Set in an old folk's home on National Day, Merdeka! looks into the lives of three old souls as they sit out their long evenings in front of the television. In the euphoria of gun salutes and fireworks, national songs and mass displays, Salleh, Jamilah and Sgt Badir reminisced about their painful youths, lost loves and the meaning of independence.
Intersperse with scenes of the doomed relationship between a mismatched couple, Merdeka! juxtaposes events from the past and present, from the hardships faced during the Japanese Occupation of 1942 and its unsung heroes to nation-building and the impending Millennium.
Endearingly comical and heart wrenching, Merdeka! takes the audience on a retrospective journey seen through the eyes of these senior citizens in their not-so-golden years in an old folk home.
Merdeka! is in celebration of United Nations' International Year of the Older Person 1999.
