Twin Hibiscus for Malaysia Day 2011

1. Clock Tower of Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Today, we Malaysians will be having a double celebration:

(a) Our country's 54th year of independence, and

(b) Malaysia's 48th birthday.

This 40m high Clock Tower with the shiny copper dome is draped in our national flag called the "Jalur Gemilang" (Stripes of Glory)".

“Twin Hibiscus for Malaysia Day 2011", a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on Sept 16th, 2011.

2. Bunga Raya

The Bunga Raya Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Brilliant Red' is our National Flower.

3. Bunga Raya 2-in-1

Can you see 2 flowers here?

4. Bunga Raya twins

This is quite unusual - 2 flowers from a single stalk.
The flowers are joined at the base like a pair of Siamese twins.

Twin flowers for twin celebrations,
2-in-1 flowers for 2-in-1 celebrations!

5. Sunbird on my hibiscus

This has never happened before in my city home garden.

An olive-backed sunbird came for a drink of nectar on my hibiscus flower.

It was a real close encounter for me, less than 5 ft away and I was thrilled!

6. A group of soldiers walking past the stage during the rehersal

This is the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, nicknamed the Grand Old Lady of Kuala Lumpur **.

It is an icon of our colonial past and the seat of the government of Malaya when Kuala Lumpur first became the capital of the Federated Malay States in 1895.  It now houses the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture of Malaysia. The superior courts used to be here but these have since been relocated elsewhere*.

The building was designed by A.C. Norman and built in 1894-1897 to house several important government departments during the British Administration. It has the British Raj style with Moorish architecture.*

Even in the those days, sustainable green architecture had been incorporated into the building struture which was designed to suit our climate. Some examples are the thick walls, high ceiling and cross ventilation.**

This place is a famous landmark and major tourist attraction. It was the site of a 1992 Hong Kong movie, "Police Story 3" staring Jackie Chan and former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh.

7. School students and teachers form the bulk of the 10,000 Malaysia Day 2011 parade participants  

The field in front of Sultan Abdul Samad Building is the Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) which was formerly known as Selangor Club Padang. Dataran Merdeka is a symbol of our freedom and independence from our colonial masters.

Many historical events were (and still are) held here, the most important was the Declaration of Independence by our country's first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. At the stroke of midnight on August 31st, 1957, the Union Jack was lowered and the national flag of Malaya raised for the very first time at the tune of our national anthem, the Negaraku. This was followed by 7 chants of "Merdeka" by the crowd with Tunku leading the way.*

Dataran Merdeka is the favourite place for our National Day parades and celebration to commemorate the independence of Malaya and thereafter the formation of Malaysia.

8. Youths of today - Malaysia's future is in your hands

My son and his classmates are taking part in the Malaysia Day celebrations 2011. I came here to take a look at the rehersals but couldn't get a snapshot of him. His attire is blue, hidden among the sea of happy faces here. He is taking part as a field performance participant volunteer. This is a new experience for him, attending the month long practice under the hot sun at the Bukit Jalil Stadium and the last few days of rehersals at Merdeka Square. This week, he had to be at school as early as 4:30am to take the school bus from Klang to Kuala Lumpur.

It is good that so many youths are joining in the celebrations. Afterall, the future of our country belongs to them. It is good to instil the spirit of patriotism from a young age. I am sure they will take home many meaningful and happy experiences to share with loved ones in the future. They may not feel it now, but 10-20 years later, it will be a treasure trove of memories to relate to their children, grandchildren and the future generations. I am glad that my son has a hand in creating our history today.

Malaya achieved independence from the British on 31 August 1957 but Malaysia was born on September 16th, 1963 with the addition of 2 more states from Borneo island i.e. Sabah and Sarawak. Singapore was still a part of Malaysia then before it separated from us in 1965. Last year, Sept 16th was declared a public holiday to commemorate Malaysia Day. This is the first year we are having the twin celebrations.

9. Young faces, happy expressions - a colourful and united Malaysia!

During the colonial days, cricket was a popular game on this field. The building in front is the Royal Selangor Club.  Founded in 1884, it used to be an exclusive "whites-only" club.

We are currently having hazy skies as a result of fires in Sumatra and Borneo. Let's hope today will be nice and clear blue skies.

Happy 48th Birthday, Malaysia!

Selamat Hari Malaysia!

For more pictures, visit this link: NST - Colours of Malaysia Day

Footnote:

* Sourece: Wikipedia

** Architect Lim Take Bane mentioned this in a programme about our heritage buildings on Astro TV on 14 Sept 2011.

This is my entry for :
1) Fertilizer Friday - hosted by Glenda of Tootise Time, and
2) Weekend Flowers #12 - hosted by Tina
3) Today's Flowers # 161 - TF team Santilli - Denise - Pupo - Sandy Carlson