Protests greet Malaysia's plan to tear down historic stadium

Protests greet Malaysia's plan to tear down historic stadium

In its desire to modernize, Malaysia is set to tear down a historic stadium where independence was proclaimed more than 30 years ago, writes Anil Netto of Inter Press Service.

KUALA LUMPUR: On the morning of Aug. 31, 1957, exultant cries of 'Merdeka!' (Independence!) rang out at a new stadium here. Fist punching the air, Malaysia's first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra led jubilant crowds in ushering in independence after almost five centuries of colonial rule.

Today, the 12,000 seat Merdeka Stadium, middle aged and apparently unwanted, stands eerily silent. Only whispers from the past echo above the football field and the synthetic athletics track, lamenting the site's lost glory days.

The venerable monument, built to mark the proclamation of Malaysia's independence from the British, now awaits the wrecker's demolition ball. In time for the Commonwealth Games in September, the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur will have a new, ultra modern stadium the 80,000 capacity Bukit Jalil Stadium. There is nothing wrong with Merdeka Stadium, which has been renovated and expanded over the years to fit 40,000 spectators. But it has fallen victim to Malaysia's mad frenzy for property development, and is set to make way for a massive project for commercial property development. In a deal worth $244 million, the infrastructure company Intria plans to "redevelop" the prime land on which Stadium Merdeka stands.

"Development has overtaken sentiment," former athlete Sidique Merican, a retired director of sports in the youth and sports ministry, told IPS. "We feel that something very sentimental in our lives is being taken away."

Intria is a subsidiary of the Mekar Idaman company, which in turn is 45 percent owned by highway operator United Engineers (M) Bhd, a company with close links to the political elite.

The 13 hectare project, dubbed Plaza Merdeka, would also make a casualty of another landmark, the nearby Stadium Negara, which is an indoor venue that evokes nostalgia over Malaysia's past supremacy in badminton. It was in Stadium Negara that Malaysia emerged world champions in the Thomas Cup badminton tournament in 1992.

But if the developers have their way, office blocks, a shopping complex, an entertainment center and condominiums will sprout over the project site within the next seven years.

Plans include construction of a park and an 8,000 seat amphitheater for cultural and social events. Groundwork for the project was to have started last August, and many expect demolition work on the stadiums to start soon.

"Of all the buildings my uncle had helped build during his tenure in office, nothing was more dear to him than Stadium Merdeka for it was there that the proudest moment of his life took place,'' said writer and lawyer Tunku Sofiah Jewa, the Tunku's niece.

In the stadium more than 40 years ago, the Tunku, wearing a black and white ceremonial costume derived from an ancient Muscat dress, had stood in front of the Duke of Gloucester awaiting the formal turnover of independence from the British. Behind him had stood the eight Malay or sultans and their newly elected king.

After receiving the constitutional instruments providing for British withdrawal, the Tunku addressed the masses: "Though we fully realize that difficulties and problems lie ahead, we are confident that with the blessing of God, these difficulties will be overcome, and that today's event will be our inspiration and our guide."

He then led the crowds in welcoming freedom, as the stadium shuddered with the thunder of guns. The notes of the country's new anthem floated across the grounds as the flag of an independent Malaya was raised.

Sidique recalls hearing about a story saying the Tunku himself had climbed to the rooftop of an old stadium nearby years before, and personally pointed out the site he had in mind for Merdeka Stadium.

In the 1960s and 70s the stadium hosted many Asian sporting events, including the annual Merdeka football tournament. Then the only one of its kind in the region, the tournament invited the best teams from Asia to spar with talented squads from Europe, South America and Africa.

In the years before he died in 1990, the Tunku's relationship with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad was strained at best, acrimonious at worst. Indeed, the Tunku and Mahathir rarely agreed on political issues.

Perhaps, some speculate, this is why today's political elite carries little sentimental baggage about tearing down Merdeka Stadium. The building frenzy that Malaysia went through in the nineties, fueled by its rapid economic growth, contributed to a desire to redevelop large swathes of the capital.

Many Malaysians are concerned about plans to tear down the stadium, saying some sites are better left alone. "The stadium was built not for sports but for the proclamation of the nation's independence," recalled a retired army general. "Where will the soldiers troop the King's colors from now on?"

Still, there may be hope. With the massive glut in commercial property bearing down on the economy and forcing down property prices, Merdeka Stadium may yet win a last minute reprieve.

Supporters say that if the Tunku were alive today, he would not have missed the irony lurking in the fact that Asia's economic slowdown, blamed by Mahathir on currency speculators from the once colonial west, could well save one of Malaysia's most enduring symbols of independence.

-- IPS