Warriors' Day celebration kicks off with ceremony steeped in tradition

The Warriors' Day celebration began with the trooping the colour ceremony involving colours of the Agong and regimental flags of the First Battalion, Royal Malay Regiment, in a guard of honour mounted by four officers and 103 men.

The national anthem 'Negaraku' was played, accompanied by the firing of a 21-gun salute performed byLt Col Mohd Asri Che Wil of the 41st Royal Artillery Regiment.

His Majesty then inspected the guard of honour.

Today's Warriors' Day parade involved 58 officers and 867 men from the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and Royal Malaysia Police, as well as 152 veterans from the MAF Veterans Association, and Retired and Former Police of Malaysia Contingent.

The parade was led by the commanding officer of the 10th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment, Lt Col Muhammad Ikhwan Hussin.

Also present were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Senior Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.

Chief of Defence Force General Tan Sri Affendi Buang and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani were also in attendance.

The ceremony then proceeded with the sounding of the 'Last Post' while the Jalur Gemilang was lowered.

There was also a pantomime performance about the sacrifice of national fighters in a battle that took place in Bakara Market, Mogadishu, Somalia, on Oct 3 and 4, 1993.

The event involved the 19th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (Mechanised) which was part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu under the MALBATT 1 UNOSOM II (the United Nations Operations in Somalia).

At that time, the UNOSOM II headquarters requested the assistance of the MALBATT 1 to be deployed to the battle area to rescue the elite members of the US Rangers and the Black Hawk helicopter crew members who were trapped in the market due to an attack by the rebel guerrillas led by Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

In an effort to rescue the US Rangers, the armoured vehicle driven by Corporal Mat Aznan Awang was ambushed by rebel guerrillas through RPG rocket fire that penetrated the windshield of the vehicle, resulting in his death.

For his bravery, the late Corporal Mat Aznan was posthumously awarded the nation's highest award, the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (SP).

The annual celebration of Warriors' Day on July 31 is one of the government's efforts and concern in remembering the services of the country's heroes who died while defending the country's sovereignty.

The Warriors' Day parade was last held in 2018.

In 2019, the ceremony could not be carried out due to the severe haze that hit the country at the time, while in 2020 and 2021 it could not be held as the country was battling the COVID-19 pandemic.