Stadium Merdeka

The stadium in the time of humans

The Stadium Merdeka, also known as Merdeka Stadium, is a stadium located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Adjacent to KL118 and Stadium Negara, It is known as the site of the formal declaration of independence of the Federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957. The stadium is also the site of the Proclamation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963. The stadium was the principal venue in Kuala Lumpur for celebrations and sporting events until 1998 when the Bukit Jalil National Stadium was built for the 16th Commonwealth Games. The stadium has a lower and an upper terrace, with a total capacity of 40,000, as well as 14 tunnels entrance, a covered stand, 50 turnstiles and 4 floodlight tower. Upon its completion, the stadium holds the world record for the tallest prestressed floodlight towers and the biggest cantilever shell roofs. The stadium was also the largest stadium in the Southeast Asia at the time of completion. But in a life after people, will it able to keep its record against the forces of Mother Nature?

1 day after people: Already relatively quiet even in the time of humans, the stadium is blissfully unaware that every human in the city and the rest of the world are permanently gone. As venues like the Arena of Stars prove to be more popular with concerts while the Bukit Jalil National Stadium diminished its importance in sports, it now sits as a historic landmark that now is surrounded by the tall yet deserted skyscrapers of the city. As night falls, the stadium's floodlights surround the stadium in a brilliant bath of light. But the emergency generators at power plants across the Klang Valley finally cease to operate, now leaving the stadium and the rest of nation in complete darkness.

1 month after people: The pitch just a month without humans starts to grow. The grass starts to grow taller, while corrosion and humidity now slowly start to attack the seats and the massive floodlight towers. Birds now settle in the upper terrace of the stadium, planting the seeds for a massive bird population that will soon cause the slow demise of one of Malaysia's most historical sites. The stadium enviously watches the neighbouring KL118, which still showing no signs of decay, for now.

5 months after people: The stadium desperately needs water desperately, as the dry season goes into full swing and hasn't caused a rain in almost a month. But now, a cyclone from Sri Lanka finally fulfilles the stadium's wish. Albeit it took the wish too seriously. A massive downpour now strikes Kuala Lumpur with full force, causing the nearby Klang River to jump its banks and sends a river surge towards the stadium, Any pieces of trash and the goalposts left behind are swept away by the currents as the lower half of the entire stadium is completely submerged in water. Swept cars collide with the supports of the stadium, slightly weakening their structural integrity. Birds in the upper terrace are left unaffected, but are forced to take shelter under the terrace's massive roof, which is buckling from the high winds brought on by the cyclone nearly 2000km's away. The partially submerged stadium also watches the neighboring KL118 swaying in the wind from side to side, losing a few windows in the process.

1 year after people: After the effects of the flood 7 months ago, the pitch is now also being infested by trees, as birds search the grass-filled pitch for worms, inadvertently dropping a few seeds in the process. The colors of the seats are slowly fading away from their colorful colors to just bleak gray, making it more apparent to the stadium that humans will not be here to maintain it, it will have to maintain itself. The glass on some of the floodlights also break, exposing the light bulbs to the effects of winds and humidity.

5 years after people: The paint of the floodlight towers are losing its white look, as rust breaks through the layer of paint and the corrosion process speeds up. Meanwhile on the pitch, not only are trees and grass are growing, but flowers like hibiscuses and sunflowers, as birds have accidently brought those seeds in while searching for prey. On the upper terrace things are looking more bleak than what is happening on the pitch. The roof and seating are littered with bird poop, which are enhancing the corrosion process for the roof's supports, and slowly making the roof of the upper terrace more heavier as even small plants that will eventually become trees start to grow.

15 years after people: The guardrails of the stadium have all rusted and turned gray, but still continue to hold on. Meanwhile the deteriorating wording of "Stadium Negara" on the upper terraces roof are starting to lose their fight against gravity. Word by word, they will all meet their ultimate demise within a few months of each other. Most of the many state flags on the stadium's roof have either been torn or simply been blown away by winds. The pitch has basically turned into a jungle by this point, hiding the flowers as tree canopies grow bigger every day, ultimately destroying the pitch with their roots thrusting deep into the soil.

35 years after people: The stadium is now surrounded by jungle, as plant growth goes unchecked. Meanwhile, the floodlight towers, having been exposed to 3 and a half decades of corrosion and unbearable levels of humidity, start to fail. Parts of the damaged shelled roof also start to collapse onto the upper terrace below, destroying dozens of bird nests and killing several birds. Sections of the stadium also now are unable to fend off against Mother Nature's attacks against their support columns, and they succumb to the forces as they collapse into the jungle below, disappearing underneath the canopy. Eventually, the only section left standing of the once impressive Stadium Merdeka is the section where the shelled roof stands.

60 years after people: In the ever-growing jungle that once used to be Malaysia's most prosperous city, lies the remains of the stadium where the independence of Malaysia was declared. But now, the time has ran out for its survival in a life after people. The plant-covered shell roof is simply too much for its own weakening supports, and they eventually break, bringing the final blow as the shelled roof comes crashing down onto the seats below, destroying the remains of Stadium Merdeka altogether. What is left after the subsequent collapse is a pile of rubble, never to be seen again by intelligent life as the jungle quickly takes over and buries it under a pile of dirt overlooking the post-apocalyptic city of Kuala Lumpur, which is slowly reverting to its original look.