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read between the lines
merdeka! got a glimpse of the nation's countdown yesterday when i passed by dataran merdeka aka. city square (no, not the shopping mall) by the seaside last night. they were having some performances on stage and there were thousands of people from all walks of life milling around, all in a happy mood. saw quite a few youths sitting on the grass that overlooks the sea by the roadside. they seemed to be having a good time hanging out with one another.fireworks popped by a few individuals were making their mark in the sky. it was 11.35pm. there was a jam at the seaside because of celebrations all the way to danga bay. i badly wanted to be around for the countdown but...unfortunately my parents were the ones driving me home and they are not fans of huge gatherings. ah well. but at least i got to see what i saw. can still remember the millenium countdown in nz...we went there because of that very purpose, but yet when the thing actually started we celebrated it in my grandma's middle-of-nowhere home in front of the TV. was damn pissed at that...especially since i was aware that a few of my friends were planning a party down here at the same time. anyway, i was home at 12 to hear the firecrackers going off in the distance. couldn't see them, cos my home isn't exactly near town, but i heard them. in the neighbourhood, a few individuals popped open a few rounds of fireworks. guess that's the good thing about living here...officially firecrackers are banned but unofficially they're still available at sundry shops. i mean okay, so firecrackers can be annoying if they're the really noisy ones that go "pop-pop-pop..." and i have read in the papers of babies getting injured because a firecracker flew in through the window but when they're handled well and not used by unscrupulous hooligans, firecrackers and fireworks can be pretty fun to watch. was kinda glad to "celebrate" it in a way by witnessing all those sights last night...made me feel glad to be home in a way. but my mom didn't see it that way though. she thinks the traffic buildup of cars and numerous motorcycles is caused by malays. she condemns the group of happy young malay children cycling down the main street by seaside with no lights and helmets on. she scorned the group of mat motors grinning and having a laugh as they sat by the roadside with their bikes. i questioned her obvious rascist remarks and unfair generalisation of the malay population but she merely elaborated on how bad they were...and since i was in no mood to start a fight i said nothing. i don't know if it has to do with being an adult or if i'm really that blind, but sometimes it's so much better to see things in an innocent and unbiased light as a youth than to be of cold and hardened heart and lambast a whole race just because of a noticeable number of bad apples. and i'm not just commenting on her take on this issue; there are others as well but for the sake of unity (and since this is a public domain which the authorities can view anyway) i'm not going to get into them. to each his own. or her own, i guess. but yeah, last night was something...last year i happened to be home late too and my celebration, though on a very minute scale, was something that warmed my heart. we were lining up for the bus at the singapore customs. it was 11.50-something pm and there were i think only 10 or so people waiting for the bus that almost never came to take us across (i mean well, it did, but at that hour the frequency of buses is much less). at 12 sharp the sound of fireworks could be heard in the distance across the causeway on the other side. the chinese guy behind me flipped on his phone and started playing negaraku in monotone ringtone. his friends grinned and they started singing along. i have never heard that song since i started schooling in singapore so listening to it brought back a sense of nostalgia. just then the bus came. it felt good to be going home to my country. |
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