77 of us, my colleagues, their family, friends, myself and the tour guides, left Kuala Lumpur on 15th Sept night in 3 coaches and we heard that there were 400 Malaysian buses/coaches scheduled to arrive in Hat Yai on the 16th. Sure enough, to our expectation, the traffic was really bad; it took us more than 12 hours to reach Hat Yai city, instead of the normal 9-10 hours. Goodness gracious... The longest bus trip I've ever had....
We were divided into 3 groups; Yellow, Blue & Green. This is the VVIP Double Decker Coach for our group, The Yellow Team.
Shortly, after we started our journey, it rained.
The Malaysian Tour Guide, Mr Francis Wong of Nanyang Tours & Travel Sdn Bhd, for our Yellow Team.
Passport, please..... The Malaysian Custom & Immigration checkpoint at Bukit Kayu Hitam.
We reached the Bukit Kayu Hitam checkpoint (view of the entrance) at approx. 7.50am
Bukit Kayu Hitam checkpoint - view of the exit. We finally left the checkpoint at about 8.35am
The Malaysian Fisheries Development Board on the right, immediately after the checkpoint.
On the way to the Sadao (Thailand) Custom & Immigration checkpoint, we passed by the Malaysian Bukit Kayu Hitam Army Camp.
The sentry post at the army camp.
We finally made it to the Sadao (Thailand) Custom & Immigration checkpoint at approx. 10.00am. The queues were long at every counter. Many tried to cut queue.
Queueing for clearance at booth ABCD. We were told not to alight from our coach, like others, and walk to the immigration counters. Reason given was that when our coach finally reached the spot for buses/coaches inspection and the immigration officers, on seeing the coach without any passengers on board, they would make our driver to turn around and queue again at the end of the line as a punishment for cutting queue. We were alighted only when we had reached the designated area and from there, an officer guided us to the lanes to queue for passports processing.
Flags right in front of the Sadao checkpoint, facing Bukit Kayu Hitam.
View of the Sadao clock tower from the carpark at the checkpoint.
The Thai Tour Guide, Mr Thiraphat (Ah Yot), for our Yellow Team.
Leaving the Sadao checkpoint at approx. 11.00am, to head for Hat Yai
Today is the Mid-Autumn festive day but we actually had our family reunion makan last night, Sunday, for the sake of convenience. This was our dinner; Nasi Kunyit (Turmeric Rice), Udang Assam Ala Nyonya (Tamarind Prawn Nyonya Style), Kari Ayam (Curry Chicken) and Teh Serai (Lemongrass Tea).
Tonight, the girls (my daughter and our neighbour) played with lanterns and candles. I gave them a Hung Ming Lantern to release. My... my..... They were really excited when the Lantern lifted from their hands and moved up...
I had watched the full video at Vimeo, http://www.vimeo.com/344899, sometime back but was unable to share it here. I searched at Youtube and found the following 4 parts, which makes up the whole documentary. (I could not use the ones directly from Fahmi Reza because the 2nd part has been blocked or something like that....) Interesting facts to be made known to all.... especially the young Malaysians (like myself... hehehehe...) or those who were too young to have known/remembered.....
Fahmi Reza and his team have certainly done a wonderful job here.
This historical documentary, directed by Fahmi Reza, is about the struggle for independence, in which different races across Malaya unite and engage in political action - Hartal across Malaya on the 20th October 1947. This documentary aims to remember and acknowledge the contributions of the left wing political parties in the quest for our country's independence.
