Merdeka Square
The Cricket Field Where The Union Jack Came Down At Midnight On 31 August 1957, Ringed By The Colonial Buildings Of A City Named After A Muddy River Confluence · Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur
AT MIDNIGHT ON 31 AUGUST 1957 THE UNION JACK CAME DOWN ON THIS CRICKET PITCH AND THE MALAYAN FLAG WENT UP, and the crowd shouted MERDEKA seven times. It was a padang - a playing field for the colonial club - and it still looks like one, which is the strangest thing about standing on it. AROUND IT IS THE BEST SET OF BUILDINGS IN KUALA LUMPUR: THE SULTAN ABDUL SAMAD BUILDING of 1897, all copper domes and horseshoe arches in a Moorish style the British invented for the occasion; THE ROYAL SELANGOR CLUB in mock-Tudor across the grass; the old courts and the cathedral. A FEW HUNDRED METRES AWAY IS MASJID JAMEK, standing at the fork where the KLANG AND GOMBAK RIVERS MEET - THE MUDDY CONFLUENCE THAT GAVE THE CITY ITS NAME. Everyone photographs the towers. This is where the place actually started. Take the LRT rather than driving, go early or after five because the padang has no shade at all, and come back in the evening when the colonial facades are floodlit.
Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
THE SQUARE IS OPEN ALWAYS AND FREE, and is a few minutes' walk from MASJID JAMEK LRT STATION - do not drive, the traffic and parking are miserable. THE SULTAN ABDUL SAMAD BUILDING AND THE ROYAL SELANGOR CLUB ARE NOT OPEN to casual visitors and are admired from outside. MASJID JAMEK IS AN ACTIVE MOSQUE and welcomes visitors OUTSIDE PRAYER TIMES, providing robes at the entrance; Friday midday is prayers. THE TEXTILE MUSEUM AND THE CITY GALLERY on the square keep daytime hours and charge small fees. THE RIVER OF LIFE light and fountain display runs at the confluence in the evening. 31 AUGUST IS MERDEKA DAY, when the square holds the national parade and is closed to ordinary visitors for rehearsals in the weeks before. It is hot; go early or after five.