We were staying at The Majestic Hotel which is just 10 minutes walk from the venue. I woke up early, around 6am while the others were fast asleep. I wasn't planning on walking right down to Dataran Merdeka; just thought I'd watch them all go by the hotel.
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| Snapped this photo of The Majestic Hotel KL around 7:30am |
I watched a barrage of tanks make their way past the hotel amidst much din. Quite impressive.
I followed the line of tanks down the road until I reached Dataran Merdeka. While the machinery was impressive, I was not so proud of the sight of soldiers in and around the tanks smoking away on cigarettes. Anyway, that's a different story...
Managed to find myself a spot amongst the huge crowds right here...
A number of national songs were blasted out of the speakers right behind where I was standing, including 'Negaraku' and one of my personal favourites, 'Jalur Gemilang,' which I was able to sing along to. Despite the large crowds, there was no pushing and shoving, everyone seemed to behave themselves well, and the police did a very good job at maintaining order. I must say, it was a very patriotic atmosphere, and I felt very much Malaysian myself, and a deep sense of belonging to this land.
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| Carrying a large Malaysia flag in the parade |
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| A young child waves the Malaysia flag as the parade passes by |
I was given a Malaysia flag which I waved proudly during the 'Jalur Gemilang' song. As I already was carrying an ipad and a camera, I ended up inserting the flagstick in my pocket, as many others did.
Managed to find a window ledge to stand on which gave me a better view of proceedings and a more favourable angle for taking photos.
Around 9:30am I began to make my way through the crowds and headed back to the hotel. I was getting rather hungry!
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| Some sort of Malaysian SWAT team |
I walked the slightly uphill journey back to The Majestic Hotel and slipped into Contango to join my family who were having breakfast there.
Those are some beautiful pictures. I'm glad you enjoyed the parade. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the parade as I'm not fond of big crowds. Thanks for sharing the pics.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Merdeka Day parade before babe! Hihi I'm glad you did and took some lovely photos. Oh, I woke up and saw the program on tele. Hoping that counts!
ReplyDeleteMisha, yes it was great. Enjoyed it more than I expected!
ReplyDeleteMonica, I'm not too keen on huge crowds either, but it really was a great experience. Could feel the patriotism!
Fie, not too sure if sleeping through most of it when you're just a stone's throw away from it counts?!?! But you were with Leah so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt :)