Working towards Merdeka
After many years under the British, the people of Malaya wanted independence (kemerdekaan). Brave and wise leaders worked together, mostly through talks and unity rather than war, to gain freedom.
Important leaders
- Tunku Abdul Rahman — known as Bapa Kemerdekaan (Father of Independence) and Malaya's first Prime Minister.
- Dato Onn Jaafar — founded UMNO in 1946 to unite the Malays.
- Tun Tan Cheng Lock (MCA) and Tun V.T. Sambanthan (MIC) — leaders who joined the Alliance with UMNO.
Key idea
The leaders showed that unity between races was the key to winning independence peacefully.
In 1956 Tunku led a mission to London to ask for freedom. On 31 August 1957, independence was declared at Stadium Merdeka, where Tunku shouted 'Merdeka!' seven times.
Remember
- Tunku Abdul Rahman = Father of Independence, first PM.
- Malaya became independent on 31 August 1957.
- Unity of UMNO, MCA and MIC (the Alliance) helped win Merdeka.