Malaysia Happy 52nd Independence Birthday was on 31 August 2009
Some how the 'mood' of merdeka was not felt this year...
Why?
Well i guess lots of things been hapening in Malaysia and around the world...
Humans rather think about 'surviving' the world economic crisis and also other domestic issues...
When a Nation celebrates its independence day does the government or the citizen of that particular Nation are all independent.... are they all Okay? i mean do they all got money? to they got money problem till they cant buy any food to eat? do they all have shelter? all taken care off?
Well the answer to this question is simple... "NOT ALL...."
The real question is "WHO CARES?"
Who should care for them?
Any ways... this is what wikipedia :) got to say about Merdeka...
"Merdeka is a word in the Malay language meaning independence. It is derived from a Sanskrit word used to designate former Portuguese and Dutch slaves from India in the East Indies, whence the Malay meaning of "free(dom)" is derived. The term was significant during the anticolonialist and pro-independence movements of the colonies of Malaya, Singapore and Indonesia, in the history of Malaysia, the history of Singapore and in the history of Indonesia. It became a battle-cry for those demanding independence from the colonial administrations of the United Kingdom and Netherlands."
Hari Merdeka (Independence Day) is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule, celebrated on August 31. In a wider context, it is to celebrate the formation of Malaysia.
Malaya Independence
The effort for independence was spearheaded by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, who led a delegation of ministers and political leaders of Malaya in negotiations with the British in London for Merdeka, or independence along with the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock and fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress Tun V.T. Sambanthan. Once it became increasingly clear that the Communist threat posed during the Malayan Emergency was petering out, agreement was reached on February 8, 1956, for Malaya to gain independence from the British Empire. However, for a number of logistical and administrative reasons, it was decided that the official proclamation of independence would only be made the next year, on August 31, 1957, at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), in Kuala Lumpur.
The formation of Malaysia
The Federation of Malaysia, comprising the States of Malaya, North Borneo (later renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore was to be officially declared on the date August 31, 1963, on the 6th anniversary of Malayan independence. However, it was postponed to September 16, 1963, mainly due to Indonesian and the Philippines' opposition to the formation of Malaysia. Nevertheless, North Borneo and Singapore declared sovereignty on August 31, 1963. Indonesian opposition later escalated to a military conflict. Indonesia considered Malaysia as a new form of colonization on the provinces of Sarawak and Sabah in the island of Borneo (bordering Kalimantan, Indonesia), which they laid claim on.[citation needed] To assure Indonesia that Malaysia was not a form of neo-colonialism, a referendum, organized by the United Nations, and the Cobbold Commission, led by Lord Cobbold, were formed to determine whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak wished to join Malaysia. Their eventual findings which indicated substantial support for Malaysia among the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, cleared the way for the final proclamation of Malaysia.
Do you know that when Malaya celebrated its first Independence Day, new hotels were built everywhere in Kuala Lumpur to accommodate the huge foreign delegation invited by the Government of the Federation of Malaya to witness the historical day.
The historical event was captured by Malayan Film Unit (google them), below are the recorded arrival of the guest of honour.
The first batch of foreign representatives to Malaya were:
- King and Queen of Thailand
- Crown Prince and Princess of Japan
- Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom, Prime Minister of South Africa
- Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India
- Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Prime Minister of Pakistan
- Pham Van Dong, Prime Minister of Vietnam
- Solomon Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Ceylon
- U Nu, Prime Minister of Burma
- Sim Var, Prime Minister of Cambodia
- Sir Alexander Grantham, Governor of Hong Kong
- John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (represent US President, Dwight D Eisenhower)
- High Commissioners of Australia, Canada and New Zealand
- Lim Yew Hock, Chief Minister of Singapore
- Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (represent Queen Elizabeth II)
- Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
- Prince William of Gloucester
- Sir Gerald Templer (former British High Commissioner in Malaya)
- Lady Edith Margery Templer (wife of Sir Gerald Templer)
- Lady Isabel Lowther Weir (wife of Sir Henry Gurney)
- Lady Guendolen Mary Wyeth (wife of Sir Edward Gent)
Upon arriving at the Sungei Besi Airport, the guests of honour were welcomed by the British High Commissioner in Malaya, Sir Donald Charles MacGillivray and Lady MacGillivray, the First Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya, Tuanku Abdul Rahman accompanied by the Raja Permaisuri Agong and the first Prime Minister of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman.
