August 2008

This month was a long month for me. I thought I would have some spare time in the second half of the month to write about the things from my trips but alas, there was just too much to do and too little time. Hopefully, this will be the month with fewest posts in my blog. We'll see how it goes. Okay, I am off to do something else now.

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Sabah National Day Parade 2008

The first parade I could remember was one I caught as a young boy. Standing by the roadside with my parents and siblings watching all the people marching and in their unforms caught my attention as they do now. In primary school, my ambition was to be a soldier (really). Well, it was also partly because one of my neighborhood friend's father was in the army. He looked splendid in uniform.

Later, in secondary school, I even joined part of the school brass band, which naturally took part in these parades. When I started to work, I also took part in national day parades as part of my employer's contingent.

Anyway, I think brass bands are one of the attractions of a national day parade. Noticeably, the were very few brass bands today at Sabah national day parade. I don't know why. I counted less than ten today.

Usually there is a competition for the contingents which took part. Once I get the results, I will to post the photos of the winning contingents that I took from the parade.

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Happy National Day Malaysia

To all Malaysians, have a good national day. More than ever, we need to work together to develop this country and bring it to a higher level, politically, economically and socially.

In my younger days, I used to take part in national day parades but these days, I am left to watching the parade on the television and if I wake up early enough in the morning, I will try to catch a live parade nearby. And today, I did just that. I was at the national day parade at the state level in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. I actually took part in the same one about a dozen years ago. Our contingent came in the top three. A year later, I took part in the national day parade at the national level. This time, our contingent did not make it to the top three but was one of the contingents to be watched during the rehearsals. By the way, a competing contingent that year was featured in a photo in an article on Malaysia the National Geographic magazine.

To be frank, the parades are all the same. Contingents after contingents marching, not walking like you see in the Olympics march past. I don't know but I like to see it. Maybe it instills the national pride and identity in us. I've been to and lived in other countries, but this is the country I love. I was born here and, I hope, shall die here.

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A Very Special Happy Birthday to Two Persons Close to Me

I don't have to write your names here because you know who you are. I wish you both a very happy birthday and many happy returns in the future. Thank you for being there for me.

Note: I don't think it is a coincidence that both of you were born on the same day of the month but in different years. One of them is 23 and the other is forever 27 ;-).

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Silence

I know it's been a while since I last blogged. But, it was unavoidable, I just didn't have the time to sit down, collect my thoughts and write something with them.

I was away on leave for two weekends and was involved in two dinners in between. Even during my leave periods, I wasn't able to do much. I spent my time with friends in one and visited a new country in the other.

Anyway, I'll try to write whatever I have in mind for the next few days. It seems that I'll have a bit more time for myself now. I do have some ideas about what I'll write about but for now, I'll keep them to myself. You'll read about them when I get to blogging them.

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