Kuala Lumpur Cenotaph The predecessor of the Tugu Negara is an
interwar-era
cenotaph originally erected by the
colonial British administration on a 10m flat grass-covered ground on a roundabout adjoining Victory Avenue (now part of
Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin) and Raja Road, close to the
Kuala Lumpur Railway Station and Railway Administration Building. Originally intended to commemorate the
Great War (1914–1918) and honour those from the
British Malayan colonies who were killed in the war, the cenotaph's inscription would later include fallen British Malayan soldiers of
World War II (1939–1945) after its and resumption of British rule. Names of the fallen are engraved on plaques of the cenotaph as a tribute to their sacrifices. In 1964, the cenotaph was moved from its original location to the site of the National Monument in
Lake Gardens before a planned
flyover connecting
Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin and the
Parliament roundabout was constructed over the original site. The transfer of the cenotaph was done by dismantling the structure into catalogued parts, allowing it to be transported in pieces and reassembled at its new location. Following its move, inscriptions were added to include fallen soldiers from the
Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) and a
Malay translation in pre-1972
Za'aba Spelling: "To Our Glorious Dead", "
Untuk Mengingati Jasa Pahlawan-pahlawan Yang Gugor" ("To Remember the Service of Warriors Who Have Fallen"). The monument is depicted on several Malaysian 1 Ringgit banknotes issued between 1982 and 1989.
National Monument The concept of a national monument was mooted by Malaysia's first Prime Minister
Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was inspired by the
Marine Corps War Memorial during his visit to the United States in October 1960, before personally meeting
Felix de Weldon for a favour to design the monument. Felix de Weldon contributed in creating Malaysia's Tugu Negara (National Monument). He also designed the Iwo Jima Memorial located at Arlington, Washington DC. The Tugu Negara was completed and officially opened on 8 February 1966, by
Ismail Nasiruddin of Terengganu, then
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 31 July on Warriors Day. De Weldon was later conferred with the title
Tan Sri, the Malaysian equivalent of a high-ranking
knighthood. On 26 August 1975, the monument suffered extensive damage due to an explosion set off by the communist guerrilla, Malayan Communist Party. It has since been restored to its original state by a four-person team led by Australian sculptor and
Universiti Teknologi MARA lecturer, Christopher Carney. The renovated statues were reunveiled on 11 May 1977. A fence was then erected and the complex was declared a protected area between sunset and dawn. Every day at dawn, a soldier raises the national flag and lowers it at dusk. ceremonies continue to take place there. Pictured is
Remembrance Sunday at the National Monument's cenotaph on 13 November 2011. In 2010, Religious Affairs Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Jamil Khir Baharom has stated the Warriors' Day commemoration service would be held elsewhere after Malaysia's National Fatwa Council guidelines declared the statues "un-Islamic" and potentially idolatrous. Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi added that a new "Warrior's Square" would be built in the country's administrative capital
Putrajaya. When asked why the decision was made only after almost four decades of celebrating Warriors' Day at the present site, Jamil evaded comment, saying "
Alhamdulillah, we are serious in solving this issue". A similar sentiment would later be echoed in September 2016 by
Harussani Zakaria, a
Perak-based
mufti, who declared that the construction of the monument had been a "big sin" and "idolatrous", because building monuments in the shape of humans was
haram in Islam. ==Design==