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Standing at the centre of Medan Merdeka is the most recognizable of all of Jakarta’s independence monuments, the Monas (short for Monumen Nasional), a soaring 137m marble, bronze and gold torch, commissioned by President Sukarno in 1962 to symbolize the indomitable spirit of the Indonesian people. Today, with the zeal of nationalism over and most common folks having to struggle to make ends meet, Monas stands more as a potent expression of Sukarno’s extravagance. In fact it is often dubbed as Sukarno’s last erection in a wry allusion to the man’s famous philandering.
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Asia
