I have been hearing jets fly over the airspace over my office the whole morning in preparation for the upcoming National Day celebrations in Dataran Merdeka. I honestly thought that the celebrations were being held in Putrajaya this year. Honestly.
I suppose this tells you just how much attention I pay to this. The only thing that really struck my mind was “Alamak! The roads are going to be so jammed!” This is because the road leading to Dataran Merdeka runs just right in front of my office! What a great excuse to use for coming in late to work eh?
Anyway, with this upcoming National Day celebrations, I have an embarrassing confession to make.
I could never remember which year we achieved independance.
Of course this year, its easy to remember because everyone is having the 50th anniversary being shoved down our throats. But before this 50th anniversary thing, I had great problems remembering whether it was 31 August 1957 or 1958. I did not do history in school, so there. 
How did I eventually get around this problem? With a little bit of help from the late Sudirman!
Tanggal 31
Bulan lapan lima puluh tujuh
Merdeka ! Merdeka !
Tetaplah merdeka
Ia pasti menjadi sejarah
Tanggal 31
Bulan lapan lima puluh tujuh
Hari yang mulia
Hari bahagia
Sambut dengan jiwa yang merdeka
Mari kita seluruh warga negara
Ramai-ramai menyambut hari merdeka
Merdeka !
Tiga satu bulan lapan lima puluh tujuh
Hari mulia negaraku merdeka
Merdeka !
Merdeka !
Merdeka !
This is such an upbeat song and it never fails to amaze me how it is played every time we approach August 31. This and “Balik Kampung” are the 2 most played songs of the late Sudirman.
It would be nice if he was recognised for producing the most loved National Day song ever, that transcends the years yet embodies what Merdeka is all about in a sufficiently upbeat marching tune. Hands up how many can remember what is the annual song or theme or logo? What is it this year? Do I even care?!
This is my tribute piece to the *choke* 50th anniversary of independence. I didn’t want to bitch about how much we have regressed in the past 5 years or how stupid it is to propose to eradicate the English Common Law system from our judicial system, so I’ll end off on a good note.
Mari kita seluruh warga negara
Ramai-ramai menyambut hari merdeka
Merdeka !
Tiga satu bulan lapan lima puluh tujuh
Hari mulia negaraku merdeka
Merdeka !
Merdeka !
Merdeka !
p/s Isn’t ironical that Prince Andrew (The Duke of York) is representing Britain at our National Day festivities? Imagine attending the party of someone who is celebrating their independence from you! Plus getting the royal treatment from your former colony. I love how ironical this whole thing this 
p/p/s Whatever happened to that little boy Sudirman adopted? He should be a young lad now. Anyone knows?
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6 comments ↓
1. (*&^*%$$ It took me 1 1/2 hours to reach office this morning. Had to go through so many detours. They should stick to Putrajaya instead. The rehearsals are going on for the next 2 days and I am not looking forward to it.
2. I can’t believe it when I read what the CJ proposed. Super embarrassing proposal from him, if you ask me. Somehow, as much as we try to have “Bolehs”, the number of embarrassing statements by our leaders probably outnumber these Bolehs that we create.
I remember that song. I can sing it for you too, if you like. Heh…
Pablo: I hear ya. The roads are super jammed and that proposal is doomed to fail. It’d better!! grr…
Giddy Tiger: All together now! Tanggal 31 bulan lapan lima puluh tujuh…
Happy Merdeka to you.
Laughing at your prince Andrew comment. When I was at NATO headquarters and we celebrated the American independence, the Brits joined us for the celebration. They referred to the day as British Thanksgiving for being rid of the American colonies. lol
SA: I think the Brits are pretty thankful to get rid of us too
no matter how often I hear this, I still like listening to it — all because it’s Sudirman!