Happy 50th Independence Day, MALAYSIA!

At the stroke of midnight, 31st August 2007, Malaysia celebrated her 50th Independence Day. Being a Malaysian based in Kuala Lumpur, my family and I could not resist the temptation of viewing the fireworks display at Dataran Merdeka which comes a few minutes after midnight. Dataran Merdeka was the scene where the Union Jack flag was lowered for the last time for the then Malaya. Well, the three of us boarded the LRT train before 11.00 pm and met up with my wife's sister and her boyfriend outside the Bandaraya LRT near SOGO. We were so eager to view the fireworks display so much so that my wife and my daughter got lost in the crowd. Not to panic, I had informed them to wait for me at the LRT station if we were to get separated.

The countdown came and went. "Negaraku" (Our Country), Malaysia's national anthem was sung followed by two long-winded speeches by Rais Yatim and Pak Lah. Children were crying everywhere and children, with a short span of attention, could not be blamed. I do not see the point of delaying the fireworks display for more than an hour. Before 1.00 am, I had already made my way to the LRT station to wait for my family. My wife's sister and boyfriend were already waiting for me. After giving up hope for some fireworks to show up, a few were fired upwards for about 5 minutes just to please the crowd. By then, many had left for home.

In my humble opinion, for a golden anniversary celebration, this is pathetic as the crowd is not interested in speeches. They want action. And they got crap!