Merdeka

Indonesian and Malay term for "independent" or "free"

Merdeka (Jawi: مرديک; , ) is a term in Indonesian and Malay which means "independent" or "free". It is derived from the Sanskrit maharddhika (महर्द्धिक) meaning "rich, prosperous, and powerful". In the Malay Archipelago, this term had acquired the meaning of a freed slave. The term is also used in other Indonesian languages. The term Mardijker is a Dutch corruption of the Portuguese version of the original Sanskrit words and was used to designate former Portuguese and Dutch slaves from India in the East Indies, known as Mardijkers, whence the Malay meaning of "free(dom)" is derived. The Mardijkers were former Catholic slaves brought from India and the East Indies, who were liberated by the Dutch if they abandoned Catholicism and joined the Dutch Reformed Church. The term was used by the anti colonialist and pro independence movements in the colonial territories of the Dutch East Indies, British Malaya, and the Straits Settlements. It became a rallying call for those demanding independence from the colonial administrations of the Netherlands and United Kingdom. In the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, the Moro people belonging to major ethnolinguistic groups of Meranaw, Maguindanaw, and Iranun, use maradeka in the same meaning as freedom or liberation and a political group there is called Maradeka. The Pampangan term mardíka (also spelled mardíkas) and the Tagalog maharlika have the same Sanskrit etymology as the Malay merdeka and means freeman, libertos or freedman in classical Philippine society.

Today in Malaysia, in which Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore merged in 1963, the term still remains pertinent in the present. It can be seen in the Malaysian national holiday of Hari Merdeka, commemorating Malaya's independence on 31 August 1957, and Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) where the first ceremony raising the flag of Malaya was held following independence. North Borneo and Sarawak in northern Borneo were to officially join to form Malaysia on 31 August 1963 but due to opposition from Indonesia and the Philippines and to allow the United Nations team time to conduct referendums in North Borneo and Sarawak regarding their participation in a new federation, the date was postponed to 16 September, which now celebrated as Malaysia Day. Tunku Abdul Rahman, the inaugural Malaysian Prime Minister, declared Malayan independence in 1957 with seven shouts of "Merdeka" and now, the cry continues to be featured prominently in Malaysian Hari Merdeka celebrations.

In the context of Singapore, Merdeka usually refers to the gaining of self rule and self government from the United Kingdom in the 1950s, as imperialism in Asia slowly declined. It usually does not refer to Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965, which followed its merger with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak on 16 September 1963 after having held the 1962 national referendum. The Constitution of Singapore had been amended in 1953 following recommendations by the Rendel Commission, creating a 32 seat Legislative Assembly of Singapore to replace the Legislative Council of Singapore. The Legislative Assembly would become the predecessor to the modern Parliament of Singapore. The following Singapore general election of 1955 had members that were elected by the population for the first time become the majority in Singapore's legislature. Previously, only six members of the Legislative Council were elected — the rest were appointed. This however did not satisfy individuals calling for full self government at least in the matter of domestic affairs. announced the formation of the Mindanao Independence Movement (MIM) and the Muslim fundamentalist Ansar el Islam led by prominent Muslim leaders such as Philippine Muslim Senator Dr. Ahmad Domocao Alonto while leading the Islamic revival movement also supported the formation of the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The over four decades of Moro struggle asserts freedom from Philippine colonialism as argued by Moro leaders Prof. Nur Misuari of the MNLF and the late Ustadz Salamat Hashim of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Until the present, the struggle for freedom and independence continues among the younger Moro generation. At the legal front, the Maradeka (literally means freedom) became seen at the forefront of a nonviolent political movement enjoying the democratic space afforded to many political groups and activists in the Philippines. Analytically looking at the history of long peace process since 1975, while East Timor was able to attain full self governance thru a United Nations brokered Determination Vote and Free Aceh Movement acceded to Norway brokered peace talks, the Moro rebel groups underwent a series of protracted peace and a never ending peace process believed to be employed only as a counterinsurgency strategy of the Philippine government and not meant sincerely to end hostilities in Mindanao. These allegedly deceptive policies of the government allegedly exasperated young Moros and students, which led some to join extremist groups, such as the Abu Sayyaf, and mount a violent attacks against the Philippine government. Several incidents in the rejection by the MILF of the Philippine government's counterproposal to the former proposal for compromise accession to substate formula will suspend and further stall the peace negotiations.