World Peace Gong was made to commemorate World Peace Day. The UN has set September 21 as the International World Peace Day, a day without war and violence. UN invites all nations and people to respect the termination of hostilities for one day, and instead commemorate the World Day of Peace through education and public awareness on issues relating to peace. World Peace Day is a momentum to build awareness of the importance of world peace and a plea for all nations to cease hostilities and to start a peace.
World Peace Committee, chaired by Djuyoto Suntani, helped initiate the birth of the World Peace Gong. World Peace Committee that consisting of 202 countries, is an organization that aims to create inter-human peace. Besides World Peace Gong, the World Peace Committee also presented the Archipelago Peace Gong, located in Yogyakarta, Blitar, and Kupang, and the Asia-Africa Peace Gong, located in Bandung, West Java.
World Peace Gong was made by an artist from Semarang, Central Java. Had paraded around the city of Semarang in advance before being moved to be placed on Bali Island. World Peace Gong release from Semarang to Bali Island performed at Pier Port of Tanjung Emas Semarang and supported by the Armed Forces Commander, Navy Chief, and Commander of the Eastern Fleet RI, using the KRI Cendrawasih.
World Peace Gong was placed in the Bali Tourism Development Corporation, Nusa Dua, Bali, exactly in front of Kampung Industri, Bali Collection, which is part of the event 19th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Nusa Dua, Bali, November 17-19. Kampung Industri is one of many series of events ASEAN Summit that aims to promote Small and Medium Businesses in the countries of Southeast Asia including Indonesia in the era of free markets. Why Bali? Because Bali has a very strategic sense and is known as the Island of Peace. Also as a sign to remind the participation of Indonesia in keeping world peace, even though Indonesia has been known as a nation full of diversity and rich in culture so that differences in ethnicity, race, class, religion, and political ideology or anything that shouldn’t be a reason to distinguish to quarrel with each other.
World Peace Gong that is placed in Bali is 43th gong and became the world’s largest ever launched, with a weight of a ton, amounting to five meters in diameter and made of brass. 42 other World Peace Gong has been placed in various countries such as Ukraine, China, Laos, India, and Mozambique.
With the creation of world peace, it will automatically also be able to create prosperity in the universe. May the World Peace Gong can make it happen. Just like what Michael Jackson revealed in one of the lyric entitled Heal The World:
“… Heal the world, make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race, there are people dying if you care enough for the living, make a better place for you and for me …”
Go Peace!