55 YEARS AND COUNTING
Malaysians turn out in force to celebrate Sept 16
KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia Day was celebrated with music, dances and fireworks here, where people from all walks of lives came in droves to Padang Merdeka to join in the festivities.
The air was electric with the spirit of patriotism at the celebration grounds, with thousands of Malaysians waving the Jalur Gemilang.
The crowd began showing up early in the afternoon and a couple of hours later the entire Padang Merdeka was chock-full of cars and people as they waited for the main event to start at 7pm.
They were entertained by a mini concert featuring local artistes, and various performances including dances and songs by some 800 performers comprising students and personnel from the Sabah Cultural Board, and the people sang along to patriotic numbers.
The theme of this year’s Malaysia Day celebration was Sayangi Malaysiaku, and Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal spoke to the crowd about what Sept 16 meant to all Malaysians.
Present were Sabah head of state Tun Juhar Mahiruddin, Sarawak deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo, who was also chairman of the main organising committee for the National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations, and other federal and state ministers as well as foreign dignitaries.
The leaders signed a special Malaysia Day book, then Juhar led a cake cutting ceremony to mark the 55th year of Malaysia’s formation.
Students Syafiqah Nabila Waharudin, 24, from Johor Baru, and Sabahans Jacklinda N. Jinuis, 26, Alessandra N. Jinuis, 21, and Novelen Fernandez, 27, took time off from their studies to join in the festivities.
“We knew there will be a huge crowd and it will be hot but we came here because we wanted to see Tun Dr Mahathir,” said Alessandra, adding that they were excited over the new government and wanted to be part of an event they deemed “historic”.
“When can you see a prime minister who has served so long, retired, and returned to politics and became the leader of the nation again anywhere else in the world?” she said, in reference to 93-year-old Dr Mahathir.
She hoped everyone in the country could see the good and beauty in multi-racial Malaysia, and do all they could to preserve the peace and harmony for a better country.
A group of tourists from China comprising retirees were among the crowd and they too wanted to see Dr Mahathir up close.
“We don’t have this kind of privilege in China where there’s always a huge gap between the leaders and citizens,” said an elderly woman from the group who did not want to be named.
She said this practice where leaders and people could be so close together at celebrations was something alien to them, and it was “a nice feeling”.
Her tour mate, who merely identified himself as Lam, said they knew about the celebration from news reports and also from the banners and canopies set up.
“It’s a festive feel and we enjoy it,” he said, adding that the people of Sabah were wonderful.
German couple Luisa and Jan said the Malaysia Day celebration in Sabah was similar to some of their events back home.
“We are keen to see how you celebrate Malaysia Day and it is great to see people from all racial backgrounds come together in harmony,” Luisa said.