Independence Square () is a square located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is situated in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It was formerly known as the Selangor Club Padang or simply the Padang (meaning "field" in Malay) and was used as the cricket green of the Selangor Club (now the Royal Selangor Club). It was here that the Union Flag was lowered and the Malaysian flag hoisted for the first time at midnight on 31 August 1957. Since then, the Independence Square has been the usual venue for the annual Independence Day Parade.
History
In the early days of Kuala Lumpur, the Chinese and Malay communities settled along the east bank of the Klang River. To the west of the river was land originally owned by Yap Ah Loy and was used to plant vegetables. In 1880, the state capital of Selangor was moved from Klang to Kuala Lumpur by the colonial administration. The then British Resident William Bloomfield Douglas decided that the government buildings and staff living quarters should be located to the west of the river to keep away from what he considered, as the unsanitary conditions of the town and the possibility of uprising from the locals. The government offices and a new police headquarter were built on Bukit Aman, with accommodation for the police located on Barrack Road (now Jalan Tangsi and part of Jalan Raja). A patch of swampy and uneven ground immediately to the west of the Klang River was then levelled and drained to be used as a training ground for the police. The land was acquired from Yap by the British Resident Frank Swettenham for $50 per acre in 1882. This patch of land, originally named the Parade Ground, would become the Padang. Ten years later in 1892, the Acting British Resident Ernest Birch who was a keen cricketer then started to smooth over the ground so that it may be used as a cricket ground and other sports. The Selangor Club clubhouse was built at the present location in 1890 and the St Mary's Church was built in 1895.
In 1897, the government offices were relocated from Bukit Aman to the Sultan Abdul Samad Building overlooking the Padang. The building is one of the most significant landmarks built by the British and was designed by A.C. Norman, R. A. J. Bidwell, and A. B. Hubback in an Indo-Saracenic or Neo-Mughal style of architecture. This building housed the Selangor State Secretariat and later the Supreme Court before the court was moved, and the building was left unused for a few years. It now houses the Ministry of Heritage, Culture and Arts.
As the Sultan Abdul Samad Building was designed and its construction began before Kuala Lumpur became the capital of the Federated Malay States, it became inadequate for the use of a burgeoning bureaucracy when it was made the capital. Many buildings were then constructed near to the building and also around the Padang. A printing office was constructed in 1899 on the southwest corner of the Padang, the town hall to the northeast in 1904, the FMS Railway offices to the southeast in 1905, the General Post Office south of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in 1907, the Survey Department building in 1910 and the Supreme Court in 1915 in the northeast area.
As the Padang is located in front of the government offices, it is used for many national and civic events. The Padang was once leased to the Selangor Club which used it for various sports such as cricket and rugby. In 1987, the Padang was taken back by City Hall and in return, the Selangor Club was given a piece of land in Bukit Kiara.
On the midnight of 30 August 1957, the British flag was lowered and the Malayan flag was raised for the first time at the Padang, an event watched by a large number of people there. In the morning of 31 August 1957, the ceremony for Malayan independence was then held at the Merdeka Stadium.
The 'Padang' was renamed 'Dataran Merdeka' or Independence Square in October 1989. It was done in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 1990 campaign beginning 1 January 1990.
On 31 August 2007, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi shouted 'Merdeka!' on midnight celebrations, where thousands of Malaysians celebrated 50 years of nationhood.