2010 Merdeka celebration (photo from Star newspaper)
Merdeka is the Bahasa Malay word for "independence or freedom". Malaysians celebrate their National Day on August 31 to celebrate their independence from Britain (similar to our 4th of July). On August 31, 1957, the 11 states on the Malay peninsula declared independence from Great Britain to form the Federation of Malaya. Malaya, Singapore, and two states from Borneo joined together six years later to form Malaysia. The formation of Malaysia will be celebrated by a new holiday, Malaysia Day, that will be celebrated next week so I will report about it then.
I was out of the country during Merdeka Day, so I wasn't able to experience the festivities first hand. It appears that independence day celebrations here also involve fireworks. Unforunately, several children were severely injured in firework accidents during the week leading up to the Merdeka celebration.
Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaya, announced the independence of Malaya from the British on August 31, 1957 at Stadium Merdeka.
To learn more about Merdeka Day see- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hari_Merdeka
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