29th SEA Games Malaysia 2017 Closing Ceremony
The Closing Ceremony was held in Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Wednesday, date 30 August 2017 at 8:30 p.m MST (UTC+8). The closing ceremony coincided with the eve of the Malaysia's 60th Independence Day celebrations. Like the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony was directed by film director Saw Teong Hinalongside the Memories Entertainment creative team with co-operation from the Malaysian Armed Forces.[84]
The ceremony started with the Malaysian Armed Forces performing Negaraku, this time with in-suit performers as Rimau being the drummers, followed by the parade of athletes from 11 nations and Rimau entering the stage, with Malaysia entering first. The parade of volunteers started with the formation of the word "WAU", symbolising the name of the volunteer programme, "WAU Factor", followed by a video shot in the first-person's point of view of one volunteer helping in sports including basketball, athletics and gymnastics. A cultural performance titled "Terima Kasih Daun Keladi", an inspiration related to nature, was presented. A closing speech was given by the President of the Malaysian Olympic Council, Tunku Imran. Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak then declared the 2017 Southeast Asian Games closed, followed by extinguishing of the cauldron when Jaclyn Victor and Vince Chongperformed "Together We Rise". A video about the sports teams, featuring mostly Malaysian sports medalists and their families, was played, followed by the lowering of the SEA Games Federation flag by the Royal Malaysian Navy. The Southeast Asian Games Federation flag was handed over from the Minister of the Youth and Sports of Malaysia to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the 2019 Southeast Asian Gamesorganising committee through Tunku Imran and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose "Peping" Cojuangco. The National Anthem of the Philippines, Lupang Hinirang was played and the Philippines flag was raised, symbolising the hosting responsibilities being passed to Philippines. A video of the Philippines tourism was later shown. The ceremony concluded through the integration of Malaysia's National Day eve celebration (the first in history inside the stadium), in a form of a concert of Malaysian songs from the 1950s to the 2010s, titled "Soundtrack: Negaraku", featuring performances by local artists including M. Nasir, Salamiah Hassan, Azlan Typewriter, Joe Flizzow, Vince Chong, Atai, Francissca Peter, Marsha Milan Londoh, Dasha Logan, Amy Search, Sheila Majid, Siti Nordiana, Man Bai, Talitha Tan, Hijjaz, Ella, Jason Lo, Zainal Abidin, Black, Faizal Tahir, SonaOne and Jaclyn Victor. After these performances, a video presentation was played, featuring quotations and photo montage of Malaysia's first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Afterwards, PM Razak went to the main stage, wherein he gave a speech congratulating the organisers, regional guests and, especially, Malaysians who ended its campaign by collecting the highest number of gold medals. He then, just after midnight, surprised the audience in excitement by declaring 4 September a public holiday (a move he already planned during the games) as a reward for Malaysia's spectacular achievement. Concluding his speech, PM Razak led the nation in chanting "Merdeka!" seven times to mark Malaysia's 60th year of Independence. As with its annual traditions during National Day eve, Negaraku was played for the second time, this time, led by the Permata Seni Choir. To mark the games' historic moment, a We-fie photo-op was taken around the entire stadium. The concert ended with four patriotic songs including the aforementioned artists' cover of Saya Anak Malaysia, Amy Search's Negaraku, Dayang Nurfaizah's cover of Sudiman's Warisan and Atai's performance of Tanggal 31 Ogos 2017, to celebrate Malaysia's 60th Independence Day.
