The Parliament of Malaysia, which consists of Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, is our nation’s symbol of Independence and democracy.

       It represents the structure of the government and reflects the people’s aspirations through their elected representatives.

       According to the Parliament website, following the first general election after Independence, the First Meeting of the First Parliament of the Malay Federation was held on Sept 11, 1959, at Tunku Abdul Rahman Hall in Kuala Lumpur.

       On that day, the Senate and House of Representatives met concurrently for the first time in history.

       The first order of the day was the appointment of the President and Speaker of both Houses.

       This was later followed by the oath-taking ceremony of the 104 elected representatives and 38 senators.

       It marked a historical event for the country as it was the first time the Parliament of the Federation of Malaya met with all its members.

       It was officiated by the country’s first Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Muhammad.

       Today, the meeting hall is known as the Malaysian Tourism and Information Centre (Matic).

       Situated in Jalan Ampang, it was built in 1935 and was originally the residence of Eu Tong Sen, a wealthy and famous miner and estate owner in Kuala Lumpur.

       It was renovated by master builders who were specifically hired to convert the building into the meeting hall for the Senate and House of Representatives.

       On Sept 16, 1963, Malaysia was formed when Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore agreed to become part of Malaysia.

       Since then, the Parliament of the Federation of Malaya has been known as the Parliament of Malaysia.

       The Malaysian Parliament is modelled after the British Westminster system and functions as the country’s legislative body to enact various laws and regulations.

       The date also marked another historical event when the Parliament session was held in its own building on the 16.2ha land close to the Lake Gardens, now known as Taman Botani Perdana.

       The construction of the building was the brainchild of the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, who wanted a building specifically for Parliament.

       As a result, in 1959, a site of about 16.2ha in size close to the Lake Gardens was chosen for the construction of the building.

       It was selected due to its strategic location on top of a hill and near the city centre.

       On Aug 31, 1959, the third Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Syed Putra Al-Haj Al-Marhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, laid the foundation stone for the building, allowing for the construction work to begin.

       The hilltop was levelled 61m above sea level in September 1962.

       The construction project, consisting of a three-storey block and a 17-storey tower block, took almost a year to be completed.

       As part of its infrastructure system, a bridge was built to connect the Parliament complex to the Kuala Lumpur city centre.

       At the time, the overall cost of the construction was RM18mil.

       The Parliament building was officiated by the Tuanku Syed Putra on Nov 2, 1963. It consists of the Main Block, the Tower Block and a multipurpose hall.

       The Main Block has three storeys with an iconic rooftop, which features the design of 11 triangle- shaped structures called pinnacles. Beneath the roof lies the House of Representatives.

       The whole block is covered with a pineapple skin-like facade, which is made of terazzo. It is three metres high and one metre wide.

       The facade functions to control the amount of sunlight in the building while the wall of the Main Block is made of glass panel.

       As for the Tower Block, it consists of 17 storeys, measuring 450sq feet in size and 76.2m in height for each storey.

       The Main Block and the Tower Block are connected by two 50m bridges.

       Originally, the Tower Block housed the offices for ministers and members of Parliament.

       But with the increasing number of staff, the Tower Block has been converted into administrative offices.

       Some offices remain such as the Prime Minister’s office on Level 2, the Deputy Prime Minister’s office on Level 3, the Minister at the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliamentary Affairs) on Level 15 and the Opposition leader’s office on level 14.

       Level 17, which is the highest level, has an open space that is frequently used for functions. It is known as Anjung Parliament, with a panoramic view of the Kuala Lumpur city skyline.

       The multipurpose hall is equipped with recreational facilities such as courts for tennis, badminton and volleyball, a gymnasium and a sauna room, which can be used by members of Parliament and Parliament staff.

       The Parliament building also houses a banquet hall that can accommodate about 500 guests at any one time and was used for the first time for a official government function on Sept 18, 1963.

       When the late Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein died in 1976, the banquet hall was where the public came to pay their final respects before his burial.

       The compound of the Parliament building is a well-manicured garden where various types of trees are planted, including the rare banyan tree (ficus benjamina) and rain tree (samanea saman).

       It is also home to a deer park. Specifically, it has a dozen axis-axis deer that originated from the first pair of deer, which were gifted to the Parliament by the then Indonesian president Suharto.

       In 2007, the Parliament building was gazetted as National Heritage Building under the National Heritage Act 2005. It now has a new annexe to the Parliament building known as Phase 3B.

       Today, the members of the 12th Parliament have increased to 70 senators and 222 members for the House of Representatives.