Women behind history of Proclamation Monument

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): One thing we should envy the Americans is, not Disneyland, but their Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the American Declaration of Independence was adopted and the U.S. Constitution shaped.

Today, both American and foreign tourists are able to visit the building where the Declaration of Independence, which was drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was read for the first time on July 8, 1776 by Col. John Nixon (1733-1808), an early leader of the patriot cause in Philadelphia.

Although we are fortunate to have many of our historical relics with us today, regretfully one of the most important buildings, the site where the country announced its independence, was destroyed in 1960. An obelisk, which stood at the building compound, was also levelled down.

Called the Proclamation Monument, the obelisk was the first monument built after Indonesia proclaimed its independence on Aug. 17, 1945.

The idea to build the monument came from members of the Indonesian Female Youths and the Indonesian Women when they met to discuss the celebrations for the first anniversary of the declaration of Indonesian independence.

Among those who took part in the project were Johanna Tumbuan Masdani, Zus Ratulangi, Mien Wiranatakusumah, Zubaedah and Mrs. Gerung.

Masdani, who will be 84 in November, remembers well the history of the monument.

"It was in June, 1946 when Zus Ratulangi and Mien Wiranatakusumah came and asked me to head the committee in charge of the monument project," said Masdani, who is still active as a psychologist, psychiatrist and lecturer at the University of Indonesia and the Christian University of Indonesia.

The monument was to be built in front of the Proclamation Building on Jl. Pegangsaan Timur 56, Jakarta, where Sukarno and Mohamad Hatta had proclaimed Indonesia's independence.

Jl. Pegangsaan Timur is now called Jl. Proklamasi.

Masdani herself drafted the first design of the monument with the help of Kores Siregar, a former student of a technical school. She later asked Aboetadjib from Salam technology bureau to build it.

The monument formed a needle to symbolize development and progress. The text of the proclamation was carved into the front of the marble obelisk, accompanied by a map of Indonesia.

On Aug. 16, then Jakarta mayor, Suwirjo, who was scheduled to inaugurate the monument the next day, summoned Mardani and told her to postpone the inauguration until Aug.18.

"But I refused. I said I did not want to do that," Mardani told The Jakarta Post.

Suwirjo apparently told the committee to postpone the inauguration because he was afraid that the allied troops, which still roamed in the city, might disrupt the Independence Day ceremony.

Tirtaatmadja, the mother of batik pundit Iwan Tirta who was also involved in the project, suggested that Masdani talk to Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir.

Sjahrir was scheduled to arrive from Yogyakarta late in the afternoon.

When Masdani met Sjahrir, she told him about the problem and asked if he would inaugurate the monument. He agreed.

On the night of Aug. 16, Masdani and more than 100 young men and women spent the night in the Proclamation Building. Foreign troops watched from a distance.

When morning broke, about 150 women led by Setiati and Maria Ulfah, then minister of social affairs, headed toward Jl. Pegangsaan Timur. But they could not get into the building compound, which was guarded by the allied troops.

"It was 8:30 in the morning and Bung Sjahrir told me: 'Quick.' So I read the speech and then he unveiled the monument, marking its inauguration," she said.

There was no clash between the Indonesians and the foreign troops.

Exactly a year later, a student was shot dead by a Dutch soldier when he, along with many other people, held a ceremony to commemorate independence in front of the Proclamation Monument.

Both the Proclamation Monument and the Proclamation Building were important memorials and were visited by president Sukarno and vice president Hatta often.

After Hatta resigned in 1956, the monument's popularity among government officials began to fade.

The Proclamation Monument, along with the historical building on Jl. Pegangsaan Timur 56, was destroyed in 1960.

According to Sejarah Tugu Peringatan Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia (History of the Proclamation Monument of the Republic Indonesia), the idea to destroy the monument and building came from the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which in the early 1960s was a decisive political force. The PKI said that the monument was the Linggarjati monument, not a proclamation monument.

Linggarjati was a small town in West Java, where Indonesia and the Dutch signed a peace accord on March 25, 1947.

The Indonesian Communist Party was banned following its abortive coup in 1965.

The book on the history of the Proclamation Monument, which was published by the Museum and History Agency of the city administration in 1972, said that Sukarno agreed to demolish the Proclamation Building to make way for the construction of a much better building.

Gedung Pola was later built on the site.

"When the monument was destroyed, I cried," Masdani recalled.

After it had been leveled, Masdani kept three slabs of marble from the monument. The first piece had the map of Indonesia on it and the proclamation text is carved on the second piece. The role of Indonesian women in the construction of the monument is depicted on the third length.

In 1972, the city administration, which recognized the great historical value of the Proclamation Monument, decided to rebuild it.

"In 1972, a soldier came and asked for the three pieces of marble. I told him I would give them only if the monument was going to be rebuilt," said Masdani.

"He left and then returned, saying that the monument would be rebuilt," she said.

The monument was rebuilt on the same spot by Aboetadjib, the original builder. It was completed in 1972.

The Monument of the Proclamation Heroes Sukarno-Hatta was built near the obelisk two years later as suggested by President Soeharto. There is a 4.6-meter-high bronze statue of Sukarno and a 4.3-meter-high statue of Hatta, and the proclamation text is engraved on a bronze structure measuring 290 cm by 196 cm.

The government also built a monument called the Obelisk of Lightening at the site where Sukarno read the proclamation text. The 17-meter-tall, crowbar shaped, obelisk has a lightning bolt on top. The crowbar symbolizes the dynamics of development while the lightning symbolizes the strike of the proclamation, which was like lightning in the daytime.

Considering the historical values of the Proclamation Building, some House members earlier this year called for the reconstruction the building. But so far, there has been no response from the government.