Tourists join in Merdeka fun
Watching the National Day parade is not only a yearly routine for local patriots, as it is also an event not to be missed for foreign tourists. -The Star
Mon, Sep 01, 2008
The Star
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Watching the National Day parade is not only a yearly routine for local patriots, as it is also an event not to be missed for foreign tourists.
Two schoolteachers from London planned their three-week holiday here to coincide with the 51st National Day celebration.
"We planned today as our last day in Malaysia so we could experience the celebration ourselves.
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| VIP row: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin flanked by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak watching the National Day parade at Dataran Merdeka Sunday. |
"It was so colourful and interesting. I thought the parade was amazing," said 35-year-old Natasha Armstrong, who was travelling with 32-year-old Sylvia Iyeke.
Engineer David Tottey, 35, and his girlfriend Leah Ritto, 30, were also at Dataran Merdeka.
"Somebody told us about the celebration and we came straightaway to see it," said Tottey, who was impressed with the helicopter fly-past.
Briton David Mahoney described the celebration as fantastic.
"The atmosphere is very harmonious and what attracted me the most was the march by the armed forces," said Mahoney.
A 26-year-old student from Kyrgyzstan, who wanted to be known only as Timur, said the march-past by civil servants was the most interesting to watch.
Hidden among the high-spirited masses at Dataran Merdeka were some senior citizens who make it a point to watch the parade every year.
Syed Nabi Syed Kassim, 63 from Taman Ehsan, Kepong, could not hold back his tears as he proudly watched the march-past.
"I always like to watch the parade from beginning to end. It makes me proud to be a Malaysian, and to remember how much we've gone through," he said, holding his songkok to his chest while looking up at a fly-past of four Sukhoi jets.
Syed Nabi used to participate in the parade when he was in the police force.
Asmah Ismail, 62, who has been attending the Merdeka parade for 16 years said: "I don't know what it is. The colours, the crowd, I just feel happy to be here."