Igniting the spirit of patriotism in the people
TEN years ago when the country celebrated its 50th independence, I took to the streets with my office mates to participate in the Merdeka Day parade at Dataran Merdeka. It was my second. The first time I took part in the Merdeka Day parade was a few years after I joined the company. It was for the fun of it. I remembered wearing a white T-shirt with newspaper cuttings printed on it. I remembered being asked why I signed up for the parade. Family members and friends said they would rather stay at home and watch the parade on television. The second time around, I was looking for a more meaningful way to remember the country’s 50 years of independence. My mother, for example, was at Padang Pahlawan in Malacca on Feb 20, 1956 when Tunku Abdul Rahman made the first announcement on the country’s independence. She will reminisce about this moment every Aug 31 while we watch the live television broadcast of the Merdeka parade. I wanted to do something so that I would, later in the yea...