One of the most important historical buildings in Malaysia, the Sultan Abdul Samad building was conceived to centralise government offices of British Administration. Upon the completion of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in 1897, the opening ceremony was officiated by Frank Swettenham, who was then general resident. In 1978, the building housed the superior courts of the country including the Federal Court of Malaysia, the Court of Appeals and the High Court of Malaya, which have since move to Putrajaya. A symbol of Malaysian independence, the building is in front of Dataran Merdeka, the official venue for Merdeka Day celebrations. Haron Mokhtar made a big splash on his graduation year (BA Fine Art in Painting and Printmaking), UiTM from 1983 to 1987 when he won the Major Award in the Young Contemporary Artists competition with his Melayu Pop mix of traditional architecture and culture. In 1988, he added his Art Teacher's Diploma. He had taught in schools in Selangor and Sarawak and since 1998, was a senior teacher on humanities at the SMK Ungku Aziz in Sabak Bernam. His other awards included Second Prize in Landscape Selangor competition (Shah Alam Art Gallery, 2002), Consolation Prize, Historical Incidents competition (National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, 2005), Second Prize, Merdeka competition in 2010. Notable solo exhibitions include Warisan held at Pelita Hati Gallery of Art, Kuala Lumpur in 2011 and Haron Mokhtar Yesteryears, Interpr8 Art Space, KL in 2015. His 8th solo exhibition titled Haron Mokhtar: Kapsul Masa 1988-2018 (Siri Perakam Waktu) was held at Galeri Shah Alam in 2018.