The V.I. Picture of the Month - August 1999

Here we pull out a scanned picture from our collection or contributors that is related to either the V.I. past or present. If you have any interesting photo or picture about the V.I. or Victorians that you would like to share in this section, please do send the scanned image in GIF or JPEG format, together with a short write up on it to ooibk@pop.jaring.my.

The Merdeka Stadium was built literally in the backyard of the V.I. From mid-1956 till August 1957, bulldozers toiled noisily and incessantly to sculpt the former Coronation Park into a sports stadium. Finished in the nick of time, it was declared open by Dato Abdul Razak bin Hussein on August 30, 1957. A mass calisthenic drill was performed with thousands of participants from the principal schools of Kuala Lumpur. The V.I. contingent consisted of Form Two boys, who are seen here streaming out of the brand new stadium at the close of the drill, led by Mr Yap Chai Seng. The following day, August 31, 1957, the stadium was the venue of the historic proclamation of independence of Malaya. Again many Victorians were on duty at the stadium, this time as ushers.