The sculpture, which stands 15 meters tall, is considered to be the tallest freestanding bronze sculpture ever built. The National Monument, known as Tugu Negara, honors Malaysia’s independence fighters as well as those who fought in World Wars I and II.

 

The Tugu Negara monument consists of seven soldiers representing strength, courage, unity, leadership, vigilance, suffering, and sacrifice.

 

The sculpture was erected in 1964 to commemorate fallen warriors who served the country during the fight for independence, especially during the World War II Japanese occupation and the ‘Malayan Emergency’–a guerilla war that took place from 1948 to 1960 between the Malayan Communists Party and British colonial troops.