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