Itz National Day this weekend and all Malaysian will be celebrating Hari Merdaka or Independence Day. So wutz Independence Day?


IN 1955, Tunku Abdul Rahman headed the triumphant Alliance Party in the first-ever Malayan General Elections. The Alliance comprised Umno, the MCA and the MIC, representing the three main races in the country. His resounding victory earned him new respect in the eyes of the British who were battling the communists in a guerrilla war since 1948.

While we have seen many photographs of Tunku and other Alliance party leaders in Kuala Lumpur, we are fortunate that our readers have sent in some photographs of Malaya prior to independence. Photographs between 1955 and 1957 tell the tale of a nation in preparation for independence.

Lim Yee Ko, who was formerly the head of the Auxiliary Police of Sepang District, submitted a photograph of the late British High Commissioner Sir Henry Gurney taken a week before he was ambushed on his way up Fraser’s Hill by members of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). Lim is standing beside Sir Henry in the photograph. He acted as translator during Sir Henry’s visit to Sungei Pelek, one of three settlement areas in the Sepang district then. The man in military uniform in the background is Lieutenant General (Rtd) Sir Harold Briggs who was appointed Director of Operations in Malaya in 1950. He introduced a strategy of resettlement to cut off supplies to the MCP. Dubbed the Briggs plan, it led to the creation of new villages.


In a photograph taken on the eve of Merdeka in 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman is seen with local Alliance leaders visiting Dr. MPL Yegappan (in tie) who was then the town council chairman of Bukit Mertajam, Penang. This photo is submitted by Shalini Muthu Armuugam.
In remote villages, the outside world intruded in times of need, as the photograph of Red Cross Society workers in Ulu Benut, Pahang, demonstrates. Shot in 1954, the photo was submitted by Navindran Snarajah of Raub, Pahang. In the 1950s, especially at the height of the Emergency, planters and rural folk were easy prey for the communists.

As new villages were being formed, the larger towns were busy celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Despite the on-going talks for independence, Malaya was still firmly in the grip of British rule and coronation arches were erected in major towns. Abdul Malik Shaari of Sungai Petani, Kedah, submitted a photograph of two arches erected near the Clock Tower at Jalan Ibrahim in “the heart of Sungai Petani”. A similar arch put up outside the Seremban Market is seen in the photograph submitted by Mike Low Hoy Boon.

In 1955 another royal celebration was commemorated by the erection of arches. That year, Sultan Sir Ibrahim of Johor celebrated his diamond jubilee. Nizamuddin Hashim submitted several photographs taken by Hashim Hamid in 1956. Although Sultan Ibrahim celebrated his 60th year on the throne on Sept 17, 1955, it seems the arches were still standing in 1956.

Although Sultan Ibrahim was initially not in favour of independence, he eventually gave his full support to the Alliance-led government in their mission to negotiate for Malayan independence in London. The Alliance had since the 1952 Kuala Lumpur municipal elections proved to be able to unite the people under its manifesto of “Merdeka”.

However, before independence was achieved, the Tunku and other Alliance party leaders travelled around the country to prepare Malayans for independence. In a photograph taken on the eve of Merdeka in 1957, Tunku together with local Alliance leaders visited Dr M.P.L. Yegappan, who was then the town council chairman of Bukit Mertajam, Penang. The photograph was submitted by Shalini Muthu Arumugam.

Md Zain Mohamed’s photographs best illustrate the Merdeka fever in Nibong Tebal, Penang. His photos of three arches dedicated to Merdeka clearly show how things had changed from colonial rule to independent self-government. The first photograph is of an arch at the junction of Sungai Acheh and Sungai Udang roads. Standing on the left of the car is Datuk Haji Ahmad Salleh, a former state executive councillor. The building in the background is the Sekolah Umum Sungai Acheh. His second photograph is of another arch with the slogan written in Jawi. This photograph was taken outside the Sungai Acheh mosque and boasts a star and crescent moon, representing Islam. The photograph of the third arch was taken in front of the Perak-Penang border. Like the arch at the Sungai Acheh-Sungai Udang junction, this one had words in Malay, Tamil and Chinese.