MERDEKA 

            It was a very special day indeed. I didn’t sleep the whole night .At 11.59pm, I counted down with another 24 million Malaysians, “3…2…1…MERDEKA!!!” Nation wide it was one of the country’s most important day.31^st August, Merdeka day, the day that all of us will always remember, the day that Malaysia gained independence. This year, was one of the most beautiful merdeka  days’s that I’ve spent in a long time. 

            At about 2am, I rushed to have a bath ,eat breakfast and pack my bags. I was part of the Merdeka parade this year at Putrajaya. I left the house at 3.30am to Sri Cempaka Damansara to meet the rest of the team. The team consisted of 30 students from Sri Cempaka.26 from Damansara and 4 from Cheras. All of us were present at 4 am sharp at the foyer. ‘Galur Gemilang’ shirts were distributed to all team members. We departed from Cempaka Damansara at 4.15am. 

            Many of us had our eyes half open and most of us (like me) didn’t get much sleep the night before. Some students even camped out in school the night before! Although we were half dead in the morning, it all changed when we arrived at Putrajaya. The atmosphere was just so alive and colourful .Everywhere there were flags, posters, and banners .All the participants were gathered under tents set up by the organizing committee. 

            Tarian 2000 , which was the dance that I participated in, was a joint performance by many government bodies and schools nation wide. As the tile says, this dance was preformed by over 2000 dancers along the Putrajaya street. The dance was a combination of three songs, Keranamu Malysia, Galur Gemilang and Kau Boleh.Three very motivating and patriotic songs to grace the event. 

            The Ceremony was filled with floats, jets, march pass and musical performances .It was such a happy moment at that time .Everybody present had so mush patriotism in them. Everybody sang the songs together even if it wasn’t their performance. Malaysians from all over the nation such as Kelantan,Perak and Melaka were present as well. On this glorious event, all races came together as one .Malay, Chinese Indian, all as one celebrating our independence day. 

            When it came to my performance, I got in to place with the rest of the team, and gave it all my best. Throughout the three songs, all of us were having fun and enjoying the moment. We laughed ,smiled and preformed our very best. 

            “MERDEKA!!...MERDEKA!!..MERDEKA!” was shouted out to the whole Putrajaya by our beloved Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Dr. Mahatir. Echoed behind was the cheering of a couple of thousand Malaysians repeating those words. With that the celebrations of the 2003 Merdeka was over. For this year that is.