Monday, August 25, 2008

Heritage Walk

We participated in the 'Heritage Walk' Kota Kinabalu organised by the Sabah Council of Churches this afternoon. The gathering point was at the Padang Merdeka in the city. In Keningau, they call it the 'Walk For Jesus'. I was the official photographer and translator then. Hehehe... so this time even though nothing official, I still brought along my camera to grab some good shots.

The 'Heritage Walk' gathers Christians from various churches to march along the streets and pray for the various institutions of the country. (In case you ask, no I didn't notice any FRU tanks or water cannons). Surprisingly, I saw even Muslims (got tudung ma) joining the event. Good for them. Last year, there were about 2000 participants. This year leh... so many, I couldn't count la.

We were there at 3pm sharp. The place was already packed. Can't find the gang from SIB Likas, so had to join the kids at a corner. Yeah, the yellow kids with the pom-poms.


Ryan didn't mind at all though. He was having fun... and getting to know people. Tak segan one.

"Me and my new friends."

Pastor Jerry Dusing gave the opening speech. He's the pastor of SIB Likas (English), also the President of SIB Sabah. Today I discover that he's also the president of Sabah Council of Churches.

Yeah, that's the man with the courage to lead the SIB church to file a lawsuit against the government for the irrational ruling over the use of the word 'Allah' by BM-speaking Christians. Cheers! For whatever reason, the courts have been postponing the case over and over again. Then again, who really trust the Malaysian courts to deliver justice these days? Same goes with the police force. That's why need to pray for the country lo.

Rising to the National and State anthem. Music provided by the Police Band. Cool!

It started to rain... cats and dogs falling from the sky. Gosh, couldn't start the walk. No worry. The crowd remained in the meeting place and turned it into a praise and prayer session.

Rain or no rain is no trouble for little boy. If he want to have fun, he will find it. Really boh pai seh one. The yellow kids are more than amused too. "Hey you wanna join our pom-pom team?"


The event ended about 4.30 pm. We walked back to the car nearby, and even with umbrellas, we got very wet. Had a nice hot BKT lunch-cum-dinner before sending off some fruits, and then home sweet home for the Olympic Closing Ceremony.

The event is on newspapers HERE. The funny thing is, they reported it as "The walk which started at around 4pm took approximately two and a half hours before returning back to Padang Merdeka. Along the way, participants were provided by walk guides with interesting commentary on the place they visited." Mr. Reporter ah, at 4 pm we were still all at the padang waiting for the downpour to stop la. And at 4.30 pm, we walked back to our cars in the rain la. What kind of reporting is this? Cut and paste from past years one??? I'm going to pengsan reading this kind of lie from the mainstream media.

No comments: