If there is no Merdeka Day, there will be no Malaysia Day, say historians

Universiti Malaysia Perlis Centre for Royal Institutional Studies director Prof Datuk Dr Ramlah Adam said the Merdeka Day is more important than Malaysia Day because without the independence, there will be no Malaysia.

“The idea to form Malaysia was planned by the British since 1948, through the Governor-General of Malaya, Sir Malcolm MacDonald’s ‘The grand design of Malaysia’.

“So, after independence was given to Malaya in 1957, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman suggested a plan to form Malaysia in 1961.

“Thereafter, Malaysia Day was celebrated on September 16, 1963 to mark the joining together of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia, even though Singapore was later expelled in 1965.

“If there is no Merdeka Day, there will be no Malaysia Day,” she told Astro AWANI.

Meanwhile Socio-culture Cluster of the National Professors Council, Prof Datuk Dr Zainal Kling also said that Merdeka Day is slightly more important than Malaysia Day because when the Malaysia Day idea was suggested, the date August 31 was already seen as an ideal date.

“The date August 31 was established between Tunku Abdul Rahman and former British Prime Minister Herald Macmillan to be declared as Malaysia Day.

“However, the move drew strong opposition from Indonesia because they regarded the formation of Malaysia as colonialism.

“Due to that opposition, the United Nations assembly made the decision to establish a kind of referendum for the Sabah and Sarawak people. After most of them agreed to the formation, a delayed Malaysia Day was declared on September 16,” he explained.