Happy Belated Birthday, Malaysia!

On the 31st of August 2007, Malaysia celebrated its 50th birthday. For an overseas student, I actually had nothing to celebrate on that day until Tzu Yen called me. He asked me to lend him a at the Merdeka Day Celebration Gala Dinner and Ball.

Welcome!

Merdeka Day Celebration Gala Dinner and Ball was proudly brought to everyone in Perth by The Association Malaysians in Western Australia Inc. (AMWA) and also The Consulate General Malaysia in Perth. Of course, it was in conjuction with Malaysia's 50th "Birthday".

Wau (Malay traditional kite).

This huge and grand ball was organised at Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Twin Towers standing proudly at the entrance of the ball room.

Since this might be my final year in Perth (might not have a chance to experience something new) and Tzu Yen really needed a helping hand, I agreed to take up his request.

Kok with headset.

My post for that day is Stage Coordinator Assistant. Sounds like an important post eh? Actually not. I was just helping Tzu Yen (Stage Coordinator) to ensure everything runs smoothly. He was the more important man. ;)

Before the ball starts.

The ball was scheduled to start at 6:30p.m. but was postponed to about 7.15p.m. Nevertheless, nothing could stop the ball from starting.

EurAsia Band.

While waiting for all the guests to be seated, a live band were performing to keep everyone entertained. Noticed the lady in orange Kebaya Kurung? She is the lead singer and can sing P. Ramlee's and also Mandarin song. Don't play play! :P

Welcoming the VVIP.

Then, the ball started with a group of people (mostly those who were going to perform) leading all the VVIP to the ballroom. I love the kompang (traditional framed hand drums) which was played to welcome the guests.

Speech by Encik Ahmad Jazri Mohd Johar.

As usual, some speeches by the important guests. Encik Ahmad Jazri, the Consul General, started off with a welcoming speech. Then, few others followed.

While the food was being served, there were lots of performances going on. All these kept the Stage Coordinators busy.

Silat performance.

Silat is Malay traditional martial arts but look at the kids. Eventhough they're not from the Malay origin, they still can master the arts! Impressive.

Malay dance by Malaysian Cultural Dance Troop.

Chinese dance by Chung Wah Dance Troop.

Indian dance by Temple of Fine Arts.

Borneo dance.

Out of so many dances that day, I like the Indian dance most. Very energetic, very "Bollywood". Two thumbs up!

Apart from all the "Malaysia" dance, here come the performance which I had been waiting for...

Elvis Presley by George Vegas.

Does he really look like Elvis?

Elvis Presley's perfomance by George Vegas. This Elvis can really sing. He sang about 4 or 5 songs non-stop! After the performance, I managed to have a short chat (too bad no photo taken with him) with him. He's a very nice guy.

Singing by Amanda Sierra.

Followed that, a gorgeous singer, Amanda Sierra, sang a few songs. Her singing and voice are awesome.

Dancing.

The ball ended with a chance for all the guests to on the dancing floor. This was accompanied by EurAsia Live Band.

There were also some performances and activities in between which I didn't manage to capture some photos of them. Most of them were really good. Too bad, I was not the guest. If not, I would enjoy the food there and also, snapping photos non-stop.

From left to right: Kok, Tzu Yen, Ash, Kaysen.

It was a tiring night. However, I learnt a lot in just one night there. It's an experience which is going to stick in my head forever. Thanks to Tzu Yen who gave me such a priceless opportunity. Seriously, I enjoy it a lot. :)

P/s: I captured some video of the performances but I didn't have time to upload them. Maybe later.
P/s/s: I'm quite busy at the moment for my final year project. That's the main reason why there's a slow down in my post.