By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 31 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Dataran Merdeka, though not a venue for this year’s National Day celebration, brings beautiful memories for those who have participated in past years’ celebration.
With the fight against COVID-19 not over yet and enforcement of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) extended until end of this year, the 2020 National Day celebration was carried out according to the new norms.
Recalling the incident at Dataran Merdeka, then known as the Padang Kelab Selangor, on Aug 30, 1957, it was where the people of various races and ages gathered to await the declaration of the country’s Independence.
That auspicious moment saw the Union Jack being lowered and the new Federation of Malaya flag was raised. As the flag was raised, the Negaraku was sung for the first time and this was followed by cries of “Merdeka”at 12.01 am, marking the end of British rule in Malaya.
Speaking to Bernama, Venaigam Packirisamy, 45, said Dataran Merdeka brought memories of a National Day celebration several years ago.
“I was one of the members in the formation team event, which was to form the national flag.
“I can still remember, it was in 1991 and I was 17 and studying at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. It was unexpected, our school was chosen for the event and I was a member of the team.
“We wore white for the event, and with students from other schools, we gathered and formed ourselves into a big Jalur Gemilang (human art) and also other forms, using blue, yellow, read and white colour,” he said, adding that the last time he was to the location was in 2012.
Another was Wan Nor Azira Mazlan, 37, who said she also missed Dataran Merdeka as she was there during the National Day celebration in 2010.
A former employee of Pos Malaysia Berhad, she was in-charged of the office team for the National Day parade.
“I was 28-years-old then and as the company representative, the feeling was more special as I was directly involved in the event for the National Day celebration,” she added.
Wan Nor Azira said although the 2020 National Day celebration was not carried out in a large scale, Malaysians could celebrate the occasion themselves, like raising the Jalur Gemilang at their homes.
Meanwhile, Adilah Azri, 28, remembered the time when he was involved with the National Day celebration. It was when she was working was a government-linked company.
She was involved in managing logistics for the Merdeka parade for the 2015 National Day celebration.
The previous year, she said, she was at Dataran Merdeka, to watch the World Cup final which was shown on a large screen there.
Padang Kelab Selangor was named Dataran Merdeka in October 1989 for the 1990 Visit Malaysia Year.
— NNN-BERNAMA
