Presenting… 9 malaysians who take Merdeka a lot more seriously than most of us

[Ed’s note: This article was originally published in August 2017] 

 

It’s that time of the year again. Having to wake up to the screeching of fighter jets and the thwop thwop thwop thwops of helicopters soaring across the skies. Hari Merdeka is coming up soon, and it will mark Malaya’s 60th anniversary of independence from the British colonials, not Malaysia’s birthday (which falls on September 16th) as some of us might still think.

Regardless, the distinction has never stopped Malaysians from celebrating the yearly Merdeka event. Watching parades (live or through the TV), hanging out the Jalur Gemilang, listening to the Prime Minister’s speech, and recalling fond celebrations in school while we listen to patriotic songs being broadcast on the radio are common past times on the day itself.

But some Malaysians really go out of their way to show their love for Malaysia. If you haven’t figured out how to celebrate the coming holiday yet, here are 4 extreme Malaysian celebrations that you can draw inspiration from:

 

1. This anak Johor that could be a superhero called Malaysia Man

On a normal day, Mr. M. Kandapan is just your regular businessman from Johor. But come Merdeka day, he and his family all transform into Merdeka superhero versions of themselves.

And it’s not just their outfits, even their house turns into their Merdeka headquarters,

And not forgetting their cars!

He even bought customised car plate numbers for each of his family’s cars! His car plate number reads G1M, which stands for “Gagasan 1 Malaysia“, while his wife’s and son-in-law’s car reads 1M4U, meaning “1 Malaysia for Youths“. In total, he confesses that he spends around RM30,000 every year for the decorations. He also keeps the decorations on for the year, until he decides to switch to a new design.

But M. Kandapan doesn’t keep the festive spirit to himself, he also buys flags for his neighbours and helps them to put them up, and he even distributes flags to children at the Dataran Bandaraya Johor Baru. On Merdeka and Merdeka eve, he and his family roams around the city centre in their Merdeka Mobiles to spread the love.

“I hope to send out the message to everyone that regardless of race, we should live in harmony and stay united,” – M. Kandapan, quoted from The Star Online

 

2. The Kuantan restaurant owner who defied critics and built a giant gateway

Over the last 16 years, 55 years old Wan Rahimi Wan Mokhtar has spent more than RM30,000 (it’s like a decoration magic number) on decorating his eatery with Merdeka themed items. Aside from the Merdeka gateway that he just built last year, he also takes time to personally paint murals in his restaurant. He also reuses plastic bottles to recreate Merdeka logos by rearranging and repainting them.

Wan Rahimi has been called a “crazy man” for spending thousands of ringgit decorating his restaurant. He admits that he was at first bothered by people’s criticism, saying that he is wasting time and money. But as time went on, he learned to ignore those negative comments, and he’s glad that he’s getting their attention instead.

His expression of patriotism is also doing good for his business, as it attracts the attention of motorists and customers, and they never leave without taking pictures first. But in the end, Wan Rahimi says the most important reason is for his own satisfaction.

“I am doing this for self-fulfillment. I hope every Malaysian will realise that August is special as it is the time the country achieved its independence.” – Wan Rahimi Wan Mokhtar, quoted from New Straits Times

 

3. The 5 man team that climbed Europe’s highest mountain to wave the Jalur Gemilang

Earlier this month, 8 climbers set out to conquer Europe’s tallest mountain to celebrate the 60th Merdeka, as part of the gomen’s Negaraku campaign. Led by Muhammad Illaham Ishak, they will scale Mount Elbrus, a 5,642 meter mountain and wave the Jalur Gemilang at the peak. The climb is also aimed to raise funds for war victims in Syria and Palestine through Aman Palestine.

As anyone who has ever climbed a snowy death mountain will tell you, it’s not easy scaling a snowy death mountain. Climbers have to face risks such as slippery slopes, freezing temperatures, and cold winds, as those things could cause frostbites, or send a person plunging down the mountain.

The team managed to successfully reach the peak of Mount Elbrus in 7 days, although only 5 of the climbers were reported to have reached the peak, but we’re not sure what happened to the other 3 (presumably safe :))

In 2014, another Malaysian also scaled a tall structure in conjunction with Merdeka, and he did it with little to no safety equipment! Keow Wee Loong climbed to the top of 1 Sentrum Tower to wave the Malaysian flag on top that year. But climbing buildings without permission is actually illegal, and he was fined RM1000 for his stunt. At least someone got this cool photo:

 

4. The ex-soldier who ran on and on from Alor Setar to Dataran Merdeka

Nasir Abas, a retired soldier and also an imam, literally went the distance to inspire patriotism, 500km to be exact. In 2016, starting from the Zahir Mosque in Alor Setar, he ran all the way to Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur (not continuously, of course). According to his Facebook, it seems that Nasir is at it again this year. Talk about going the extra mile.

500km is probably a walk in the park for Nasir Abas, considering that he held 2 running records in the Malaysia Book of Records. On 2002, he ran 1,754km in 30 days from Kelantan to Perlis. While in 2003, he broke another record by running 2,068km from Tawau to Kuching in 53 days.

Nasir says that his love for Malaysia is what inspires him to engage in the runs, and he wants to inspire the spirit of patriotism among youths, whom he says seem to forget the true meaning of Independence.

 

Speaking of the spirit of patriotism, is it really fading away in recent years?

Of course, the people mentioned above are extreme examples of patriots, or Merdeka celebrators. But is it just us? Or is the Merdeka hype getting deader and deader every year?

Asking around the office, all but 1 of us still has some kind of Merdeka related tradition/ activity that they do yearly. Viktor, our current (and lonely) intern used to go Dataran Merdeka with his father to watch the parade, but that was about 6 years ago. Now, they watch the parade during breakfast in a mamak somwhere. At least that’s still some kind of tradition.

CILISOS babysitter Lydia remembers waking up early to watch the Merdeka parade broadcast on TV with her family, but not anymore. Fellow writer Badd used attend a parade early in the morning at a stadium in Alor Setar, now the parade is but a distant memory. This writer himself also remembers the slow decay of the KLCC fireworks quality that he used to watch from his house on Merdeka eve.

But maybe that’s just us, because the parade still goes on at Dataran Merdeka every year, the Prime Minister still shows up to deliver his speech at the podium, the marching band still marches, and the show still goes on. Maybe more importantly, patriotism is something you feel inside, like for M.Kandapan, and Wan Rahimi, and Nasir Abas and even many others who do not-so-crazy things on Merdeka.

In any case, no matter how you decide to celebrate this Merdeka, just remember to celebrate responsibly, because to quote M. Kandapan one more time:

“Regardless of race, we should live in harmony and stay united,” – M. Kandapan