TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Thousands of birthday messages and wishes were sent to President Joko Widodo or Jokowi. The seventh Indonesian President celebrates his 56th birthday today on Wednesday, June 21.
The internet is filled with public messages congratulating Jokowi as he celebrates his 56th birthday. Citizens were racing to send their wishes and prayers through Twitter through the hashtag #Happy56thJokowi.
Read also: Jokowi Celebrates Birthday by Handing Out Sembako
The eldest son of Noto Mohardjo and Sujiatmi has taken office as Indonesian President since October 20, 2014.
As it turns out, not only is June the month where President Jokowi was born. But this month might be considered as a special month since four out of seven Indonesian Presidents were born in June. The following are the short profile of the other three Indonesian Presidents born in June.
Read also: Jokowi to Hold Blusukan on His Birthday
The first Indonesian President born in June was Soekarno, who is also the first Indonesian President in general. Soekarno was born in Surabaya, East Java, on June 6, 1901. He became the president of Indonesia from 1945 - 1966, before he was impeached by Provisional People’s Consultative Assembly (MPRS) in 1967.
Second Indonesian President, Soeharto, was also born in June. He was born in Bantul, Yogyakarta, on June 8, 1921.
The man who started his carrier in the military took position as President since 1967 - 1998. The man who was given the nickname ‘the smiling general’ ruled for the whole 32 years and was popularly known as the ‘New Order’ era.
Soeharto stepped down from his position as President in 1998, following a massive scale riot known as the ‘May 1998 Riot’ and the occupation of the DPR and MPR building by thousands of college students.
And last but not least is the third president, Bacharuddin Jusuf or BJ Habibie. He was born on June 25, 1936, in Parepare, South Sulawesi. Habibie replaced Soeharto who resigned from office on May 21, 1998. BJ Habibie filled the position as Vice President for two months and seven days, whereas he became the President of Indonesia for only a year and five months.
BJ Habibie is considered as the shortest term President and Vice President with an academic background in aviation engineering. He was also known as ‘Mr Crack’ for his skills in calculating crack propagation on random.
S. DIAN ANDRYANTO | Various Sources
