| Stadium Merdeka was but only one of three independence declaration sites; the other two being Bandar Hilir in Melaka, and Dataran Merdeka. |
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| Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, as leader of the Merdeka Mission, and Alan Lennox-Boyd, British Secretary of State for the Colonies, signed the Merdeka Agreement- fixing Aug 31, 1957 as the provisional date for proclamation of Independence - on Feb 8, 1955, which happened to be the Tunku’s 53rd birthday. |
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| The first moments of Merdeka was witnessed by relatively few people. The event took place close to midnight of Aug 30, at the playing field near the Selangor Club, now known as Dataran Merdeka. As the clock struck midnight, the Union Jack on one flag pole was lowered, while the new Federation Flag on the pole next to it, was raised. |
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| The title ‘Tan’ – a modification of the title of a territorial chief – could not be used in isolation, simply because it might have been confused for a common Chinese surname. Therefore a Malay honorific prefix ‘Sri’ was added to form the title for the second highest award that could be conferred on a Malaysian, other than a ruler: ‘Tan Sri’. |
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| The earth excavated from the high ground at which Stadium Merdeka was to be built, was used to fill a valley, to facilitate construction of another special project, the National Mosque. |
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| On the morning of Aug 31, 1957, it rained heavily before dawn and continued until close to 9.00am. The arm chairs for the Yang Di Pertuan Agong and nine Rulers, for the Duke of Gloucester (representative of Queen Elizabeth), for the High Comissioner, and for Malaya’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, could only be arranged on the carpeted dais near the centre of Stadium Merdeka field after the rain stopped. |
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| Tunku Abdul Rahman’s first Cabinet had twelve members. The Tunku, as the Federation’s first Prime Minister also held the portfolio of External Affairs. The other members: Dato’ Abdul Razak (DPM and Minister of Defense), H.S Lee (Finance), Sulaiman bin Abdul Rahman (Interior and Justice), V.T. Sambanthan (Health), Sardon Hj. Jubir (Works, Posts and Telecommunications), Ong Yoke Lin (Labour and Social Welfare), Tan Siew Sin (Commerce and Industry), Abdul Aziz Ishak (Agriculture), Mohd. Khir bin Johari (Education), Bahaman bin Samsudin (Natural Resources) and Abdul Rahman bin Hj. Talib (Minister of Transport). |
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| Tunku Abdul Rahman cried out “Merdeka!” a total of seven times, not three as is most widely believed. |
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