The Tugu Negara is a national monument that commemorates those who died in Malaysia's struggle for freedom, principally against the Japanese occupation during World War II and the Malayan Emergency, which lasted from 1948 until 1960. It is located in the Federal capital, Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian Houses of Parliament is situated near the monument.
It is the world's tallest bronze freestanding sculpture grouping. Until 2010, on 31 July on Warriors' Day, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Prime Minister, and the heads of the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Royal Malaysia Police pay their respects to the fallen heroes by laying garlands at the monument. Warriors' Day is now commemorated on Merdeka Square, after ultra-conservative religious bureaucrats declared the sculpture to be idolatrous.
The National Monument was sculpted in 1966 by an American architect, Felix de Weldon. He was also the creator of the famous Iwo Jiwa movement in Washington DC, United States. Each of the seven bronze figures in the National Monument represents a certain quality: courage, sacrifice, leadership, suffering, strength, unity and vigilance. The topmost figure grips the Malaysian flag, flanked by a soldier with a machine gun while the other figure on his right bears a rifle and a bayonet.
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