National Day - the aftermath

There was a lot of nationalistic feeling yesterday judging from what I read and all the people I talk to. I certainly enjoyed myself marching with 112 people from my agency in front of His Majesty. The performance on the field despite having seen several rehearsals and knowing what to expect, was still as exciting as ever. I know the things that had to be done to get everything to go like clockwork on the actual day. Those are the headaches that one does not one to have. But at the same time without the dedication of those involved, the trainers, the participants even the crowd, national day celebrations would not be the same. Congratulations to all who took part. And a special congratulations to the people in the photo above! You did good.

I thought I will highlight a few things from yesterday's event.

The main highlight of the show was the giant baloon at the end with four banners streaming under it. The four banners came from the four districts of Brunei with thousands of signatures from youths throughout the country for each one. Each of the banners were 4 feet wide and 50 feet long.

More than 8,000 people took part in the field performances. The performances were divided into four segments. The first was the 'warna-warni negara' - the colourful Brunei highlighting Brunei's natural local resources. The second 'rentak 7 puak' - highlighting the harmonious multiracial of Brunei. The third segment 'tanah airku' and the fourth segment highlighting the theme 'iltizam memperkasa keupayaan bangsa'. The performances were indeed all lively and very colourful.

This year's ikrar readers are made up of many who are involved in businesess with the main reader (born on 1st January 1984) being the johan qari in the Southeast Asian Musabaqah Quran. The others came from the various government agencies and AiTi, Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei, Brunei Shell Marketing, Maktab Teknik Sultan Saiful Rijal, Dewan Perniagaan Melayu, DST, TAIB, BIBD, HSBC, Majlis Wanita and Majlis Belia.

Finally, there is a small team who made all these possible. A few people deserved the credits - Pehin General Mohammad, the Minister for all his inspiring words at the end of every rehearsal and his pantuns at the end of the show; Dato Jemat, the PS who tirelessly worked throughout the entire scenes and still smiling; Haji Ahmad, the DPS who despite being new to KKBS has taken up the post like duck to water; the Creative team - Dato Mahmud; Pengiran Zainin (konseptor & pereka estetika - I wanted to translate these but...); Awang Hanafiah Zainal; Haji Suhaili; Tizan Jamudin (the Choreographer); Pengiran Aziz & Amirul Shukri (the equipment and supplies coordinator); Faridah Mohammad (the layout and graphics designer) and Hj Jaafar Ering (the photographer). Thank you and we will see you all again next year.

And finally, finally, the National Day scenes from anakbrunei.org: