The Malayan Declaration of Independence (, ), was officially proclaimed on Saturday, 31 August 1957, by

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...

, the first chief minister of the

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

. In a ceremony held at the

Merdeka Stadium The Independence Stadium or Merdeka Stadium is a stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is known as the site of the formal declaration of independence of the Federation of Malaya on Independence Day (Malaysia), 31 August 1957. The stadium is also ...

, the proclamation document was read out at exactly 09:30 a.m. in the presence of thousands of Malayan citizens,

Malay Rulers The Conference of Rulers (also known as Council of Rulers or Durbar, ; Jawi: ) is a council comprising the nine rulers of the Malay states, and the governors (''Yang di-Pertua Negeri'') of the other four states in Malaysia. It was officially ...

and foreign dignitaries. The proclamation acknowledges the establishment of an independent and democratic

, which came into effect on the termination of the

British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

over nine

Malay states The monarchies of Malaysia exist in each of the nine Malay states under the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features ...

and the end of British colonial rule in two

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

and

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

. The document of the declaration was signed by

, who was appointed as the nation's first

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The event is celebrated annually in Malaysia with national day .

Date of Independence

The date for Federation of Malaya's Independence on 31 August 1957 was determined after Tunku Abdul Rahman, Haji Sulaiman Palestine, Haji Ahmad Badawi, and several other

UMNO The United Malays National Organisation ( abbrev: UMNO; , PEKEMBAR) is a conservative, Malay nationalist political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party in the country (since its inception in 1946), UMNO has been known as ...

leaders sought the views of

Syeikh Abdullah Fahim Sheikh , Syeikh Abdullah bin Ibrahim Badawi Fahim (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ; 1869 – 27 April 1961) was a Malaysian Islamic scholar, nationalist, writer, and expert in Islamic astronomy (''falak''). He is noted for determining Malayan Declarati ...

, a notable '' Tuan Guru'' from

Kepala Batas, Penang Kepala Batas (, ) is a suburb of Seberang Perai and the seat of the Northern Seberang Perai District in the Malaysian state of Penang. It lies about 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Butterworth and 15km (9.3 mi) southwest of Sungai Petani. Etymo ...

. According to Syeikh Abdullah Fahim, if the British would not grant independence to Malaya on 31 August 1957, the next fitting date should be 31 August 1962. 31 August 1957 was referred by Syeikh Abdullah Fahim as ''am khair atana'' (عام خير اتانا) in Arabic which means 'Good Year Has Come to Us'. It was confirmed in a February 1956 Alliance rally in Malacca after the Tunku had just arrived from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Declaration ceremony

On the night of 30 August 1957, crowds gathered at the

Royal Selangor Club The Royal Selangor Club () is a social club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, founded in 1884 by the British who ruled Malaya at the time. The club is situated next to the ''Dataran Merdeka'', or Independence Square, ''padang'' (field), and is accessi ...

Padang Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

to witness the handover of power from the British. Prime Minister-designate

arrived at 11:58 p.m. and joined members of the Alliance Party's youth divisions in observing two minutes of darkness. On the stroke of midnight, the lights were switched back on, and the

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

in the square was lowered as the royal anthem ''

God Save The Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...

'' was played. The new

Flag of Malaya This is a list of flags used in Malaysia. National flags Monarch Governor Military Law Enforcement Flags Administrative divisions States Federal territories A common flag for the three federal territories was adopted by the ...

was raised as the national anthem ''

Negaraku "" ( Jawi: , ; ) is the national anthem of Malaysia. It was adopted as the national anthem at the time of the Federation of Malaya's independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. The tune was originally used as the state anthem of Perak, "'' A ...

'' was played. This was followed by seven chants of "Merdeka (freedom)" by the crowd. Tunku Abdul Rahman later gave a speech hailing the ceremony as "greatest moment in the life of the Malayan people". Before giving the address to the crowd, he was given a necklace by representatives of the Alliance Party youth in honour of this great occasion in history, with a map of Malaya inscribed on it. The event ended at 1 a.m. On the morning of 31 August 1957, the festivities moved to the newly completed

. More than 20,000 people witnessed the ceremony, which began at 9:30 a.m. Those in attendance included rulers of the Malay states, foreign dignitaries, members of the federal cabinet, and citizens. The Queen's representative, the

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester ( ) is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curre ...

presented Tunku Abdul Rahman with the instrument of independence. Tunku then proceeded to read the declaration, which culminated in the chanting of "Merdeka!" seven times with the crowd joining in. The ceremony continued with the raising of the National Flag of Malaya accompanied by the national anthem being played by a

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

and a 21-gun salute, followed by an '' azan'' call and a thanksgiving prayer in honour of this great occasion. The day followed with the solemn installation of the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku

Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan ''Tuanku'' Sir Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad (Jawi script, Jawi: ; 24 August 1895 – 1 April 1960) was the Yamtuan Besar, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan from 1933, and the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of the Federation ...

, at Jalan Ampang, and the first installation banquet in his honour in the evening followed by a beating retreat performance and a fireworks display. Sports events and other events marked the birth of the new nation.

The document

The document of the declaration was written in both Malay in Jawi script and English.

References

{{Reflist Declarations of independence August 1957 in Asia 1957 in Malaya

Date of Independence

Declaration ceremony

The document

See also

References