More than 10,000 people flooded the Ipoh City Square from as early as 6 pm to witness the 2022 Perak Independence Day celebration last night.
The extraordinary celebration was attended by all walks of life after two years of being unable to go all out, following the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Various interesting programmes included performances of various dances including the Orang Asli Sewang dance, poetry recitation by Pyan Habib, sketches, saxophone music performance and the presence of guest artist Hael Husaini.
Perak Menteri Besar, Dato’ Seri Saarani Mohamad together with his wife Datin Seri Aezer Zubin were also present to celebrate, in addition to the presence of the Perak Exco line-up.
The climax of the ceremony started at 11 pm, followed by the opening speech delivered by Saarani.
In his speech, Saarani invited the community to share this year’s National Day theme which was ‘Malaysian Family, Strong Together’, in order to strengthen the spirit of solidarity in facing the upcoming challenges, which will certainly not be easy.
He said, it takes the spirit of the Malaysian Family as aspired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
At the end of his speech, he then handed over the Jalur Gemilang to the enforcement officers of the Ipoh City Council to be flown.
Chants of ‘Merdeka’ arose as midnight approached. Then the national anthem was sung en masse, followed by a fireworks show.
by Rosli Mansor Ahmad Razali
