The West Irian Liberation Monument is located in the center of Lapangan Banteng, facing west towards the St. Ursula Catholic School across the road from the park. The park itself was formerly known as the Waterloo Plein, a parade ground of the colonial administration.^[1]

On top of the monument, stands a bronze,^[2] bare chested wild-haired man breaking free from his shackles with his arms and legs widely spread, the former facing towards the sky.^[3] The face holds a loud, screaming expression, symbolizing rebellion and independence.^[4]
The bronze statue is about 11 metres (36 ft) tall from feet to the tip of its outstretched fingers. The statue stands over a 20 metres (66 ft) tall pedestal in postwar modernist style. The 36 metres (118 ft) high tugu (statue and pedestal) was erected at the center of Lapangan Banteng.

The design of the monument was based on a sketch by the artist Henk Ngantung who was also the deputy governor of Jakarta from 1964-1965. The design of the monument shows a muscular man, shouting, with arms outstretched breaking free of the chains of colonialism. It is said that the inspiration of the statue came from a speech by Sukarno in Yogyakarta, in which he declared that he will “liberate West Irian by any means necessary”.^[6] 

The bronze statue was sculpted by Team Pematung Keluarga Area Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta Area Family of Sculptors Team) which was led by Edhi Sunarso. Edhi Sunarso also executed the Selamat Datang Monument and the Dirgantara Monument in Jakarta.^[7][8] Silaban acted as the architect for the project.^[9][1][2]

The location of the West Irian Liberation Monument was supposed to be the first monument seen by people visiting Jakarta through the Kemayoran Airport.^[10

Source: Wikipedia