KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 31 — With seven shouts of Merdeka on the wet morning of Aug 31, 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra heralded a new era in Malayan history.
The Malayan era — to last six years until the formation of Malaysia in 1963 — was the Kedah prince’s lasting legacy to a people who had seen nearly a hundred years of British colonial rule.
The local and foreign media celebrated the new nation in their pages with the Sunday Mail report on Sept 1, 1957 headlined “The Big Moment’’, to signify the Malayan wait for independence.
The sub-heading, which read “Storm clouds roll away as new nation is born’’, gave readers an insight into how a prolonged shower in the morning eased to allow the Duke of Gloucester to present the instruments of independence to prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.
Screaming headline
The Malay Mail also carried a huge picture of the stadium taken by late NST photo editor Lim Yaw Chong from an RAF helicopter on behalf of Malayan and overseas press.
The Straits Times headquartered in Singapore carried a screaming headline on Merdeka Day that simply read: “MERDEKA!’’
A sub-heading below said “At the stroke of midnight, a great roar tells the world: We are now a nation.’’
The newspaper had only gone to print after 3am (a fact mentioned in the dateline) to carry the story of how Tunku at the stroke of midnight earlier had joined the crowd comprising thousands of all races.
The text spoke of how high emotion prevailed as the Union Jack was lowered to the strains of “God Save the Queen’’ to the raising of the new Malayan flag.
Tunku then walked slowly around the field to acclamation from the thrilled crowd that refused to leave the field until hours later.
The next day, it carried the heading “This is it”’ narrating the historic moments the day before at Merdeka Stadium.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had on Aug 31, 1957, told its worldwide audience: “Thousands of young members of the Malay, Chinese and Indian parties, which form the government, stood in darkness for two minutes at midnight to mark the official handover.
“As the new flag of independence was raised they called 'Merdeka' (freedom) seven times.’’
BBC went on to say Tunku had been hailed as the Father of Independence.
* Malay Mail is proudly reproducing the iconic cover of its August 31, 1957 edition today to commemorate the 59th Merdeka Day.
The newspaper is also recreating the editorial style and appearance of the era to recapture the joyous moments when the nation, with its people of all ages and races, first won its independence.
