Indonesia proclaimed it's independence from the Dutch in 1945, 17th August. 17th August 1945 declaration date marked the start of the diplomatic and armed-resistance of the Indonesian National Revolution. If India and Malaysia received independence via non-resistance route from the British, the Indonesian has fought theirs against the forces of the Netherlands and pro-Dutch civilians, until the Dutch officially accepted Indonesia's independence in 1949. Only in 2005 Netherland had decided to accept de facto 17th August 1945 as official Indonesia's independence date.
MONAS is a short form of 2 Indonesia's word from Monumen Nasional, or the National Monument of Indonesia which is located in the centre of Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta. The 132 metre Monas tower symbolising the fight for Indonesia's independence, built to commemorate the struggle for their independence. The then President Sukarno directed in 1950 for the construction of the monument which was only commenced in 1961 and opened to public in 1975. Both the monument and the museum are open daily from 8 am till 3 pm. Kindly take note that it closed on the last Monday of the month. Remarks: I better take some good photos and blog about Malaysia Merdeka Square 1 day.
The 4 of us visited MONAS on 17th December 2013 while waiting for Dilla's to finish her works and adjourned for dinner. We were there for nearly 1 hour, posing for photos, looking at other visitor's (the locals especially) and shop a little as a bazaar was operating near the monument that day. Unlike any other visitors who will made effort to at least appreciating the miniatures of events (dioramas) set place by the National History Museum or presence at the beautiful Independence Hall, we chose not to due to the limit of times.
What we saw that day outside the monument suffice to satisfy our needs for a short visit. Photos I took does tells a lot of stories behind the monument itself, most importantly about a very unique Indonesian people. For some unknown reason, people says that Malaysian and Indonesian has a love and hate relationship. I have no comments to offer as I saw the same thing happened between the Indians and the Pakistanis though they are blood brothers.
Visitors are charged to take photo with the soldier or the "Pocong" ghost but I made an illegal shot from afar hence it's free. What was given by an illegal photograper (means, me) was merely a sweet smile and a polite hello. That will do for those who expecting money for their efforts in putting the costume.
I really enjoyed myself taking photos of my 2 children that day. They both were in a good mood, enjoying the crowds and a lovely evening walks. Monas is topped by a 14.5 tons bronze Fire of Independence, which in actual fact containing the lift engine. Visitors may have a chance to view the whole Jakarta city from the observation deck seated at 115m from ground level using a dedicated lift, beside of course an emergency staircase.
I have included in my itinerary to visit (meaning be physically presence inside) Jakarta Cathedral and Istiqlal Mosque. The minaret of Istiglal mosque and the top towers of Jakarta Cathedral are seem from the above photo zoom from the Monas. It would be wonderful to have a closer shot to the house of God, rather from the extended zoom.
The last few photos before heading back to the car park are shared below. We passed by rows of clothes bazaar at the car park areas but did not stopped by as children these days are not interested to buy souvenirs of the visited place. We stop buying since few years as it became wasted in the wardrobe though it's nice to have something printed from the place that we visited as a souvenirs.
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| Photo Courtesy by le hubs |
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