Jakarta's misunderstood monuments

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): When Karlina Leksono and her Suara Ibu Peduli (The Voice of Concerned Mothers) group protested rising prices of milk and other foodstuffs at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, it was clear that it was only like-minded women and students who would be able to bring about change here.

The middle class in general had become too complacent. When students continued to occupy and rally at the People's Consultative Assembly building, the middle class did, however, show support. Like Suara Ibu, other groups of women, and also men, provided free food on the Assembly grounds. But the impression remains that it was the cooperation between the students and women of Suara Ibu which culminated with Soeharto's resignation from power.

Interestingly, Patung Pahlawan (Statue of the Hero), better known today as Patung Pak Tani (Statue of the Farmer) in Menteng Prapatan, in front of Hotel Aryaduta, Central Jakarta, is said to be a representation of a story about a mother sending off her son to the battlefield.

According to this story from West Java, the mother offered him food to strengthen his spirit. The image of the youth is the hero. The plaque on the statues' pedestal states, "A nation that honors its heroes is a great nation."

Just as the mother offered food to her son in the story behind the Statue of the Hero, the Suara Ibu Peduli group supplied students with food, providing them with support and encouragement. It seems that the statues symbolizing Jakarta's history contain insights from which we can learn.

Ironically, not many know what the monuments are meant to symbolize, nor the stories behind their conception. Ignorance has caused some expatriates to call the statues names like "The Seven-Up Man" or "The Pizza Man".

The Statue of the Hero was designed by Russians.

During his visit to the Union Soviet in the late 1950s, first president Sukarno saw the sculptures of Matvei and his son, Otto Manizer. He was so impressed with their works that he decided to invite the sculptors to Indonesia.

7-Up

Initially, he intended to ask them to design the Freedom of Irian Jaya Monument. However, during their visit here, the sculptors encountered a story about a mother sending off her son to the battlefield. So they created the bronze Statue of the Hero, inaugurated by Sukarno on Independence Day 1963.

And who is The Seven-Up Man? This is the Dirgantara (Aerospace) Monument in front of the former Air Force headquarters in Pancoran, South Jakarta, which was meant to symbolize Indonesians in the space age.

The figure is portrayed as a bold and intrepid explorer of outer space. The country's ambition to control the skies was evident in the early 1950s when Indonesia had begun producing aircraft. It seems that Sukarno's idea to build this monument was also fueled by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's successful orbit of Earth in April 1961.

The statue was produced by Keluarga Arca sculpture studio based on Edhi Sunarso's design. The bronze casting was done by the Gardono studio, while Sutami, a former minister of public works who also designed the Semanggi cloverleaf, was placed in charge of the architectural aspects of the monument.

Construction started in 1964 and was delayed due to the attempted coup by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on Sept. 30.

There were even rumors that the statue depicted one of the PKI rebels poking out the eyes of the captured generals, and that the statue itself was used as an eye-poking device. Of course Sukarno rejected this allegation.

And "The Pizza Man"? This is the gigantic sculpture in the middle of the South Jakarta traffic circle facing Jl. Jend. Sudirman. The large disc of flame that the figure carries above his head brings to mind a large-sized dish of pizza to some passersby.

The statue's formal name is the Monumen Pemuda Membangun (the Monument of Youth Advancement).

Its production, made from reinforced concrete coated with terasso, was carried out by a team under the Insinyur Seniman Arsitektur (Engineers, Artists and Architects) bureau led by Imam Supardi.

The executive supervisor was Munir Pamuncak, a sculptor who later made sculptures based on the paintings of Hendra Gunawan for Ciputra. It was officiated in March 1972, after it failed to be inaugurated in conjunction with National Youth Pledge day which falls on Oct. 28.

The city's most historically significant monument is undoubtedly the National Monument, also Jakarta's symbol as the country's capital. It is in the center of the Merdeka (Independence) Square in Central Jakarta. In September 1945 this square became the site of the historic Ikada meeting led by president Sukarno to show the world that Indonesia was really an independent country.

On the 26th independence anniversary, Aug. 17 1961, its construction was inaugurated. It was constructed in two stages. In the first stage, the architect and executive director of the project was Sudarsono, and the construction advisor was Rooseno, another former minister of public works who also designed the Senayan sports complex for the 1962 Asian Games.

The second stage started in 1969 and was completed in 1975.

The monument is basically an obelisk embellished with an inverted pyramidical base, and crowned with a flame of gold.

Observers often relate this monument to the lingga, a phallic symbol found in many Javanese temples influenced by Hindu/Indian culture. The phallic shape has led to jokes equating the monument with Sukarno's masculinity.

The details of the monument design follow the digits in the date of independence -- its 45-meter-long sides of the square base for the year, its height of 17 meters for the day, and the eight-meter-long sides of the obelisk's base for the month.

