P

resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono fulfilled his promise to celebrate his 64th birthday, which fell on Monday, with his family members and loved ones at his private residence in Cikeas, West Java, after not holding the celebration at home last year due to a visit to Russia.

The Presidential Palace'€™s press office did not announce any official event for Yudhoyono but presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said the President remained on his official schedule, despite his birthday celebration.

The President and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, as well as their sons and grandchildren, gathered in Cikeas to attend a modest celebration.

A photograph uploaded by Ani Yudhoyono on a photo-sharing website showed a 50-centimeter tall tumpeng (cone-shaped rice dish) that the First Lady had dedicated to her husband.

Yudhoyono'€™s birthday lit up social media outlets with hundreds of birthday wishes, including those from high-ranking officials and public figures, being delivered to the President'€™s official Twitter account, @SBYudhoyono.

'€œHappy Birthday Pak @SBYudhoyono, wishing you good life, success and blessings from Allah,'€ Golkar Party chairman and presidential hopeful Aburizal Bakrie said through his Twitter handle @aburizalbakrie.

Others used the occasion to criticize the President.

'€œHappy Birthday Pak @SBYudhoyono, save #Wilfrida Soik [an underage child trafficking victim] from death row in Malaysia,'€ migrant worker activist Anis Hidayah said on her Twitter account @anishidayah.

Anis was referring to Wilfrida Soik, an Indonesian girl who has been accused of killing her employer.

Yudhoyono'€™s birthday coincides with the anniversary of his Democratic Party (PD). He founded the party in 2001.

The party'€™s secretary-general who is also the President'€™s son, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, led the celebration at the party'€™s headquarters in Kramat, Central Jakarta, later on Monday.

Party executives including executive chairman and Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Syariefuddin Hasan, head of the party'€™s patron council and Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan, and leader of the PD faction at the House of Representatives Nurhayati Alie Assegaf, also attended the gathering.

On Sunday, Yudhoyono arrived home from his one-week foreign tour, which included state visits to Kazakhstan and Poland as well as attending the G20 Summit in Russia.

Yudhoyono was in Russia when he celebrated his 63rd birthday last year. He was attending the APEC leaders'€™ meeting in Vladivostok.

Indonesia will host this year'€™s APEC Summit in Bali, scheduled for October.

Yudhoyono was born on Sept. 9, 1949 in the poor regency of Pacitan, East Java, to father Raden Soekotjo and mother Siti Habibah. Yudhoyono, who was called '€œSus'€ by his friends back home, is the couple'€™s only child.

He is married to Kristiani Herrawati (Ani Yudhoyono) who is the third child of the late Gen. (ret.) Sarwo Edhi Wibowo, then commander of the Army'€™s Special Forces (Kopassus, which played a significant role in the purge against the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Monday'€™s birthday celebration was effectively Yudhoyono'€™s last in office.

Next year, when he will celebrate his 65th birthday, the country will have elected a new president to replace him.

Yudhoyono will have served two terms and is barred from running for a third in office.