50th Merdeka parade makes it all worthwhile

By CHRISTINA LOW

Mini cop: Traffic police Mohd Arshad Abdul Kadir letting Mohd Hanif Faizal Mazlan pose on his bike during the National Day parade.

After the late night Merdeka countdown celebration, the crowd was back at Dataran Merdeka yesterday morning to watch the 50th Merdeka parade.

Rosniza Roslan had only a few hours of sleep as she had gone with her family to celebrate the countdown the night before. But she had no regrets about being there.

"This only happens once a year, and this is our nation's 50th anniversary, so making it here is really important for us," said the 33-year-old housewife from Cheras.

Rosniza was seen with her one-year-old daughter Nadia Ezriena Mustafa sitting on the pavement in Jalan Hishamuddin before the parade began.

"The parade is a yearly affair for the family because we prefer seeing it here because of watching it on TV which is not as much fun," said the mother of six.

The Merdeka Parade celebration began at 8am after the arrival of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and the Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah.

After the flag raising ceremony and the reading of the Rukun Negara, performances on the field began with 5,000 students creating formations such as the country's map and various national logos.

Making up the background was 2,300-member choir made up of trainee teachers from the Malaysia Teachers' Training Institute.

At 9am the marching segment of the parade kicked off with the Independence Era of Tunku Abdul Rahman, before moving on to the Development, Unity, Modernisation and Excellent eras of Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir Mohamed and Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi respectively.

More than 30 brass bands from all over the country accompanied the participants marching in each of the eras as well as floats depicting the eras.

Among those marching in the Independence Era of Aug 31, 1957 to Sept 21, 1970 was Nurul Hidayah, 21 who was participating in the parade for the first time.

Dressed in a pair of baju kurung with an armband with the initials HG (Home Guard) and carrying a shot gun, the trainee inspector and her team stood out among the other army officers who were all clad in their uniforms.

"We are used to carrying guns but not in baju kurung," said Nurul who found it amazing how women back then was able to assist the country's national security officers.

Besides the Home Guards (HG) there were also the Special Constables better known as SC and the Jungle Squad.

The colourful parade involving more than 10,000 people made Dutch student Sandra Te Stroet, 19, loss for words.

"It makes me really happy just being here surrounded by this upbeat atmosphere of everyone just having fun, dancing and singing together portraying their cultures and the history of the country," said Sandra.

The parade continued with a fly-past by different fighter jets before ending an hour later with traditional dances and the singing of the theme song for the 50th Merdeka celebration.