Trivia about Malaysia

1) Where did the handing over of power from the British and the lowering of the Union Jack flag take place?

ANSWER: ROYAL SELANGOR CLUB PADANG (FIELD)
The handover of power actually took place at the Royal Selangor Club Padang where the late Tunku Abdul Rahman arrived at 11:58 pm and joined members of the Alliance Party's youth divisions in observing two minutes of darkness. At the stroke of midnight, the Union Jack was lowered and the Malaya flag was raised.


2) Who is known as 'Bapa Kemerdekaan'?

ANSWER: TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
The late Tunku Abdul Rahman was known as Bapa Kemerdekaan, or Bapa Malaysia, for his contributions leading up to the declaration of independence. In fact, in 1955, he led a contingent comprising Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock and Tun V. T. Sambanthan to London to negotiate Malayan independence.


3) How many times did the late Tunku Abdul Rahman yell 'Merdeka!' at the Merdeka Stadium?

ANSWER: SEVEN
After the handing-over ceremony the day before, Tunku Abdul Rahman was presented with the instrument of independence by the Duke of Gloucester, The Queen's representative, before he proceeded to read the Proclamation of Independence. He then led the 20,000-strong crowd who gathered at the newly built Stadium Merdeka to seven chants of 'Merdeka!'


4) When did the Federation of Malaya officially become Malaysia?

ANSWER: 1963
In 1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman contemplated the idea of forming "Malaysia", which would consist of the states ruled by the British colony. However, it wasn't until September 1963 the Federation of Malaya become Malaysia.


5) In which year did Singapore withdraw from Malaysia?

ANSWER: 1965
Originally a part of Malaysia, Singapore was requested to leave the coalition in August 1965 after just two years.


6) Who is the longest serving Prime Minister of Malaysia?

ANSWER: TUN DR. MAHATHIR
Tun Dr. Mahathir was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia on 16 July 1981, before stepping down on 31 October 2003. With his political career spanning almost 40 years, including the 22 years as the premier of the country, Tun Dr. Mahathir is Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister. The second longest serving Malaysian Prime Minister is the late Tunku Abdul Rahman (13 years), followed by Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (6 years), Tun Abdul Razak (6 years) and Tun Hussein Onn (5 years).


7) Each year, Malaysia Day is celebrated on...

ANSWER: SEPTEMBER 16th
The forming of Malaysia was planned to occur on 1 June 1963, but was later postponed to 31 August to coincide with the sixth Hari Merdeka. However, due to strong opposition from Indonesia and the Philippines, the Federation of Malaya - at that time consisting of the Malayan states, North Borneo (later renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore - would only officially become known as Malaysia on 16 September 1963.


8) The national anthem "Negaraku" was originally used as the state anthem of...

ANSWER: PERAK
Originally used as the state anthem of Perak, "Negaraku" was selected as the national anthem for the Federation of Malaya after they declared independence from Britain in 1957. The tune was adopted from a popular French tune titled "La Rosalie", composed by renowned lyricist Pierre-Jean de Béranger.


9) How many stripes are there in the national flag?

ANSWER: 14
The original Malayan flag was designed by a 29-year-old architect named Mohamed Hamzah in 1947 as part of a flag-designing competition. The flag was later modified following the formation of Malaysia in 1963, and it comprises of 14 alternating red and white stripes of equal width to represent the 14 Malaysian states.


10) The national flag of Malaysia is also known as...

ANSWER: JALUR GEMILANG
In 1997, the general public was invited to give the Malaysian flag an alternate name. It was Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir who picked the moniker 'Jalur Gemilang', to project "the country's onward drive towards continuous growth and success".

source: news.malaysia.msn.com