Dirgahayu Ke-65 Republik Indonesia

Besok, 17 Agustus 2010, merupakan peringatan HUT ke-65 Republik Indonesia. Sungguh suatu hal yang sangat membanggakan bagi saya sebagai anak bangsa jika saya bisa mempersembahkan sebuah posting di blog terkait dengan peringatan HUT tanah air tercinta. (*Hahaha...sedikit berlebihan memang) But, saya tidak berniat membuat posting tentang sejarah kemerdekaan. Kali ini saya akan menghadirkan posting tentang salah satu bangunan bersejarah di Indonesia, yaitu Monumen Nasional.

Nah, posting kali ini saya tulis dengan menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Sebenarnya, artikel ini adalah tugas bahasa Inggris saya saat masih kelas X semester II. Ketika itu Mr. Arpani memang menyuruh murid-muridnya untuk mendeskripsikan objek-objek wisata terkemuka di dunia. Saya pun memilih Monumen Nasional sebagai topik artikel saya.

So, here it is the article.

NATIONAL MONUMENT

A. Background of Construction
Following the Dutch recognition of Indonesian independence on December 27th, 1949, the Indonesian government returned to Jakarta from Yogyakarta in 1950. Then, President Soekarno began to contemplate the construction of a national monument comparable to the Eiffel Tower on the square in front of the presidential palace (Istana Merdeka).

On August 17th, 1954, a National Monument Committee was established and a design competition was held in 1955. This attracted 51 entries, but only one design, by Frederich Silaban, met any of the criteria determined by the committee, which included reflecting the character of Indonesia in a building capable of lasting for centuries. Then, the chairman of the jury team asked Silaban to show his design to Soekarno. However, Soekarno did not like the design. Soekarno liked the monument to be designed in the form of linga and yoni. Because of that, Silaban was asked to design a monument as Soekarno wanted, but his design was so large that it wouldn’t be able for Indonesia to build it because of the economic condition at that time. Silaban refused to design a smaller monument and he suggest to delay the monument construction until the Indonesian economy improved.

Then, Soekarno asked the architect R.M. Soedarsono to continue the design. Soedarsono incorporated the numbers 17, 8 and 45, representing the August 17th, 1945 Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, in the dimensions of the monument.

B. Construction
The construction of National Monument proceeded in 3 stages. The first stage was from 1961 until 1965. The construction began officially on August 17th, 2009 when Soekarno laid the cornerstone. A total of 284 piles were used for the foundation block. A further 360 piles were driven in for the museum foundations with work being completed on March 1962. The walls of the museum in the base were completed on October 1962. Then, the construction of obelisk finished on August 1963.

The second stage was from 1966 until 1968. It was delayed because of the shortage of funding and the aftermath of the 30 September Movement coup attempt.

In the final stage, from 1969 until 1976, the dioramas for the historical museum were added. Then, the monument was officially opened to the public on July 12th, 1975. At that time, the name of the monument was Gambir Square. Then, the governor changed the name into Ikada Square. After several times, the name was changed into Merdeka Square. Then, the name was changed again into Monas Square. Nowadays, the name of this monument is Monas Park.


C. Design
The height of National Monument is 132 m. It consists of a 117.7 m obelisk on a 45 m2 platform. The obelisk is clad with Italian marble. It is topped by the Flame of Independence which is made of 14.5 tons bronze and covered by 35 kg gold foil. The obelisk and flame symbolize the Indonesia people's spirit in struggling for independence.

There is a lift inside the National Monument that can carry the visitors to the viewing platform at the height of 115 m. The width of the viewing platform is about 11 m. Beside that, there is a National History Museum inside the base of monument which contains 48 dioramas depicting scenes from Indonesian history from prehistory until the New Order. At the north of monument, there is a 625 m2 pond which is designed to provide cool water for the air conditioning system in the monument as well as to enhance the beauty of the surrounding area. There is also statue of Indonesia national hero Prince Diponegoro by Italian sculptor Cobertaldo near the pond.


D. Visiting National Monument
National Monument is located on Jl. Medan Merdeka Central Jakarta. National Monument is opened for public everyday from 09.00 until 16.00. The cost of ticket to the National History Museum is just 2,500 rupiah. The cost of ticket to the top of National Monument is 7,500 rupiah.