A man was waving a flag on top of a banner, while the fireworks was played.

There was a wooden or bamboo ladder for him to stand there to wave our Malaysia flag (Jalur Gemilang).

We had attended the Perayaan Hari Malaysia or Malaysia Day celebration which was usually be held on 16 Sept every year, but it has been postponed to 10th October (last Saturday) evening due to the month of Ramadan in Islamic Calendar when the Muslim were fasting.

Let’s listen to the very popular 1Malaysia song. - Malaysia Satu by Faizal Tahir.

Malaysia Day is NOT the National Day or Independence Day.  Malaysia Day is the date of forming of Malaya, Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore (back then) on Sept 16, 1963, whereas our country National Day is the date of commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule on 31st August 1957.

This year the celebration is held in Padang Merdeka (the field of independence), Kuching Sarawak.

We were lucky because we have got a seat between the VIP seats and the stages.  It was very near to the stage and we could see everything clearly.

We could not see the arrival of our Prime Minister Najib on the spot, but we could see it from the big projector screen.  I have taken this picture indirectly from the screen.

This is the first time we see our Prime Minister in real and short distance.

The reporters from different medias were busy taking photos or videos.

This event was broadcasted live across the nation, we were not sure if our face has been captured on TV and viewed by all Malaysians.  We were really excited.

Again, this is our first time experience joining the crowd in such a big event.

Three man in white uniform carrying the flag.

As the start of the event, our National Anthem “Negaraku” and our Sarawak State Anthem “Ibu Pertiwiku” were played.

At some point of the ceremony, the firework sprayed out from the top front part of the stage, and followed by the dance performance from Sabah, Sarawak, and Peninsular Malaysia.  I will blog about the dance performances in the coming posts, so now I will skip the detail part.

Again, we could only see the VIP stood the flag from the big tv.

There was an award giving ceremony.

The Prime Minister Najib was still giving the awards, and the reporter were busy taking photos.  From a short distance away, we were sitting facing the stage.  At this point we had to turn our heads back to look at the direction of the VIP seats for watching the award giving.  But most of the time, we were blocked by the reporters, so we preferred to look at the big screen.

We saw the camera flash light blinking non-stop.  Wow… amazing.  Their eyes must have been trained to get use to it.

They were carrying the ladder, interesting things happen later. look at the very first picture above.

A man was standing on the ladder and the rest of them hold the ladder up and moved towards the left hand side of the stage.  The man then climbed up the ladder and waved the flag, at this time, the beautiful fireworks were played.  This is one of the most important moment in the event.

Our Prime minister has led us to shout the patriotic word “Merdeka” which means independence for 7 times, and “Satu Malaysia” which means one Malaysia for 3 times.

They waved the flags on the stage.

This man was also on the ladder, but with a flag of the Sabah state (if not mistaken).

Look carefully.  The man in the red shirt was sitting on the shoulder of the man in the blue shirt, so that he can stand taller and wave the flag with full spirit.

Ladies carrying Malaysia flag lined up on the stage.

All the dancers, performers returned to the stage in a large group together before the ending of the ceremony.

Don’t worry, there are 6 stages which can fit all of them in:- Center upper, Left Upper, Right Upper, Center Lower, Left Lower and Right Lower.

This is the dancer from West Malaysia.  As promised, I will blog about it in the coming posts.

If not mistaken this is from Sabah.  Correct me if I am wrong.

Prime Minister Najib was getting ready to leave after the performances.

I was busy taking photo too, but I did not go nearer to the VIP area because I am not from the media.  I enjoy taking the photos of the media shooting the VIPs.  They looked funny.

The most unexpected thing was we were allowed to sit right in front of the stage which allowed me to take a lot of photos (videos too) of the cultural dances clearly.

Stay tuned.  I will tell you more about it.