Brunei Marks N-Day With Great Joy And Splendour

2008-02-24

By Aemy Azlena

Bandar Seri Begawan - The nation marked the 24th National Day with great joy, pride and splendour yesterday as thousands converged in the capital to witness and participate in the grand parade of celebration at the Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien.

The celebration provided an opportunity for many to show their patriotism and to commemorate the 240 anniversary of Brunei's independence along with friends and family.
Consenting to attend the celebration was His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam, as well as members of the Royal Family.

Accompanying His Majesty to the event were HRH Prince General Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, HRH Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, HRH Prince 'Abdul Malik and HRH Prince 'Abdul Mateen.

On arrival His Majesty and the Royal Family were welcomed by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pchin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (R) Dato Seri Pahlawan Awg Hj Mohammad bin Hj Daud along with other senior government officials.

His Majesty was accorded the Royal Salute while the National Anthem was played, followed by His Majesty consenting to inspect the guard of honour by personnel of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces and the Royal Brunei Police Force.

His Majesty was accompanied by the Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General Dato Paduka Seri Hj Awg Halbi Md Yussof and the Commissioner of Police, Pehin Datu Kerma Setia Dato Paduka Seri Zainuddin Jalani during the inspection.

As patriotic songs were being sung and played in the background, more than 100 teams with some 18,000 people comprising students, uniformed personnel, government officials and representatives of the private sector participated in the march past in the National Day parade.

Leading the march past were 47 participants who carried the giant-sized national flag followed not far behind by 245 people carrying the Brunei Darussalam National Flags and Logo Flags. The 245 flag carriers were the first to break off to circle the perimeters of the field. As the parade progressed more and more participants broke off to move in formation and congregate onto the field to do the theme performance later on.

After the parade, the National Day oath was read.

As one, representatives from the public and private sectors, repeated the oaths in renewing the commitment, loyalty and solidarity of the people to His Majesty and his leadership sovereignty, peace and security of the country.

This year's National Day field performance was based on the theme "Tunas Bangsa" or Nation's Youth. Some 7,700 participants took part made up of private and public sector and various agencies, including about 1,400 primary school students, took part.