Roaming! : Tugu Negara

Hello homosapiens..wassup! How many of you guys has ever set foot at the National Monument and how many of you guys had ever known that Tunku Abdul Rahman Memorial exist? Aha..mesti tak ramai kan? For a KLite like me, after 26 years barulah sampai ke Tugu Negara yang letaknya berhadapan dengan Tasik Perdana..and hell yeah, it is kinda embarrassing. Hehe. Tak jauh pon Tugu Negara dengan rumah saya, 20minit pun tak sampai. Cuma mungkin family saya bukanlah jenis sight-seeing family, at least not my Dad.. =) Last week, after karoke session at Green Box, Sungei Wang at the ungodly hour of 10am where Tommy dengan kentalnya woke me up at 8am so we won’t be late (kredit to Cik Aliphant for the invitation to ‘use’ the 2 person+free 1 kepala kupon..which tak guna pon because it is for evening session only), we decided to play tourist and ronda-ronda KL and searching for fun places which..doesn’t requires any entry fees. Nak buat macam mana kan, semua pon kedekot. Haha. We rule out National Museum and KL Tower (some other day ha..) because of the entry fees yang mahal and decided to go to Tugu Negara. Aha! Tak pernah pergi kan, so sure lah excited. FREE lak tuh. Hee~

The Entrance

Tugu Negara, as we learn in national history was build to remember the fighter who fought in the World War 1, World War 2 and the Emergency. It was made of solid bronze (incredible isn’t it? the whole statue is made of BRONZE) and it took almost 3 years to be completed (1963 – 1966). The huge tall bronze figures of soldiers standing and supporting their fallen comrades, which is opposite Lake Gardens, are the work of sculptor Felix de Weldon, who also did Washington’s Iwo Jima Monument and it is regarded as the largest bronze monument grouping in the world. Actually this is not the original Tugu Negara. The original one, was built by the British for the same reason, and was a cenotaph shaped and was originally placed at Jalan Tugu.

The Original Monument - The Cenotaph

The Second Monument

The Tugu Negara was completed and officially opened on February 8, 1966, by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. It was proclaimed a memorial park dedicated to the 11,000 people who died during the 12-year Malayan Emergency (1948-1960). Thereafter, a wreath-laying ceremony takes place at the monument every July 31 on Warriors Day - Source : http://www.wikipedia.com/. Haa..korang tahu tak that every 31st July, negara kita celebrate Hari Pahlawan? Ahaks. Confirm tataw kan? =) . Di antara tugu pertama dan tugu kedua, ada sebuah bangunan berkubah where di atas syiling nya, terdapat logo-logo setiap pasukan pertahanan di Malaysia. You would not notice it of you didn't look up. The area is enhanced with several ponds and fountains..it lend some tranquility feel to the monument area. When I was there, baru lah terasa semangat patriotik which had long gone due to the life luxury and peace in our country. I pity myself and those who forgot the fight these fallen fighter had been fighting for the sake of us today. Hmmm...~

The view of KL Tower and KLCC from Tugu Negara

Sy rasa cikgu sejarah should organize field trip for students while studying on this chapter so the students will know first hand and see it with their own eyes of our national monument. Setakat belajar teori dalam kelas, mana lah student tak tertido kan? Lalala~ I bet, tak ramai yang tahu that The Cenotaph is the first monument made for the memorial reason jugak. Hehehe. So, sy stop sini dulu for a while untuk korang ponder about the monument and will continue with our next visit to Tunku Abdul Rahman Memorial later. Ah..seperti biasa, gambar sengal kami : saya, Cik Aliphant and Mr. Tommy Rudez. Cheers!

Live life to the Fullest!

(^^)Y

p/s : for more info on Tugu Negara you guys can check http://www.wikipedia.com/! =)