or President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, this Thursday was just another ordinary working day, even though it coincides with the celebration of his 57th birthday.
On Thursday, which also marked the first day of work after 10 days of Idul Fitri holiday, Jokowi inspected the construction of runway and taxiway at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport’s Terminal 3, and visited Terminal 1 C to oversee Idul Fitri return traffic.
On the sidelines of an interview, journalists who covered the event extended congratulatory messages to the President, saying “Happy birthday, Bapak!”
“I have never had a birthday,” Jokowi joked with laughter in response.
When asked about the wishes for his own birthday, the President said, “Of course we want Indonesia to advance, be prosperous and just. I think so, similar to the hopes of the people.”
From early Thursday morning, various people ranging from public figures and politicians to ordinary citizens took to social media to say happy birthday to the President.
Good wishes also came from Jokowi’s close political allies, including Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Jokowi’s patron and chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Besides wishing Jokowi good health and power to fulfill his duty as the President, Kalla also expressed support for Jokowi’s reelection bid in the 2019 presidential election, kompas.com reported.
“[Megawati] hopes that Pak Jokowi will continue his leadership style that put forward dialogue, and embrace and engage people on the ground,” said PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto as quoted by kompas.com.
As of the afternoon, hashtag #HBDJokowiKerjaPakaiHati (#HappyBirthdayJokowiWorkWithHeart) topped the social network app Twitter’s trending topics in the country. (evi)
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