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Jokowi congratulates mom on Women's Day
President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo congratulated his mother, rather than his wife, on National Womenâs Day, which fell on Monday
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resident Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo congratulated his mother, rather than his wife, on National Women's Day, which fell on Monday.
'Mothers are [our] invincible heaven in the world,' he told journalists during a ceremony to commemorate the day at a sports hall in Ciracas, East Jakarta.
The father of three said he had not congratulated his wife, First Lady Iriana, who accompanied him during the event. Standing next to him during the interview, Iriana could not hide her smile at Jokowi's joke.
Just like his predecessors, Jokowi tends to celebrate the day as Mother's Day even though the day historically marked the first women's conference in 1928. In 1953, then president Sukarno issued a decree calling the day 'Mother's Day'.
In his speech for the Women's Day celebration, President Jokowi said he wanted to see next year's event held in one of the country's remote areas so that the public could take a look at the real problems faced by many Indonesian women.
Jokowi, a businessman-turned-politician, is the eldest of four siblings and the only son of Javanese native Noto Mihardjo and his wife, Sujiatmi.
Sujiatmi said her son was a tough entrepreneur, struggling for years in the furniture business, including suffering significant losses in capital in his ventures. (***)
