SBY feels hot, reads poetry at DPD plenary session

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 08/22/2008 12:20 PM  |  National

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was bathed in sweat when he presented his annual speech before a Regional Representative Council (DPD) here Friday.

"This is part of our energy efficiency drive. So, the air conditioning is reduced (to higher temperature)," he said while cleaning the sweat from his face.

The President, wearing a blue batik shirt, then continued reading his speech on regional development.

During this plenary session, the President looked more relaxed, compared to when he presented his budget speech to the House of Representatives last week.

The President ended his speech with a set of two quatrains, a form of traditional poetry. One quatrain usually consists of four lines, where the real meaning lies in the last two lines.

"Allow me to end this Government explanation by bringing up our valuable tradition, through two quatrains," Yudhoyono said. The quatrains are as follow:

Naik perahu ke Serambi Mekah,

Singgah di Bangka menenun sutra.

Mari bersatu membangun daerah,

Menyatukan bangsa membangun negara.

(Let's unite to build the regions, Unite the nation, build the state)

Dari Mamuju berlayar ke Madura dan Maluku,

Berangkat bahtera, mengarungi samudera raya.

Daerah maju, negara pasti maju.

Rakyat daerah sejahtera, bangsa Indonesia berjaya.

(Regions develops, the state will develop People in the regions prosper, Indonesia will be victorious)

(rid)

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