SEA Games 99 Memories

Brunei proudly hosted the 20th Sea Games in 1999. Remember Awang Budiman? Remember the SEA Games songs aired on TV and the radio? Remember those slogans like 'Go for Gold!' and 'Ole Ole Brunei'? Remember the grand opening ceremony at the National Stadium in Berakas? If you were part of the celebration almost a decade ago, then you'd definitely recall a few of the moments. We were still in high schools and colleges back then; young, youthful and most probably still single.

The year was 1999. Mobile phones were only carried by adults and rich snobby kids. The internet involved dial-ups and relay chats. Cameras used to be in film. Yayasan was the nation's mall. Jerudong Park was still in its full glory. I was only 16 back then. I was in form 4 (science stream) in Maktab SOAS during that time and coincidently, we were affected by the 20th SEA Games. Many students in the country participated and contributed their energy in different performances for the opening and closing ceremonies. In my batch, we were recruited into the choir group. We were among the lucky ones along with STPRI, Maktab Sains and Maktab Duli to be part in the choir. Why I said lucky? Well, we didn't have to stand under the heat of the sun during rehearsals.

We began practicing in our school and learning the basic technique of singing the bass and tenor notes for several SEA Games songs as well as the National Anthem. This was when I started to have the passion in singing and music. Soon after, we were sent to Maktab Duli by buses every morning to combine with the other schools for practice at the auditorium. We skipped classes for a couple of months.

Rehearsing at Maktab Duli Auditorium

Prior to the actual event, we were sent by buses every afternoon from our drop off point at Bolkiah Kem to the stadium. We had a lot of fond memories at the camp, sitting under our provided tents while waiting for the buses to arrive. We usually hit the stadium at around 6pm. Rehearsals were in the evening and we all had to be at our own waiting area at the tennis court entrance which is just a few metres walk from the main entance of the stadium.

SOAS choir boys (with choir uniforms) at Bolkiah Kem

We were instructed to perform on a huge boat-like stage. We all stood gracefully behind several local artists belting each and every SEA Games songs. Each rehearsal nights, we had to stay up late until 11pm, as the organizers wanted perfection and we had to repeat a lot. It was, of course, tiring. But we had so much fun nevertheless.

I remembered how big and grand it was when I stood there on the stage on the actual opening night. The huge fireworks, the lights, the sounds, the roaring crowd and the great performances on the centre field by other students from different schools and institutions. I also remembered the tense and the thumbing heartbeat when we sang our hearts out during our performances. The songs that we performed were 'Selamat Datang', 'Here We Meet' and 'Mencari Kejayaan'. We wrapped up with 2 closing songs, including the infamous 'Til We Meet Again', a week later. Those were perhaps the moments that I could still recall easily whenever I brought up and shared the Sea Games story with my friends and family.

When it all ended, everything was quiet again as we went back to our ordinary lives in school. It was only at that moment when everything was so loud, and then ended just like that, leaving wonderful memories which will stay in our hearts forever.