At the unveiling ceremony, the president pressed the siren button and signed the monument, in the form of Origami. He was accompanied by Indonesian National Army Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo, Chief of Navy Staff Admiral Ade Supandi and West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno.
"In the name of God Almighty, I declare the Peace Dove Monument open," the president stated here on Tuesday.
Chief of Navy Staff Admiral Ade Supandi stated that the Peace Dove Monument, complete with a picture of the globe, symbolized the peace prevailing in Indonesia as well as the need for peace all across the world.
"All countries hope for peace. Therefore, we participate in joint naval training," Supandi remarked.
In the mythology of Greece, the dove symbolizes love. This bird was often portrayed together with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, flying around her or perched on her hands.
The eight meters-high building was designed to resemble the folds of an origami paper to symbolize that peace was extremely vulnerable. If too many stakeholders start bothering it, then the peace would be as fragile as a piece of paper.
In other words, the continuity of peace was in the hands of the stakeholders of different nations around the world. The more people care about it, the more peace there will be.
The unveiling of the monument was part of a series of international naval exercises for disaster management, entitled the Second Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK) in 2016 in the city of Padang and Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
