Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

When I switched on the TV this morning the Merdeka Celebrations brings back fond memories to me. During my school days Merdeka Celebration means taking part every year in the Merdeka Parade. I remember joining the parade every year from 1978 till 1980. I played the saxaphone in our school brass band.

The Merdeka Parade in 1978 was during the Ramadhan month and you can imagine the agony of these hungry and thirsty schoolboys marching while playing the tunes, blowing the trumpets, trombones, tubas, clarinets, saxophones and beating the drums all the way non-stop from Jalan Raja to Jalan Raja Muda Musa in Kampung Bharu under the scorching heat. The most beautiful thing was that the chartered bus that transported us in the morning never arrived to take us back to our hostel. We were so exhausted that we just took our nap along the walkways of the Chow Kit Shops until our own schoolbus came to the rescue at 3.00pm. Back to the hostel, some of us just could not resist of soaking maggi mee in cold tap water and there goes their fasting feat of two-third of the day. What a day to remember and we were paid RM5 each by the next month.... Yes... that's how Malaysians treat band boys... I just could not imagine the kind of people who organised that particular Merdeka Parade in 1978. God Bless You...