The flame crowning the monument is coated with 32 kilograms of gold. The gold content of the flame was increased to 50 kilograms in 1995, marking the nation's 50th anniversary.

Another monument more directly related to the Proclamation of Independence is the one on Jl. Proklamasi 56, Central Jakarta.

The monument on the street previously named Jl. Pegangsaan Timur 56 marks the site of the proclamation.

The monument, meant to commemorate the first anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence, was conceived by the Kaum Wanita Republiken (Republican Women's Group), which is affiliated with the Pemuda Puteri Indonesia (Indonesian Youth Women) and Wanita Indonesia (Indonesian Women) organizations.

The simple obelisk was designed by Jo Masdani, an architect and graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology, in cooperation with the Salam technical bureau led by Aboetajib. It was completed in July 1946 and inaugurated by then prime minister Sjahrir on Aug. 17, 1946.

The story goes that the groups which conceived the monument were linked to Sjahrir. He signed the Linggarjati Agreement with the Dutch, which determined the boundaries of future Indonesia. The monument became associated with the Linggarjati Agreement, of which Sukarno disapproved. So the monument was demolished in 1960.

However in 1972, the monument was rebuilt under the direction of governor Ali Sadikin.

Later, former president Soeharto instructed the creation of the statues of the proclaimers, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, to be built on the site.

To tone down the prominence of the first president, Soeharto avoided the veneration of Sukarno alone. Instead, he tended to emphasize the existence of the proclaimers of independence as a duo, Sukarno-Hatta. This can also be seen in the naming of Jakarta's airport as the Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

Sukarno's image stands 4.6 meters tall, while the height of Hatta's statue is 4.3 meters. Both bronze statues were created by a team which included Budiono Soeratno, Sardono Soegiyo, Y. Sumartono, Nyoman and Sidharta Soegiyo.

Painter

The backdrop behind the statues consists of 17 vertical fins of marble, symbolizing the date of the proclamation. The monument was officiated by Soeharto on Aug. 16, 1980.

The statue most familiar to visitors to Jakarta is perhaps the Tugu Selamat Datang (Welcome Monument) in the middle of the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. This statue was conceived in conjunction with the preparations for the fourth Asian Games in Jakarta in 1962.

The idea for the statue came from president Sukarno, himself a graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology. He wanted a monument that symbolized Indonesia's openness in welcoming sports people from all corners of the world.

The preliminary design was done by Henk Ngantung, then the vice governor of Jakarta. The production of this bronze sculpture was done by the Keluarga Arca team of sculptors, headed by Edhi Sunarso and Trubus. Sukarno inaugurated the monument in 1962.

The famous painter S. Sudjojono made a number of preliminary drawings for the statue, which he presented to Ngantung. Sudjojono never heard from Ngantung, until he saw that his ideas had been used for the statue. On the preliminary drawings Sudjojono wrote a cynical note, suggesting that Ngantung would know why he did not receive any acknowledgement for his work on the project.

While most prominent sculptures were made under Sukarno's guidance in the Old Order, a number of them were made in the New Order.

The monument synonymous with the New Order is the Pancasila Sakti (Invincible Pancasila) Monument in Lubang Buaya, South Jakarta.

This monument honors the seven Heroes of the Revolution who were killed during the Sept. 30 1965 tragedy. It depicts the seven figures, Gen. Ahmad Yani, Gen. S. Parman, Gen. Suprapto, Gen. Sutoyo, Gen. Haryono MT, Gen. Panjaitan and Capt. Tendean, standing under a gigantic Garuda Pancasila emblem.

Each bronze statue is 2.5 meters high. Production was carried out by students of the Indonesian Fine Arts Academy in Yogyakarta and the Indonesian Fine Arts High School under the leadership of Edhi Sunarso. It was planned and supervised by Saptono. The monument's base was constructed by the Army's public works division.

While the above statues are monuments of commemoration, Jakarta also has a pleasant sculpture park that features works of individual expression by artists from ASEAN countries.

The plan to develop the sculpture park on Taman Suropati was discussed in an ASEAN symposium in 1982. Among the works in this park are those by artists from Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The most comprehensive information on monuments around Jakarta is available in a 1993 book published by the Museums and History Office of the municipality, titled Monumen dan Patung di Jakarta.

It was compiled by a team headed by the then head of the agency, Dirman Surachmat, and is the main source of this article. Unfortunately, it does not include information regarding the statue at the People's Consultative Assembly building, nor at the Heroes Memorial at Kalibata.

Certainly, Jakarta's residents and visitors would welcome the publication of a new informative guide book about the city's sculptural landmarks and monuments, so they can learn more about the city's history, and perhaps even gain some wisdom from their meanings. At least, it would prevent the statues from being given such silly names like "The Seven-Up Man" or "The Pizza Man".