Kenapa August 31 dipilih oleh Tunku?

. . . in reply to Inche Abdul Rahman Rashid bin Ali of Kampong Mertang, Negri Sembilan, Tuan Albakri said it was on August 31, 1955, that the Alliance took office as the ruling party and the new Federal Legislative Council was inaugurated . . .

The Keeper of the Rulers's Seal, Tuan Haji Mustapha Albakri, provided the definitive explanation for why 31 August was chosen as the date for the proclamation of independence of the Federation of Malaya. On 27 July 1955, Tunku Abdul Rahman led the Alliance to a sweeping electoral victory, winning 51 of the 52 contested seats. The sole exception was the Krian constituency, where Sulaiman Palestin (d. 1996) was defeated by Ahmad Tuan Hussein of PMIP by 8,685 votes to 8,235. Following the election, a meeting with Donald MacGillivray was immediately arranged for 31 July 1955 to discuss the formation of the first cabinet. The list of ministers was finalized and publicly announced on 4 August. On Monday, 9 August 1955, Tunku’s cabinet was formally constituted, and the swearing-in ceremony of the inaugural cabinet took place at King’s House. Later that month, on 31 August 1955, the first Legislative Council convened at the FMSVF building, where members were sworn in and Tunku delivered a major address outlining his vision and timetable for independence. The question of a target date for independence was subsequently discussed at the Conference of Rulers held on 21–22 December 1955. At that meeting, the rulers considered a timetable that envisioned self-government within two years and full independence within four years. Tunku ultimately surpassed those expectations when he secured independence for Malaya on 31 August 1957, well ahead of the projected schedule. See The Straits Times, 16 July 1957, p. 9.

. . . one day, Tunku accompanied by Abdul Razak, Ahmad Maliki, Sulaiman Palestin and others met Abdullah Fahim at his home. While sitting at the verandah, Tunku sought his views on the condition set by the British that the non-Malays too must be part of the independent federation . . . Tunku is said to have met Abdullah Fahim one more time to decide on the Merdeka date for the Federation of Malaya and based on his calculations from the Islamic calendar he provided the date 31 August 1957. The learned ulama had noted that it was the best earliest date and if Britain did not agree with the date then Malayans would have to wait another five years for the next auspicious date, 31 August 1962 . . .

In a parallel universe, we were told by Sulaiman Palestin and others that August 31 was hand-picked by Sheikh Abdullah Fahim (d. 1961). For instance, the former UMNO Secretary for Kepala Batas, Datuk Mohd Noor Ahmad, was 70 when he recounted aforementioned story. It was accepted uncritically and reported in a piece by Zuraida Abdul Rahman dated 29 July 2007, during the tenure of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was the Sheikh’s grandson. In doing so, the narrative attributed statements to a highly respected teacher that do not appear to be supported by reliable record, resulting in a potential misrepresentation of the scholar’s original position. Datuk Mohd Noor Ahmad had earlier told the same story to Mokhtar Petah in 1996. It is likely that both Datuk Mohd Noor and Haji Abdul Rahim bin Abu Bakar (a student of the Sheikh) obtained their story from the same source. In an 8 April 1996 interview, Haji Abdul Rahim said: . . . saya ingat benarlah, Sheikh Abdullah Fahim kata 31 Ogos tarikh yang paling baik untuk kita sambut merdeka . . . (p. 65). According to Haji Sulaiman Palestin: . . . Pada suatu hari, Tunku, saya, Haji Ahmad Badawi dan beberapa orang UMNO telah menemui Allahyarham Sheikh Abdullah Fahim. Dalam pertemuan itu Tunku meminta Allahyarham melihat mengikut firasat and kasysyafnya akan tarikh yang baik bagi kemerdekaan Tanah Melayu . . . Sheikh Abdullah Fahim telah menentukan, bahawa tarikh yang baik untuk diistiharkan kemerdekaan Tanah Melayu, iaitu pada 31 Ogos 1957 . . . (p. 41). An important distinction between the stories, Haji Abdul Rahim merely said that his teacher thought that 31 August was an auspicious date, he did not explicitly claim the five-year gap theory (1957/1962). According to Haji Sulaiman Palestin, the date was firmly motioned in a meeting in Melaka: . . . jadi dalam perwakilan di Melaka itu yang terpilih untuk membawa motion ni enam orang, iaitu saya, Haji Ahmad Badawi, Sardon Zubir, Othman Saat, Na'im Shukran, Haji Hamzah Alang. Kami enam oranglah yang mengutarakan cadangan ini dalam mesyuarat di Melaka yang tarikh 31 Ogos 1957 . . . (p. 94). Mokhtar Petah (1997) Sheikh Abdullah Fahim: Penentu Tarikh Kemerdekaan Negara 31 Ogos 57, Pustaka Antara, Kuala Lumpur.

The grandfather story associated with 31 August was first recounted to me by a tour facilitator during a visit to Seri Negara. I was almost tempted to stop the flow of nonsense on the spot, but refrained after my wife gave me a look that suggested this was neither the time nor the place.

The two Abd al-Rahmans and the representative of the Queen. In this picture, the 123-year-old Prime Minister, the King, were invoked, together with the 120-year-old High Commissioner, and made their appearances in front of King's House on 9 August 2026. When the crown prince of Negeri Sembilan was about 30-year-old, he visited Wembley and was attracted by the English ambiance. He asked his father to allow him to study law. Three years later, Yamtuan Abd al-Rahman was called to the bar at Inner Temple in 1928. Tuanku Muhriz ibni Tuanku Munawir ibni Tuanku Abd al-Rahman is a direct descendant of the Yamtuan, through the first branch of the royal family tree. The prince of Kedah, on the other hand, passed his law exams and was called to the English Bar at the Inner Temple in 1949 at the age of 45, although his brother sent him to Cambridge in 1920.

