Merdeka Countdown

I remember growing up, munching on some peanuts with my family members at home and watching local singers and dancers perform on stage during the Merdeka countdown. We would all point and laugh at the hapless crowds whom we can see sweating and battling with mosquito bites out there.

“Why go through so much hardship to be there when you can actually watch everything from the comfort of your home?” we would smugly say to each other from our comfortable perches on the sofa.

But this year, for the first time in our lives, bezzie, my baby and I found ourselves actually in KLCC counting down to Merdeka (our Independence day) together with ‘the hapless crowd’. Call it a moment of insanity or a sudden burst of patriotism, but there we were – nearly choking from the foul fumes that were emitted by cigarettes and pushing through an endless sea of people. I had no idea that we have THAT many smokers in this country. Yech.

A concert was going on and we heard some familiar names being announced. “Wah, got Jamal Abdillah leh. And Awie, too!” We squinted our eyes to have a look at the real deal on stage but they were simply too small to behold. The projected video screenings helped but after a while, we were so put off by the cigarette fumes that we decided to find somewhere with clean air to perch and watch the fireworks.

Then we bumped into a group of serious amateur photographers nearby who had set up their tripods away from the madding crowd. It was great meeting kindred photographic spirits, chatting with them and introducing our babies to each other. I was the only Nikonian in that group of Kodakian/Minoltian enthusiasts. Unfortunately, they decided that the viewpoint wasn’t too great and decided to find a nearer spot where the madding crowd was. Alas, my tripod was far too short to be able to shoot anything of use above the heads of the madding crowd, so I sadly had to decline.

Still, I managed to take some decent pics of the fireworks despite my miniscule tripod.

After everything was over and the crowds started to disperse, we were appalled by the amount of litter left behind at the park. It was embarrassing, really. Here we all were, celebrating the 49th anniversary of our beloved country’s independence and we couldn’t be bothered to even keep our country free from trash. How ironically unpatriotic. Apparently, civic mindedness is something that our people still need to improve upon.

Anyway, we winded down and had a great time at the 24 hour A&W restaurant after alighting at our LRT station. Thank God for 24-hour eateries and LRT stations that operate till 4am on special occasions!

Oh, and a Happy Merdeka to my fellow Malaysians. We have an amazing country. Let’s do our best keep it clean in every way.

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