The formation of the Federation of Malaysia was then announced on September 16, 1963 as Malaysia Day. The Independence Day celebration is still held on August 31, the original independence date of Malaya. However, this has caused some minor discontent among East Malaysians in particular since it has been argued that celebrating the national day on August 31 is too Malaya-centric.
"In the context of Singapore, Merdeka usually refers to the gaining of self-rule and self-government from the United Kingdom in the 1950s, as imperialism in Asia slowly declined. It usually does not refer to Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965, which followed its merger with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak on 16 September 1963 after having held the 1962 national referendum.
The Constitution of Singapore had been amended in 1953 following recommendations by the Rendel Commission, creating a 51 seat Legislative Assembly of Singapore to replace the Legislative Council of Singapore. The Legislative Assembly would become the predecessor to the modern Parliament of Singapore. The following Singapore general election of 1955 had members that were elected by the population for the first time become the majority in Singapore's legislature. Previously, only six members of the Legislative Council were elected — the rest were appointed. This however did not satisfy individuals calling for full self-government at least in the matter of domestic affairs.
The call for Merdeka was a growing tension between progressivism and radicalism, cooperation and hostility towards the British. David Saul Marshall of the Labour Front narrowly won the Singapore general election of 1955, but being anticolonialist, tended to be a vocal opponent of the British rule. As such, the British found it hard to work out a compromise. A petition was started in 1956 which collected the signatures of 167,000 — a vast portion of the electorate in that era — in a petition that demanded Merdeka.
During the Merdeka Talks of 1956, the year before Malaya's independence, the British agreed to grant Singapore self-government over domestic issues, while the British retained control of finance and the military. This seemed to satisfy Marshall initially, but the negotiation later broke down when the British refused to turn over internal security to the local government. The British felt that Marshall was not doing enough to counter the threats of the communist insurgency and the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) which had sparked the Malayan Emergency. The march towards independence was stalled and Marshall resigned in 1956 making good on his earlier pledge that he would step down in the case of failure.
Another Labour Front leader Lim Yew Hock took over as Singapore Chief Minister and continued the effort to push for independence. Lim then undertook harsh measures against the communists demonstrating that his administration was willing to take a tough stance to safeguard internal security. In the Chinese middle schools riots of 1956, some nine hundred people were arrested. Leading a negotiation delegation consisting of several Singapore political leaders from various parties, Lim managed to convince the British to grant Singapore Merdeka by amending and revamping its Constitution in 1958 to allow for a fully-elected legislature which would form an internal government with complete autonomy over domestic affairs. This government was formed following the Singapore general election of 1959, but ironically the Labour Front lost as Lim Yew Hock's harsh techniques had alienated large portions of the electorate."
My comments: do you think it will be better if at all Singapore stays in Malaysia?
"Today in Malaysia, in which Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore merged in 1963, the term still remains pertinent in the present. It can be seen in the Malaysian national holiday of Hari Merdeka, commemorating Malaya's independence on 31 August 1957, and Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) where the first ceremony raising the flag of Malaya was held following independence. Because Sabah and Sarawak gained their independence on 31 August 1963, Hari Merdeka is a significant date throughout Malaysia.
Tunku Abdul Rahman, the inaugural Malaysian Prime Minister, declared Malayan independence with seven shouts of "Merdeka"; the cry continues to be featured prominently in Malaysian Hari Merdeka celebrations."
My comments: 1 malaysia concept.... what ever year, Malaysia celebrates its independence on the 31st August!
let see what 'pop-up' when u actually google MERDEKA...
ever tot of doing that... i just did that and i have to say the first ten sites/links were not so encouraging...
the clips and below it are some not so good comments about merdeka from idiotic and not not so idiotic humans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w38W63L-yg
some bad / black merdeka remarks:
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/28807
http://www.google.com.my/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hot-screensaver.com/wp-myimages/merdeka-cartoon.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tianchua.net/en/2007/08/31/merdeka/&h=291&w=460&sz=30&tbnid=IK6EgUpkMxbcXM:&tbnh=81&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmerdeka&hl=en&usg=__fGcflIm4JRec0c3kh_MNumNm9fM=&ei=_ayeSrrIB8qMkAW28vjfBA&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=19&ct=image
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