BRIEF BUT MEANINGFUL INDEPENDENCE RALLY

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 (Bernama) -- The national-level 52nd Independence celebration Monday was a brief and moderate affair in view of the Influenza A(H1N1) pandemic and in observance of the Ramadan fasting month, but the occasion was not without the fanfare and spirit of independence with the participation of people of all races in line with the 1Malaysia concept.

Carrying the theme "1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now", the event was
held at Parliament Square instead of Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square), and
was confined to a rally and performances without the usual parade of contingents
and the participation of school children.

Nevertheless, Parliament Square, often the venue of welcoming ceremonies for
visiting foreign dignitaries, was a scene of varied colours with the
participants in their colourful attire as well as the members of the security
forces in their respective uniforms.

The rally began soon after the arrival of the Malaysian King Tuanku Mizan
Zainal Abidin and his consort Tuanku Nur Zahirah at 8am.

Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, and Deputy Prime
Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his wife, Norainee Abd Rahman, arrived 10 minutes
earlier.

The VIPs arriving for the rally were greeted by about 10,000 cheering
flag-bearers lining the road for a distance of 1.38km from the roundabout near
Bank Negara to Parliament Square.

Among the flag-bearers were representatives of the National Service Training
Programme (210 participants), ministries and public agencies (300), 28
contingents of statutory bodies (300), private sector organisations (992),
teacher training institutions (3,500) and a contingent organised by the
Information Communication and Culture Ministry (5,000).

Soon upon arrival, Tuanku Mizan took the salute, and the national anthem,
Negaraku, was played by the Royal Malay Regiment central band led by Major
Zailani Mohd Okhtat.

At that time, seven helicopters of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) flew
past overhead, bearing the Jalur Gemilang national flag, the Armed Forces flag,
the flags of the Royal Malaysian Army, the Royal Malaysian Navy and the RMAF,
the Royal Malaysia Police flag, and the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency
(MMEA) flag, as they spewed smoke trails in red, blue and yellow - the colours
of the national flag.

Tuanku Mizan then inspected a guard-of-honour mounted by four officers and
103 men of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment under the command of
Major Mohd Radzi Othman.

As the national anthem "Negaraku" (My Country) was played, the Malaysian
flag, Jalur Gemilang, was raised and a 14-gun salute was fired.

This was followed by the reading of the Rukun Negara (National Ideology)
pledge by seven academicians representing all the major races in the country,
led by Norazmi Baba.

Also joining in the reading of the pledge were 52 representatives of the
academic community, dressed in the attire of the various communities, as well as
500 members of the security forces led by Lt Col Hishamudin Jumat Abas Jumat.

The gathering then gave seven shouts of "Merdeka" as well as "1Malaysia:
People First, Performance Now", the shouts reverberating throughout the square
and enticing the public to join in as they followed the event from outside the
premises of Parliament.

There was also a choir performance of the patriotic song "Malaysia Tanah
Airku" by the Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti).

Suara Warisan (Koswa) of the Royal Malaysian Navy in Lumut concluded the
40-minute event with a choir performance as 200 people staged a cultural dance.
-- BERNAMA