Stadium Merdeka built in 11 months with no cranes on RM14.6 million budget

KUALA LUMPUR, 17 AUGUST 2026 —

Tan Sri Stanley Edward Jewkes sketched Stadium Merdeka’s design at his dining table after work using only a slide rule.

The Public Works Department deputy director began construction as soon as each section left his slide rule, recalled Lee, who converted Jewkes’ handwritten calculations into formal drawings each morning.

The method broke two world records: the 120-foot pre-stressed floodlight towers and the longest cantilevered shell roofs of the era.

Budget constraints ruled out imported steel. Jewkes used locally available precast Hume concrete culverts for the towers and raised the entire complex without cranes or heavy machinery.

Nearly a thousand workers, including young Chinese women balancing concrete pails on kanda sticks, toiled round the clock with no hard hats, safety boots or overtime claims.

Contractors Boon & Cheah Co. Ltd. handled earthworks and terraces while Lim Quee & Sons built the grandstands. Jewkes coordinated both and designed the structure because, according to Lee, he was the only civil servant trusted with a project of this scale.

Tunku Abdul Rahman hosted a dinner for the team after completion. The stadium’s original site, Coronation Park, was uneven with a five-foot slope. Jewkes installed drainage culverts to keep monsoon rains from halting work. Workers later buried human bones found beneath the pitch without stopping construction.

The turf, laid by gangs of Chinese girls, was green and level by Merdeka. The budget was approximately 2.3 million Malayan dollars — RM14.6 million in today’s terms.