The National Children'€™s Day should have been a celebration for all kids in the country, but on Tuesday it was about President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono.

Only shortly after the celebration for the National Children'€™s Day kicked off, more than 1,000 people in the audience, mostly children, were made to give a standing ovation for the President and his wife, at least twice.

And when it came to the handing over of the '€œAnugerah Adicipta Lokatara Utama'€ award, the '€œhighest'€ recognition to an individual or group who made an outstanding contribution to the country'€™s education and children protection, the winner was not National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) nor the commission'€™s chairman advisory board chief Seto '€œKak Seto'€ Mulyadi, who is also popular among the country'€™s toddlers, but it was Ani.

Women'€™s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari said the First Lady deserved the award because of her innovation in establishing 339 '€œsmart houses'€, free education facilities, which offer free books, audiovisual tools, computers and games.

'€œCountries with low literacy rates have been inspired by the '€˜smart house'€™ concept. Even Timor Leste has said it would adopt it,'€ Linda said in her speech.

When it was time for the kids to sing a joyful song for the occasion, it turned out that the song was '€œSaya Bangga Jadi Anak Indonesia'€ (I'€™m proud to be an Indonesian Child), written and composed by Yudhoyono.

The program organizer called the song a '€œspecial gift'€ from the President to the children, because it was the first time the song was performed to the public.

To accompany the performance of the new song, the organizer put up a slide show of photos taken by Ani, who is also known as an avid photographer, showing sceneries and occasionally pictures of Yudhoyono'€™s grandchildren.

'€œIs this a family event or what?'€ one member of the audience muttered.

Later in his speech, Yudhoyono spoke in the third-person in an attempt to reach out the to children in the audience.

He replaced '€œI'€ and '€œme'€ in the speech with '€œPak SBY'€, and '€œladies and gentlemen'€ with '€œmy beloved children'€.

But the effort appears to have been unsuccessful as many in the audience either fell asleep or played with their gadgets.

Last year, Yudhoyono stopped his speech to wake up a number of children who had fallen asleep after they were apparently at a loss over his English-peppered speech.

This year, the event was held in the afternoon to enable the kids to have an iftar dinner together at the venue.

The kids in attendance finally cheered up when the popular vocal group Coboy Junior appeared on stage, even when the band covered another of Yudhoyono'€™s compositions titled '€œBudi Temanku'€ (Budi my Friend).

In the event, the President also kicked off the '€œOne Day with the President'€ competition for Indonesian children to win a chance to join his activities as a President for a 24-hour period.

'€œFor the program, 12 elementary, junior high and senior high schools students; two boys and two girls at each level; who win the competition, will be with me for 24 hours, following my activities as a President,'€ Yudhoyono said.

He hoped that the program could inspire Indonesian children to want to become a president.

'€œI hope this competition will help boost Indonesian children'€™s motivation to be a leader such as a President,'€ he said.

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