A few days before August 31st, I received an email from the High Commissioner's office in Abuja, Nigeria. The email inviting all Malaysians in Nigeria to attend the Flag Raising Ceremony to celebrate the 58th Anniversary of Malaysia Independence, the National Day or "Hari Merdeka" as we call it back home. Merdeka means Freedom in Bahasa Malaysia.
Both Malaysia and Nigeria gained independence from the British and since both nations are members of the Commonwealth, instead of embassy...it is the high commission and instead of ambassador, the high commissioner is the head of the mission. In general, both of them have the same role (ambassador and high comm) only the term high commissioner is used when one Commonwealth country sends its diplomat to another Commonwealth country.
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| MMIA Domestic Terminal |
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"You Are Welcome" a phrase I find synonym to the Nigerian.
The old gateway into Abuja |
Took Arik Air again to Abuja, a 9am flight which got delayed for about 20 minutes. The domestic terminal for Arik Air is well equipped. There were cafes on the mezzanine floor and some shops and stalls selling snacks, fabrics, books, phone accessories etc.. The tannoy (PA system) would call for the passengers to board the aircraft, but since to save time, they would call two flights in one go. Have to be extra careful and not to line up in the wrong lane. From the terminal to the aircraft waiting at tarmac, we board a bus and before boarding..another pat down check by the security officer.
In Abuja, Anthony a colleague from Madam's company fetched me even after I refused politely. He insisted...oh my...he does. Along the way, we talked about the language and culture which has always been my interest. I joked about the food which is piping hot. We also talked about names, the local ones and why it is important to pronounce it properly. I will write about it, in the next posting. Managed to borrow a book from the library about African names. The journey from airport to the high comm took about 30 minutes, or maybe more.
But I've been a chatter bug since I landed in Nigeria, (will keep it till the next posting) so the journey seemed short...or maybe Anthony took a short cut so he wouldn't have to answer any of my question. Biggest state? Have you been to Maiduguri? Where were you born? Are you from one of the main tribe? or sub-tribe? How many children you have? How long have you been with the company? etc etc..Luckily for Anthony, we arrived at the high comm....finally...
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H.E Datuk Lim Juay Jin,
The High Commissioner of Malaysia
to the Federal Republic of Nigeria |
The moment I step into the compound and immediately greeted by familiar faces, far from home..these are the extended families. Within the compound, in that plot of real estate, 16 hours of flight from to Nigeria... 10,300km (6404miles) away is our own piece of Malaysia.
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| entrance to the office |
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dance by Akeem, Emmanuel and Friday,
local staffs of the high comm |
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| Proclamation of Independence |
There was a table of fried rice with fried chicken and salad. A big plate of vege and kuah kacang (peanut sauce) as side dish. There were local dishes too. I think it was pounded yam and was there Moi Moi(?) for the local staffs. Tea and coffee were served afterwards by Vicky. We had to rush to Datuk Lim's residence to convert the common room by the pool into dining and buffet area for a small gathering later that night.
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| Puan Sarmiah's husband, Abang Atan |
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| Puan Norazlina and Puan Sarmiah |
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| Encik Yunus |
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| note the soy sauce... |
All hands were on deck to prepare the area for the makan-makan. After the said area was ready for the event, all rushed home to cook. I followed Abang Atan and Kak Sarmiah to their place and they cook some dishes to be brought later. I can only remember one..which was Nasi Minyak, maybe. There were busy in the kitchen, and Abang Atan insisted that I rest and get dressed for tonight.
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| Husband and wife team |
By 8pm all of the guest had arrived. Diplomats from ASEAN +3 (China, Japan and Korea), Malaysians in Abuja (all from IRIS) and staffs of the invited diplomats. Datuk Lim gave a short speech to the small group of invited guests, we took pictures and proceeded to the buffet table.
I bet during dinner with his fellow ambassador friends, the number one topic would be the recent rally in Kuala Lumpur...but knowing these diplomats, they would jump from one topic to another effortlessly. I know it because the first Malaysia ambassador to Cuba is my uncle, Dato' Kamal Yan...and he is the life of the party or any festive event if he is around.
Anyway, what made Datuk Lim particularly happy that night..even though the event was very small compared to some, he managed to invite the China and Japan ambassador to seat together and have very healthy discussion among them. Relations between these two countries have always been tricky, I noticed (read how one country would protest the premier of the other country, when he visited a certain temple to pay respect to the souls that perished during the war)..btw, the temple starts from the letter Y....
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| the group from IRIS |
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| The group from Kedutaan Besar Republik Indonesia |
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| Datuk Lim and Encik Yunus |
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| The Indonesian envoy flanked by his Korean and Japanese counterpart |
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| Makan time!!! |
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these bunch of guys cut queue..hahahaha
Azfeezal and Thilak came over to our place last week |
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| chicken suya in Abuja..I reckon, the one in Lagos is much better |
I brought my camera with me that night. What supposed to be an easy practise, was actually a nightmare for me. I only have the standard or kit flash and the area was quite dark actually. Luckily Abang Atan brought his dslr too. At least, there's some sort of backup if the pictures in my camera turned out to be horrible.
I adjusted the aperture (big) and speed (slow); and began shooting. The result were mixed. Some were acceptable, others were not...Tried the flash several times but did not used it directly but bounced the light onto the canopy. The effect was quite ok....
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| bounced the flashlight onto the canopy |
After the guess had left, Datuk spent some time with the rest of us. Speaks impeccable Bahasa Malaysia to the rest of us. It's one of many language he speaks (I think he spoke about 7 languages.. maybe more). It was the first time the team from IRIS met him. So there were the usual Name? Place of birth? Profession and specialisation?
As usual, a group photo at the end of the small gathering..
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| group photo of Malaysian in Abuja |
Went back the very next day. Duty calls..(parent - teacher function at school). Anthony sent me to the airport..again. Can't thank him enough, and within minutes...I was on board. Trust me, it was fast.
The flight back was shorter and the pilot politely informed us over the inflight PA system "it will be a bumpy ride as we approach Lagos, but we promise you a smooth landing at the end of it, I promise..."...it was truly a bumpy ride when the plane started to descent...all the herculean cloud over Lagos these days.... but it's cool here, right? Aheh!!!
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