This ANZAC Day

I am working as usual today, even though it is ANZAC Day. I don’t believe that it is a public holiday here.   I have never dragged myself to a Dawn Service, even though the Shrine was like a night light for so many years because it was so close to home. I have been to the parade many times though. 

What I loved about the parade was watching the people marching in their uniforms or cruising by in old military vehicles. I definitely miss seeing the fireworks display in the evening. I would associate the ANZAC Day fireworks display with the end of the warmer days’ of fun in the city.

I initially was planning a trip to Sandakan with my Mum to mark my ‘first’ ANZAC Day here, but it wasn’t possible. Instead we went during the Easter weekend. This time I was able to visit St Michael’s Church. Since my return to Sabah, I have been to Sandakan twice previously. Many visitors may have wanted to visit this church to see the beautiful stained-glass windows, but I really wished to be inside this little church. The reason being that it was at this church that the POWs sheltered for a night before they were marched to the Mile 8 camp. The original church was damaged/destroyed during the war.

On ANZAC Day when I was 19, I was taking a trip in a tram in the afternoon. I was a teenager with an attitude problem. I rested my feet on the seat in front of me and an old guy came to sit down. He looked at me and then looked at my runners. I refused to move until I caught sight of his medals. I wondered if he went to Malaya during the war. I didn’t get to ask because he might be angry with me for putting my feet on the seat. I often wondered what these people saw. Many of them were fighting a war in their late teens or early adulthood. My issues then were ordinary in comparison to what the veterans experienced during war.