Women behind history of Proclamation Monument

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.