Previously Held Events

September 8^th 2007: Merdeka Celebration 2007

The 'Save Taman Melawati Hill' Merdeka Celebration on the Hill, held on the 8^th of September 2007, was scheduled to start at 8pm. It had been raining the whole afternoon. By 7pm, the rain had stopped but our joy was short-lived as it came back with a vengeance at 7.30pm. Some of us went in the rain to help set up stuff and discovered that the canopy that had been put up was on the sloping road, and there we were, standing in a one-inch deep stream of gushing rainwater ... soaking, squishy shoes were quite the norm that night.

The hill-walking regulars and die-hards started arriving with umbrellas and raincoats, spirits were not dampened by the torrent of rain which had eased up a little to a persistent drizzle. Food started pouring in as well, till at one point someone said there seemed to be more food than people! There was mouthwatering rendang, satay and ketupat, roti bom and chicken curry, mee-hoon and kuey-teow, regular pizzas and 'Malaysian pizzas' (murtabas), puris and pies, custard tarts and cookies, jelly and kueh-mueh, and plenty of other tidbits and local fruit. It was truly a scrumptious, typically Malaysian spread.

We had a lovely time meeting our neighbors and hill-walking friends with their families, some even from Wangsa Maju, Taman Permata, Bukit Kemensah, Taman Zoo View and Bukit Antarabangsa. Initially there were 60-70 people, but more and more residents kept trickling in as the rain eased up. Radhi, Kumar & their boys, together with Thomas (our top T-shirt sales people) and Faridah Akmar set up a table to sell the 'Save Taman Melawati Hill' T-shirts & car-stickers.

Dr. Navin and Choi Har did a great job as emcees and kept everybody's spirits up. With the help of one of our junior participants, they got everyone standing to attention to sing 'Negaraku' and two more patriotic songs. It was truly a sight to behold, some even standing with umbrellas, singing in the rain. That was followed by a speech from the vice-president, En Hamdan Mohd Salleh. He elaborated on how the campaign to save the hill had brought us all closer. "Even though the future of the hill is uncertain, the friendships that people have made with this effort is priceless," he said. Then David and I presented Dr Faridah Jalil's narration titled 'Save Taman Melawati Hill'. Maybe we should have rehearsed it at least once but the thought got washed away in the chaos of the rain. So when David suddenly jumped in, thundering with his 'monstrous bulldozers', I almost jumped out of my skin! Thank God he was not using the megaphone!

As Sharan and Choi Har had distributed numbered tokens on registration, we continued the program with a Lucky Draw. Mr Khan, one of the longest-standing regulars on the hill, was given the honor of picking out the numbers, and six lucky winners' walked away with framed cartoons by David Leyman and more 'Save Taman Melawati Hill' T-shirts.

At about 9.30pm the rain petered out and we were able to go ahead with the Night Walk as planned, lighting up the hill with our torches & carrying umbrellas, just incase. We were also joined by a group of mountain-bikers (R.O.M.). As we made our way up, we could not help but ponder the alarming possibility of losing our hill, the beautiful rain-soaked tropical jungle and its inhabitants, the magnificent view of the hills and quartz ridge on one side, and on the other side, the gorgeous sight of the city all dressed up in sparkling lights at night. Mahen took a picture of the whole group at the top, before we made our way down to clear up before going home... thank you Fatimah, for taking charge of the food & clearing up.

I'm sure we would have had a much better turn-out if not for the rain, but those who did turn up had a really good time and great fellowship with fellow hill-walkers, residents and mountain-bikers. And that, for most of us, was as delightful as the glorious spread of food. The event was a reflection of our multi-racial and multi-cultural society, held and participated in the true spirit of unity and camaraderie. It was also an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of our natural surroundings... something we take for granted until we are about to lose it.

Lets keep up the momentum and lets save the hill.