But here I am sitting in my room, thinking of what I had gained the last three days I have been here. Labuan has certainly developed but not as fast as a free port and an "Ujana Kewangan" ( Offshore Financial Center ) should. Why? As an observer I could only see for one thing that the shops are closed on Sunday, the shopping day for visitors and the free day for sailors and people working on ships. Saturday and Sunday should be the culmination of business activities for the week if Labuan is to grown into a thriving international trade and business center. The island needs more human attractions....
Hey, at 8.30 a car came to fetch me. the roads to the venue were all jam-packed. I've just returned from the concert. Nothing spectacular. Aside from the routine dance performance (see pic) Jamal and Aliyah were singing with no live band accompaniment or dancers to break the monotony.
The crowd was subdued and unexcited. The songs...heard a thousand times over the radio and tv. Too much time was taken by the award-giving ceremony to the champion fishermen of the Deep Sea Fishing Contest one of whom caught a 50kg tuna and another a 20kg baracuda. The firework was routine. YBM Raja Nongcik, the Federal Territory Minister, himself presented the awards to the winners with little or no hand-clappings from the restless audience, waiting for the show. (No pic is necessary for this routine affair).
In all the crowd of people of all ages filling the huge International Marine Sports Complex, my attention was by attracted by a sole lady worker going back and forth in front of where I sat on the side of a ladder placed against a pillar post to watch the concert from a distance. She was nonchalantly collecting the rubbish strewn about by the crowd and dumping it into a huge plastic bag. A very dedicated employee of the cleaning-up agency, certainly.(See pic).
Just after the fireworks, thunder and lightnings started to compete with the music from the concert. The wind started to blow and people began to move away. I too made a hasty retreat to my transport and hit for home at the hotel. I thought that's the end of the sojourn.But at 10.30 pm or so, it was Karaoke time for the officers from Semenanjung involved in organizing the Pesta. Time to relax a little and I was invited to join them. I never knew that all the officers were talented singers and the karaoke room rocked with music, songs, wriggling and rocking movements (short of dancing) and laughter. It probably was the best part of the Pesta as some of the pics would show. It was a good closure for my sojourn.
Well, that seems to round up my record of the sojourn. Labuan is certainly a worthwhile place to visit and Tourism Malaysia or the Ministry of Tourism can certainly help to plan a good stay.
8 comments:
Norzah,
The picture that you paint of Labuan is just another town,not the town nor the island that I used to visit on business. But that was in the nineteen sixties, the 'confrontation' years. There was a small airstrip, a small hotel, an oil installation, an army camp and the well known cemetry of the Australians killed in the second world war.
It was a god-forsaken island with little future one could imagine. No wonder the state government was quite willing to hand over that part of Sabah to be part of Federal Territory.
The island has certainly progressed beyond just another town, Pakcik, and I don't think I've done justice to it with my scanty description. Promotion is somebody else's job and I only covered what I experienced during the Water Fest. Maybe you can plan another visit to see the changes that have taken place by yourself. It's exhilarating.
I have to agree to agree with you on the crowd was subdued and unexcited about the concert. We had that discussion with other Cik Puan Pengarahs. To me, generation yang pergi konsert in 2010 ada 2 kumpulan utama, first generation is mak bapak berusia 30++ yang listen to 4U2C, Feminin and NICO in the 90s. Jamal Abdillah, mintak maaf yer is untuk generasi remaja in 80s, whom most maybe dah jadi nenek/datuk org yang sibuk berniaga ... ndak masa tgk konsert bah time tu hehehe.
Satu lagi generasi ialah generasi AF. Cuba letak Felix, Hafiz, Aril, Akim ... err maaf ya ... i nie tgk AF7 and AF3 jer hehehe
I also love the Karaoke session. At least we can pull our hair down and unwind.
Somehow, Jamal Abdillah left some people cold. I know of old crooners like Tom Jones and SM Salim who still can stir up the old juice in you, hehehe. The crowd I saw in Labuan was well represented by the older gen. Things would have been different if they had put Daud Kilau on stage and probably Tracey.
U must be in the air on your way back to Penang now.
Have a nice flight and a pleasant memory of a pleasant evening. Some images in the pic were allowed to remain dark and hazy to avoid identification. I'm now editing a voice recording of a song ( or part of it) which I "accidentally" recorded.
Dah selamat sejahtera tiba kat Penang semalam and terus balik Ayaq Itam. Best duduk Ayaq Itam sebab all the facilities ada and house is cooler. Problem kena bangun awal jer because after 7.00 am dah start jem (walaupun not KL standard) tapi sini orang suka pakai hon tapi malas pakai signal light.
Kalau duduk kat Burma Road, 7.30 am I boleh lagi lenggang kangkung driving ke KOMTAR. Problemnya sebab rumah tu kena jaga sekejap sebab "the heirs" nak jual, semua ada kat situ "bare essential". Pastu panas gila takdak aircon.
Cuma I miss the place sebab rumah tu ada heritage style in the 50s. Upper floor room tu kalau nak buat ballroom pun boleh. But nak beli tak mampu. Tu tak termasuk kos baik pulih. But as an act of respect to the late owner, my dad and I jaga sampai formal handover semalam. We knew the family for many years.
But now that I dah boleh settle down nicely kat Ayaq Itam, tido pun nyenyak gila.
Selamat bermastutin di tempat yng baru, yand lebih nyaman dan senang untuk tidur lena. Kalau boleh tidur awal bangun awal pun apa salahnya.
Me di KL masih terkial-kial cari ilham untuk menyambung tulisan novel. Dewi inspiraasi entah kemana hilangnya. Yang boleh cuma tulis blog-blog pendek saja. Tak puas rasanya. Terlalu terbatas. Aku perlukan kanvas pengzahiran rasa yang lebih lebar dan bebas.
Eh eh kenapa merapu lak ni? Ok. J. c u.
I pernah terhilang sekejap untuk suatu tempoh masa yang lama dari gaya penceritaan I remember? so paham sangat lah bila ilham untuk menulis tu tiba2 hilang entah di mana. Baca balik entri lama2 mcm tak best compared to masa ilham tgh banyak tulis blog.
I nukilan pendek jer lah setakat nie. Novel tu soooooo out of my league.
It helps to talk to someone who has experienced it and
ipso facto understands. Bila baca balik tak sesedap ilham yang datng! Itulah yang buat tak jadi sambung. Rasa nak tulis semula. No, novel writing is not beyond your ken or out of your league. Cuma berlum cukup fokus, belum determined. Bukalah buku catitan bebas dulu, nota-nota utk novel. Penuh besok adalah cerita yang menjelma, hehehe.
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