TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A wax figure of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will be installed in the Madame Tussauds Museum in Hong Kong in 2017 alongside figures of other distinguished individuals in the world.
"The Madame Tussauds team has just left. They met the President and had an interview with him and a photo session, besides some other activities. The plan is to create a wax figure of the president for the museum," Communication Special Staff Johan Budi said at the State Palace grounds in Jakarta on Wednesday.
In a press conference held together with Hong Kong Madame Tussauds General Manager and Indonesias Consulate General to Hong Kong, Tri Tharyat, Johan Budi mentioned that the president expressed his wish to be portrayed in a natural manner as he is in real life.
"He does not want any enhancements. His figure will be attired in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, just like he wears his shirt every day," he revealed.
He further stated that President Jokowi was surprised and did not expect to be featured in the museum.
"He hopes that there will be more Indonesian personalities there in the future," he added.
Additionally, Tri Tharyat explained that the museum let President Jokowi to choose his statues pose, while the background was chosen by the State Palaces staff.
"The philosophy that we are going for is him working in his professional elements. We took 200 photos and measured his height and size as well as made notes of the color of his eyes, hair and skin," he disclosed.
President Jokowi stepped out of the room for a while to practice the pose that he wanted to be portrayed, he mentioned.
Meanwhile, Jenny You let it be known that the president was chosen to be featured in the museum based on a survey of its visitors.
"The work will take about six months," she revealed.
Among political leaders, the Indonesian president topped the choice of the visitors.
The survey itself was conducted within the past year.
ANTARA
