Kuching Waterfront Merdeka Day 2004 National Closing Ceremony

w04 waterfront

There was apparently some sort of big brouhaha going on at Kuching
Waterfront last night, due to our inability to achieve some semblance
of mobilization with the car due to the traffic massive congestion.
It’s Penutupan Bulan Kemerdekaan Peringkat Kebangsaan or Closing Ceremony for Merdeka (Independence) Day at the National Level.

w04 first

Since we’re effectively rendered immobile, we decided to brave the
throngs of people and see what’s going on in there. Kuching Waterfront
has been designated as the National venue for the end of Independence
Day celebrations.

w04 crowd

There was a huge police presence and an even larger crowd, probably due to the bigwigs, er, I mean, dignitaries that were there. πŸ˜‰

It started off with a colorful boat parade:

kch wfront1

Download: Kuching Waterfront Boat Parade [sixthseal.com]

There were a lot of colorful neon boats floating down the river – 14 in all, each representing the 14 states of Malaysia.

w04 tie fighter
Here is one that looks like a Tie Fighter.

w04 biggest

There was also arcs of light to illuminate the skies, as it were. Here’s another video of it:

kch wfront2

Download: Kuching Waterfront Boats [sixthseal.com]

w04 bigwig arrive

There was a loud police boat escorting a yatch ferrying the
dignitaries after that. They docked beside the river and drove the fans
(?) crazy with all that flag waving and loud cheering.

w04 bigwig dock

I know the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was there, that’s the highest
royalty figure in Malaysia. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi was there as
well, and that’s the top guy in Malaysia.

w04 bigwigs

The other entourage comprises of varies Chief Ministers and Heads of States. Political figures.

w04 performers
The performers waiting to go to the…

w04 float
…floating platform in the middle of the river.

There were people waiting dockside to go to the floating performance
stage (probably for security reasons) and there was some dancing and
singing after that. We promptly left. πŸ˜‰

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