The reason was surprisingly simple, and had nothing to do with the grandfather of our fifth prime minister, despite what Sulaiman Palestin and othersTake Dr. Azmi Arifin, for example. One of his maxims is:

. . . kerana saya tahu, apa yang saya kaji, sumber-sumbernya sangat jelas . . .

Clearly, my ass. would have us believe. The date was probably chosen by Tunku sometime in mid-1957, following the precedent of 31 August 1955, when the first Legislative Council of Malaya was inaugurated in the FMSVF building. It may also have helped that 31 August 1957 fell on a Saturday, thereby conveniently sparing the newly independent nation the rather awkward prospect of declaring independence on a Wednesday.

On a Thursday in 195422 April 1954, 51-year-old Tunku and 39-year-old Tan Tong Hye 陳東海 arrived in London, where they were warmly greeted at the airport by Malayan students. It was their first mission to London, presumably because you can only have a first mission once.

Unfortunately, the mission had been rather poorly planned, and Tunku and Tan eventually returned to Malaya empty-handed. Still, they had successfully travelled all the way to London, which was probably the easiest part of the whole exercise.

5/4 years after that rather awkward first mission, Tunku’s Alliance won all but one of the 52 contested seats in Malaya, securing 51. The exception was the Krian seat, where the Alliance candidate was Sulaiman Palestin. The first Cabinet was swiftly formed on 9 August 1955, and the first Parliament in which all the MPs had been chosen by the rakyat was convened on 31 August 1955.

On 9 August 1955, members of the first Rahman cabinet were sworn in at King's House. A group photo was taken in front of the staircase, seated from left: C. J. Thomas (Finance), H. S. Lee (Transport), Tunku (Chief Minister), D. MacGillivray (High Commissioner), D. C. Watherston (Chief Secretary), J. P. Hogan (Attorney-General), Dr. Ismail Abdul Rahman (Natural Resources). Standing from the left: Abdul Razak (Education), O. A. Spencer (Economic Affairs), Abdul Aziz Ishak (Agriculture, d. 1999), A. H. P. Humphrey (Defence), Suleiman Abdul Rahman (Local government), V. T. Sambanthan (Labor), Sardon Jubir (Works), Leong Yew Koh (Health and Social Welfare), Ong Yoke Lin (Post and Telecoms).

In 1956, a better-prepared second mission was sent to London. This time, they came back with something considerably more useful than the first mission had managed: an agreement, duly signed.

Two days after the Stadium Merdeka event, Tuanku Abdul Rahman was installed as the Agong on 2 September 1957.

Eight hours after the Union Jack was lowered, the Prime Minister formally declared Stadium Merdeka open. Following his speech, the Duke of Gloucester presented the constitutional instrument of the transfer of power to the Tunku, enabling him to proclaim its words aloud and thereby give life to the Federation of Malaya. The newborn nation was then honoured with a 101-gun salute, while the crowd at Stadium Merdeka heard the National Anthem for the very first time. Curiously, the prayer recited by the Mufti (Almarhum Sheikh Muhammad Said Al-Linggi) was scheduled only afterwards: After the anthem, the gun salute, the Tunku’s proclamation, and even the Duke’s speech.

1. The last stone of Stadium Merdeka was laid 10 days before the Merdeka day. The stadium was built within less than a year from July 15, 1956 to August 21, 1957 at a total cost of Malayan dollar $2.3 million by the Public Works Department and United Engineers Malaysia. It was designed by architect Stanley Edward Jewkes.
   
   
   
   
2. See 1959 - Target year that independence call. Freedom in four years and not any later: Rahman. Bad Govt. Better than Foreign One, Singapore Standard, 12 April 1955, p. 1. See also Merdeka date up to Rulers today, The Straits Times, 21 December 1955, p. 1.
   
   
3. The Merdeka mission on board the Italian liner Asia left Singapore on 2 January and arrived Karachi by sea on 9 January and then traveled by air to London on 11 January 1956. The Merdeka mission landed Melaka on 20 February 1956 and the famous date was announced there. Extrapolations that the Sheikh advised the Merdeka mission to sail to London is simply not correct. See Tungku leaves Karachi, Indian Daily Mail, 13 January 1956.
   
   
4. The upper bound was refined to end of August 1957 in January 1956. See August 1957 - A date for Merdeka men. The Straits Budget, 5 January 1956, p. 14. Since Stadium Merdeka was completed only on 21 August, the weekend dates available to Tunku were 24 August (Saturday), 25 August (Sunday), and 31 August (Saturday). That said, any date between 24 and 31 August could reasonably be described as falling within the end of August.
   
   
5. I am astonished that people are astonished by the fact that the same zodiac constellations — Scorpio, Virgo, Libra, and the like — can still be seen in the night sky on both 30 August 1957 and 30 August 1962. As though the fixed stars were expected to reshuffle themselves every year, or somehow drift into entirely new formations within the span of five years. They are called fixed stars for a reason.
   
   
6. Dr. Azmi Arifin would have us believe that the Sheikh selected the date of August 31 (= 5 Safar 1377) according to the Islamic calendar. Yet this directly contradicts Datuk Mohd Noor’s own recollection in 1996, in which the Sheikh specifically mentioned 31 August 1957 and 31 August 1962 — both expressed in Gregorian dates. It is a textbook case of building one mistaken conclusion upon another mistaken premise. Also, the Arabic phrase: عامُ خيرٍ أتانا (ʿāmu khayrin atānā) was not at all mentioned in Mokhtar Petah (1997).