Picture by Azli Jamil (azlijamil01 on Flickr)
There are a lot of activities being planned and organized to celebrate 31st August – Merdeka Day or Independence Day in Malaysia. The most traditional way is the annual Merdeka parade held early in the morning at Dataran Merdeka where you can watch it live on TV. The national-level celebration this year however, will be held at Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, with the organizer promising something different from the previous year’s celebration.
Various preparations to celebrate the day have also taken place at the state level. In the big city like Kuala Lumpur, you’ve heard every approaching days from government organizations, NGO’s, businesses, schools, hotels, restaurants, pubs etc announcing their own way of celebrating the big day. For some people, they show their Merdeka spirit through self-expressed ways like decorating their vehicles with Jalur Gemilang (Malaysia National flag) or just waving the from the apartment’s balcony. But for the rest of us, here’s a new and simple way to celebrate Merdeka Day:
Watch TV.
There are a whole bunch of Merdeka-related programs on local TV channels, especially ASTRO who launched ‘NEGARAKU, THE BEST OF 1MALAYSIA STORIES ON AIR’. Among the program highlights are ‘Lakaran Merdeka’ and ‘Sudut Pandang’ on Astro Awani (Channel 501), ‘Semangat Merdeka’ and ‘Suatu Ketika…Rosly Dhoby’ on Astro Prima (Channel 105), ‘Kata Kau Merdeka’ on Astro Ria (Channel 104), ‘Legenda Sukan Malaysia: Tan Sri M. Jegathesan’ on Astro Arena (Channel 801), ‘Merdeka Marathon Vizhutugal’ on Astro Vaanavil (Channel 201). Check full programs here.
Download a Merdeka Windows 7 Theme.
Microsoft has just released a Merdeka-themed for its latest Windows 7 operating system, just in time to celebrate the Merdeka Day. The theme is specially designed by Malaysian renowned cartoonist Reggie Lee. Show your colleagues that you’re more Merdeka-spirited than them by applying this theme to your computer. The theme can be downloaded here. Microsoft had also launched a contest to build a uniquely Malaysian Windows 7 themes, if you’re interested.
Add Merdeka Mood to Your Twitter or Facebook avatar.
If you’re on Twitter, you may have heard that ‘Malaysia Wave’ twibbon design has making ‘wave’ in Malaysian Twitter scene. The Malaysia Wave was designed by Mohd Hisham Mohd Hardi or popularly known in Twitter as @shamhardy. Local newspaper had even featured the story on the front page of Sunday edition. Twibbon is a service that lets you create a campaign and other people can show support for the campaign by displaying the campaign badge, in this case the Malaysia Wave, on their Twitter or Facebook avatars/ID.
So how do you celebrate Merdeka Day this 31st August (it’s tomorrow, by the way)? Share it in the comments below.
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