How often do you get a chance to stand up straight in respect of the national anthem? If you’re no longer a school going kid, and just a regular adult like me - apart from the occasional theater presentations or football matches that I go to, not very often.
Last week, Malaysia celebrated her 50th Merdeka and due to the insistence of our 6 year old, we found ourselves outside the Merdeka stadium late that Friday evening. The stadium was full to its brim and there was no way anyone could enter by the time we arrived. My husband though, decided to just hang around outside the stadium entrance for a few minutes just to breathe in the ambience.
People were all around us. There were hundreds of event participants who were slowly filing into the stadium, police officers who were on a break from their duties of escorting traffic and VIPs, tourists who had probably come to check what the fuss was all about and many others like us who could not get access into the stadium. We were all chatting amongst ourselves and most of the folks were indulging in people watching.
Before long we could hear the unmistakable voice of Mahadzir Lokman announcing from inside the stadium that it was time for Negaraku. Our son got to his feet immediately and we followed suit. At the time I noticed that people continued to do whatever it was that they were doing but only for a moment. In the blink of an eye I found that everyone actually stopped – dead in their tracks! It was an unbelievable sight!! They were all standing up straight - no matter where they had been sitting around, standing or walking about; they were all on their feet, hands by their sides.
These were people just loitering outside the stadium where the real action was and who were busy talking or walking around just moments earlier. But when the national anthem reverberated from within the stadium, everyone went quiet and knew exactly what to do. That seriously gave me goose bumps…! And frankly, I found it to be a rather emotional scene.
Not long after, we were on a joy ride on the monorail when our 6 year old suddenly started singing softly to himself, “Malaysiaku gemilang, merdekanya terbilang….” and soon nearly the entire front section which was mostly made up of young college going kids began to sing along and together they finished the entire song. That totally spontaneous scene was a truly perfect Petronas ad moment!!
I am ashamed to admit that I was probably a skeptic before, and uncertain of the depth of our nationalism. That night I saw the merdeka spirit alive and well. Perhaps there is hope for the country after all.
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