The Malaysian entourage departs Taungoo at 8am on August 28. Pic: Minh Zaw

A CARAVAN of 12 four-wheel-drive Isuzu Troopers carrying 52 representatives from Malaysia’s armed forces passed through Myanmar last week on their way from Cape Town, South Africa, to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s independence.

The vehicles left Cape Town on July 29 for a journey that took them through Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan and India before reaching Myanmar.

They entered Myanmar from India on August 26 via Tamu in Sagaing Division and spent a night in Monywa before arriving in Taungoo, Bago Division, at 4am on August 28, where The Myanmar Times caught up with them.

Lieutenant General Datuk Shahron bin Ibrahim Rmaf, a chief of staff at the headquarters of the Malaysian Armed Forces, said the four-wheel-drive vehicles were shipped to Cape Town from Malaysia on navy ships to start the expedition.

“We started driving from Cape Town on July 29 and we’ve had a great experience passing through many African and Asian countries. They all have their own beauty and strengths, including Myanmar,” he said.

“This is the first time the Malaysian government has organised such an activity,” said Captain Mohd Rafi bin Mahat, a public relations officer for the Ministry of Defence.

“We want to show people that we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of our independence from Britain, which we achieved on August 30, 1957.”

Participants said they had faced many obstacles on the way, including blocked roads and floods that forced them to change their route. Although the original route from Cape Town to Kuala Lumpur should have been about 20,800 kilometres, the caravan had already travelled about 22,000 kilometres by the time they reached Taungoo.

Lt Gen Datuk Shahron bin Ibrahim Rmaf said that sometimes they were forced to drive for long stretches at 10 kilometres an hour when the roads were rough and narrow.

Major Ezalina, one of four female participants in the expedition, said the worst roads were in Ethiopia and Sudan.

“Compared to those roads, the roads in Myanmar are not so bad,” she said. “The Myanmar government has also shown great enthusiasm for our journey. They were waiting for us when we crossed the border from India and they have provided good security along the route.”

Another female participant, Ms Aatiz Asima Lariff, the wife of Malaysia’s deputy minister of defence, Mr Dato Haji Zainal Abidin bin Haji Zin, said the trip had been “fantastic” if a little tiring.

“It’s very tiring because of my age. I am 62 years old now. But I have to show my spirit and prove that I am up to the challenge. The biggest problem has been with food. We are all Muslim and we only eat halal food, which has sometimes been hard to find along the way,” she said.

“I like the friendly people, the children lining up along the road, looking and shouting, clapping their hands until 11 o’clock at night. It’s fantastic. Everywhere, every village, we are so welcomed,” she said.

With more than 2000 kilometres left to travel to Kuala Lumpur and only two days to get there in time for the 50th Malaysia Independence Day parade on August 31, the drivers could only spare about four hours in Taungoo before leaving for the Myawaddy-Mae Sot checkpoint on the Thai border.

“We had originally planned to spend the night in Hpa-an but we’re going to try to reach Mae Sot today instead. But if the Myanmar government advises us to stay over in Hpa-an we will do so because they know the situation better than we do,” said Mr Dato Haji Zainal Abidin bin Haji Zin.

With that final comment, the Malaysian team piled into their vehicles, shouted “Long live Myanmar” to the gathered crowd, and drove off on the next leg of their long journey.

The Malaysian embassy in Yangon confirmed to The Myanmar Times on Thursday that the expedition was expected to reach Kuala Lumpur at 6pm on August 30.