Shamelessly Seeking RM 50 000

The atmosphere at Shah Alam Square was vibrating with the Merdeka spirit.

So here’s the story. Yesterday one of the female recruits, a student of Monash University was featured in one of the major newspapers. Today, another female recruit did a cross over with Sham in the studio informing him that she will get featured in the in house newsletter of Ikano Power Station. Every one has been stepping up their game and I seriously need to review my strategy or will forever be left behind.

After meeting up with the roadrunners, I went to 1U to update my blog. One thing that is good about me is that I can multi task. I can be typing something out and yet my mind, on the other hand, can be planning for a strategy for another project. So while writing, I was thinking of how I could improve my ranking in this competition.

On the day we were sworn in, Mesh advised me to be at the Merdeka Square, stand in front of the camera man shooting that night and pray to be featured on TV. I don’t mind the part about being thick skin and stand in front of the camera man, but, to actually go to Merdeka Square will be suicidal. One, the place will be so jam packed with spectators thus hardly have space for me to set up my cut out. Two, I believe that there will be so many recruits trying to get a cameraman’s attention, my chances of being featured is much lesser. So, after thinking about it for a very long time (my thinking cap was kind of worn out and torn at some places…kidding), I came to a solution that in order to get that kind of attention, I would have to go to a place where there will be loads of people congregating for the countdown but accessible enough for me to penetrate the crowd in order to have the advantage of tracking down the cameramen on duty.

I called up a few friends and they told me to give Shah Alam Square a try as there will be performances as well as live cross-overs later that night. With renewed determination, I packed my stuffs and headed down to Shah Alam. Traffic on the road was building up and the journey from 1Utama to Shah Alam took about 1.5 hours. Finding a parking space was horrendous. I finally found one in front of the SACC Mall and made my way towards the Merdeka festivities held behind of the Blue Wave Hotel.

We were united by a simple red band, the "Unity Band" that symbolises the color of the blood that runs through our veins irregardless of race nor religion.

Merdeka!

It was a long walk by normal standard and at most places, the ground was kind of soft, wet due to the rain that poured earlier. I carefully made my way towards the front of the main stage where I know the dignitaries were seated. I purposely got a spot beside the red carpet where they will walk down from the stage towards their waiting limos at the end of the show. You see, I have a plan. My plan is to stop the Chief Minister of Selangor later that night and asked him to take a photo together with me. On top of that, I know that the cameramen on duty will definitely station themselves around the area so the chances of me being featured will be much higher.

Kami Anak Malaysia!

While waiting for the clock to strike 12 midnight, I chatted with the people around me. Most were not aware of such competition being held and I had a fun time explaining about it. I had earlier gotten a pack of unity bands from Lil John and distributed them among the crowd around me. I encouraged a group of students to shout Merdeka as another took a picture of us with our hands on the air. It came out beautiful. I was feeling very good about everything and my spirit to celebrate our nation’s independence was at its peak.

We are proud to be Malaysians!

Suddenly, someone announced that it was 11.59, a minute away from the countdown. On a count of 3 the crowd chanted the countdown, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! We then sang the National Anthem, Negaraku with so much energy, our voices strong and melodiously could be heard across the night.

We come together to celebrate our nation's independence.

I could feel the spirit of being proud to be Malaysian present in each individual. We are “Anak Malaysia”. United by the love of the country that has reached its 50^th independence.

The cameraman, Mr. Jeffri was the one who made it possible for me to appear on national TV.

As I was having fun singing along with the crowd, a cameraman walked past and took a shot of me. I thought he look familiar and kept my sight on him so that I could get the details of what he was filming. The moment I saw him about to leave the site, I rushed up and asked him for the details. I told him that he actually looked familiar but I just could not identify the place or occasion where I met him. The cameraman, Mr. Jeffri, told me that he was filming a live telecast for RTM 1 and I caught his attention because of the cut out that I’m carrying around. He said that we met at one of the dive centres before and he recognized me from the dive expo held earlier at PWTC. I told him about the competition and thank him for the national coverage that he gave me even though it was only for a few seconds. I also told him that I would appreciate it if he could contact me again if he could get me featured on TV at any time prior to Sept 16^th. I gave him my contacts and told him that I will post the pictures taken on my blog, annlivingwithikaserenacandpietro.blogspot.com as soon as I could. We parted as friends and from that moment on, you could see the happiness very much apparent on my face. Thank you Jeffri, you are THE MAN!

Datin Seri Zaharah bt Kechik & me on the red carpet

I waited for the dignitaries to leave the place and for my patience I was richly rewarded. I saw the Chief Minister of Selangor, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Toyo & his wife, Datin Seri Zaharah Bt Kechik getting up from the main stage so I quickly positioned myself at a possible spot where I could get a photo taken with them. A mis-judgement of distance saw me losing the chance to be photographed with Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Toyo. Fortunately, his wife, agreed to be photographed and that was good enough for me. Datin Seri looked radiant even after hours sitting on stage and compared to her, I looked like I just came out from a baking factory (yes, I was sweating heavily!). Nevertheless, I was happy to introduced her to my 3 best buddies and told her briefly of my quest for that RM 50 000 bounty.

I left Shah Alam Square with fond memories that morning. I was very happy that I was a part of such patriotic display by young and old standing still singing the National Anthem to celebrate our nation’s independence. I fulfill the requirement of having to appear on national TV and I also got a photo taken with a famous person. What else could a girl ask for….. HAPPY MERDEKA EVERYBODY!