Anas and I left for Putrajaya to watch a fireworks competition in conjunction with our 50th. Merdeka celebration on August 31. There are 4 competitors from Malaysia, Australia, Italy and Japan. Tonight would be Malaysia team's debut.
Putrajaya was Prime Minister Mahathir's vision of grandeur. He moved the government administrative centre from Kuala Lumpur to the former oil palm and rubber lands. Several billion ringgits were spent to build beautiful buildings, bridges and state-of-the-art infra structures that were supposed to make Malaysians proud. It went to show that "Malaysia Boleh" (Malaysia can) spirit, a phrase coined to spur Malaysians on.
The fireworks performance by the Malaysian team was on schedule. It was worth the whole day's wait. The show started at 10pm. By then the crowd was already converging onto the area near Putrajaya International Conference Centre (PICC), the venue for the show. It was reported in the newspaper the following day that there were about 100,000 spectators. We must have been on the wrong side. It was less crowded.
We managed to find a space besides the lake near the bridge. It was the spot where the fireworks ended when they were shot from PICC. I had a tough time trying to photograph the fireworks that appeared to be falling on our heads.
Judging from the "Aaaah!", "Uuuhhh!", claps and cheers, or lack of them, the performance by the Malaysian team was just average. The crowd must have expected more.
The show lasted for about 20 minutes. It was nevertheless spectacular. We'd definitely come back for the performance by another team on the night before Merdeka Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment