Do you remember the last time you visited Muzium Negara? Tugu Negara? Zoo Negara? [Add favorite building name here] Negara? Any place at all that is supposedly a national attraction?

Usually when you ask someone if they've visited a national monument recently, you're most likely to get roaring, rib-breaking laughter for a response, then a sheepish grin followed by a recollection of when they last visited the venue in question, which will most likely be around the time they attended elementary school or somewhere around that timeline. Truth be told, national monuments aren't exactly the coolest places to be caught dead at, main reason being that it's, well, embarrassing. Admit it, it's CORNY to visit a national monument. The only people who'd ever want to visit these types of places would be over-enthusiastic tourists adorning cameras like an Olympian who just won 3 gold medals for sprinting, school kids going on tour, and if you're lucky, some young parents taking their babies and kids out on their first outing.

Well, Taman Proklamasi nestled in Central Jakarta, Indonesia, is this national-monumental sort of place, you see. Guess who was playing the enthusiastic tourist and being extremely corny about it...

Since I was always passing the place on my way around Jakarta, I thought I'd drop by and give it a peek. It couldn't hurt, and hey, I don't live in Jakarta, so why not go cuci mata. After dragging a much-reluctant Jakartan friend (reluctance due to reasons stated) to accompany me on this short-planned visit, I finally got my wish.

Taman Proklamasi, addressed at Jalan Proklamasi No. 56, was the area in which the official home of Indonesia's first president Sukarno stood. It is said that when Sukarno was looking for a home to live in, he wanted the house to have a huge compound that could accomodate huge of volumes rakyat (people). This is also the place where Sukarno recited Proklamasi (the Declaration of Independence) when Indonesia gained freedom after 300 years of Dutch rule.

The compound in Taman Proklamasi now has two large bronze statues of Sukarno, and his vice-president, Hatta, standing tall and proud. The statues were built and erected upon the command of Suharto, Sukarno's successor. Between the two statues, which captured Sukarno's stature at age 46 and Hatta at age 43, sits a giant replica of the nation's Proklamasi, complete with Sukarno and Hatta's signatures

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In short, Taman Proklamasi now serves as a historical reminder to the public of the nation's hard-earned kemerdekaan as well as homage and tribute to the two important men who helped achieve it.

Just before you reach the two statues, there is an open tiled-area, which has become a favorite place for local kids to come and play soccer. Walking past the kids to get to the statues for some photo-shooting wasn't so much the problem; it was the task of ignoring all the wolf-whistles that came from the young men around (I would have much rather dodged soccer balls being kicked at me all day.)

I don't quite understand this rather Neanderthal-male behavior of wolf-whistling at anything that looks remotely female. I grunted impatiently under my breath and continued to stride briskly along, clearly irritated by all this unwanted attention. I then remembered reading a piece of paragraph in my Discovery Channel travel book of Indonesia with a precaution for women travelers; it had said: "It is highly unusual for a young woman to travel alone in Indonesia and solo females may have to put up with being pestered by gregarious Indonesian men (p.351)."

I really didn't need a book to tell me that though; got first hand experience mah. In fact this situation is not even exclusively an Indonesian one, it's quite global if you ask me, haha... kat Malaysia pun berlambak lelaki macam ni.

Anyway, back to our Taman Proklamasi expedition: I took some photos of the statues and this phallic-looking structure with a bronze plaque that said: PERINGATAN SATOE TAHOEN: REPOEBLIK INDONESIA . I think it's neat how the vowel "U" was spelled "OE" back in the old spelling of Bahasa Indonesia. Keren. I believe the structure was erected by the women's right movement in Indonesia back in the day.

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The evening breeze blew soft and pleasantly in the area that day, creating this rather relaxed atmosphere amidst the shouts of the boys boisterously kicking and trying to aim their soccer ball into an imaginary goal net. I took a clearer look around the area and realized that if it weren't for the boys, the area would have felt dead and looked deserted, albeit an odd couple walking around holding hands (guess they had nothing to do either and resorted to spend a rather uneventful evening at Taman Proklamasi).

A rather unique piece of art in the distance caught my eye and I proceeded to walk towards it. From afar it had already looked cool and indeed it was: a larger-than-lifesize silhouette profile of Bung Karno (Sukarno) with a songkok headgear. At least three and a half meters high. Apparently it's a very well known silhouette in Indonesia.

Right behind the silhouette is a building called Gedung Perintis Kemerdekaan; the house in which Sukarno and his family lived formerly stood on the building's site. I thought the Gedung looked a little bit unkempt, not quite the glorious impression one would expect from a building that bears such an important-sounding name. The grass in front it was overgrown and the letter "D" in the word "GEDUNG" looked like it was going to fall off its screws at any minute. Since it was after working hours, there was no one working; dark office windows on the building started blankly back at us as we stood looking at it.

Looking back at the Sukarno silhouette piece again, I made a comment to my friend about how I had seen something similar in an Indonesian music album cover before, to which my friend said: "Ya memang, [artist itu] copy gambar Sukarno itu kok!"

Photos: Fairy