National Monument (Indonesia) "Gerbang Kemerdekaan" or the Gate of Independence, open slowly while the nationalist "Padamu Negeri" song plays followed by a recording of Sukarno reading the text of the Proclamation. On the southern wall there is a large bronze gold-coated statue of the coat of arms of Indonesia weighing 3.5 tons. On the eastern side is the text of the proclamation in bronze lettering. Originally the eastern side displayed the most sacred Indonesian flag, "Sang Saka Merah Putih", originally raised on 17 August 1945. However, because it is fragile and in poor condition it is no longer displayed. The wall on the
Tanah Merah, Singapore Malay name for this area is derived from the red lateritic cliffs along the coast that were visible from the sea, hence the name "Tanah Merah" or "red land". The earliest written reference comes from James Horsburgh's 1806 chart of "Singapore and Malacca", which has the name "Red Cliffs". Later, two sets of red cliffs were identified in Franklin and Jackson's 1830 map: "Large Red Cliff" (Tanah Merah area) and "Small Red Cliff" (present Bedok area) and "2nd Red Cliffs" (Tanah Merah area). J.E. Tassin's 1836 "Map of Singapore" refers to the area as "1st Red Cliffs" (Bedok area) and