Merdeka Day 2012, Dataran Pahlawan, Melaka

It's the Malaysian Independence Day (or Merdeka Day, as we say over here). It's on this day, 31 August, 55 years ago in 1957, that Malaya (later to be known as Malaysia in 16 Sept 1963) gained its independence  from the British Empire. For this we have the delegation lead by Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock AND Tun V.T. Sambanthan to thank!

As usual, the Merdeka Day parade starts at Dataran Pahlawan, Melaka Raya. The path that the parade follows leads it through to the Stadhuys (red buildings from the time of the Dutch occupancy) through Jalan Bendahara, and all the way through Jalan Hang Tuah to end at Stadium Kubu (near the HSBC bank).

I was on the scene in the morning, parking my car behind Mahkota Parade in anticipation of a massive crowd and lots of cars. Surprisingly, there was a lot of empty space both on the road and in the streets all the way to Dataran Pahlawan. When I finally arrived at Dataran Pahlawan, I found the 128 contingents all assembled on the field. There was a significantly smaller crowd of both parade participants as well as onlookers this year, compared to what I saw a few years ago. In fact, there were more people lined up to watch the Wesak Day Parade. Hmm, perhaps everyone was on holiday this year, as it would be a slightly longer weekend....(?)

I had with me my trusty S5 Pro with the Nikon 18-200mm all-purpose walkaround lens, so I could focus on snapping photos. You know, these days, everyone's a photographer. Consumer DSLR models are quite affordable now, so you can see lots of people with DSLR's in hand. On the down side, it was a bit crowded where good photo opportunities were present, so it's hard to get a nice clean shot of the parade with everyone crowding the frame with their own camera. Luckily, the crowd was quite thin away from the main stage where The Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Haji Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam and the rest of the VIP's were seated, so I could still get some decent shots walking further towards the Equatorial Hotel.

One thing bad about the onlookers - they then to crowd the roads and this results in a really narrow path for the paraders. Where's good crowd control when you need it?

Technicalities aside, it was still a sizable turn out, with ~128 contingents marching if I heard correctly. There were the usual government bodies, like the Police and Fire Brigade, Schools and even private companies. All in their colorful uniforms. At the back of the parade there were some vehicles too, ranging from light armored vehicles, old vintage cars, bicycles and even bullock carts.

Fortunately, the weather was fine, and as there were only a few participants, the entire parade cleared the area by ~10.30am, so I managed to get back home in time for lunch.

Well, it's good to still see a show of patriotism these days, and I look forward to a better show for Independence Day next year. In the mean time, some snapshots of the event:-

Significantly less participants this year - lots of empty space on top of Dataran Pahlawan

The Chief Minister and the rest of the VIP's on the main stage

Sajak recital (basically, speaking with "style")

Young and old, from all walks of life, turned out to watch the parade, a testament to the multi-racial society of Malaysia

Tablets have their usefulness - note, they are not made by Apple, by the way.... :)

A dance show comprising children in various traditional attire

Malaysian Navy - always looking sharp in white

The army marches by, hope they're not loaded (the guns, I mean)

Majlis Perbandaran Alor Gajah - the most striking costume, IMHO!

Private companies joined too, like Infineon Technologies (didn't see Vishay Semiconductor this year, though)

Joining the parade were the lightly armored vehicles (still heavy though)

Honda Hybrid vehicles in the fleet as well - in line with the Green Initiative

Old is gold, and so these guys join in the parade as well

Lack of rear seats is no obstacle for them - I wonder what JPJ will say about seatbelts, though....

Senior citizens join in with their classic car (from the same era?)

The crowd was really thin, note the gaps across the road....

Hmm, not the best choice of uniforms for this parade (remember, Japan conquered Malaya during WWII) - but still funny to see! :)

For those city dwellers who have never seen bulls before - luckily there was no B.S. as the parade passed slowly by! :)

Last but not least, hope they don't run into any obstacles left by the bullock carts that just went by

The unseen heroes of the day, cleaning up after the crowd (doing a fine job - see how clean the field is?)

Out of sequence, should have taken this shot first and not last - my fault....