Indonesian president Celebrates Birthday as Makers of His Favorite Food Strike

September 10, 2013 Leave a comment

President Celebrates Birthday as Makers of His Favorite Food Strike

By Ezra Sihite on 7:45 am September 10, 2013.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono turned 64 on Monday and probably celebrated his birthday with a plateful of tempeh, one of his favorite dishes. However, unlike the president, many Indonesians will have difficulties finding tempeh in markets over the next couple of days because hundreds of tempeh and tofu producers have decided to go on strike in protest against the soaring prices of soybeans.“We are going on a three-day strike as of today,” Aip Syarifudin, chairman of a tempeh and tofu cooperatives Gakopti was quoted as saying by merdeka.com on Monday.

Aip said tofu and tempeh producers have stopped supplying their products to the market on Monday.

“That’s because it needs three days to produce tofu and tempeh. So, if tempeh is not available today, it means production stopped last Friday,” he said.

Aip said almost all tofu and tempeh producers agreed to halt productions and that only 1 percent out of 115,000 producers across the country were still at work.

“Maybe not everybody went on strike but about 99 percent have halted production,” he said.

The producers went on strike after the price of soybeans, the main ingredient of tofu and tempeh, soared from around Rp 7,000 per kilogram to over Rp 9,000 per kilogram causing a steep rise in costs.

A similar situation also occurred in the middle of last year, caused by soaring soybean prices as a result of the weakening rupiah against the US dollar.

The soybean crisis affects most Indonesians because tofu and tempeh are a cheap and staple part of the diet readily available across the country.

Tempeh and tofu producers also stopped production in early 2008 to minimize the burdensome production costs because of the skyrocketing soybean prices.

Meanwhile, the president has been flooded with birthday wishes from his family, colleagues and the people of Indonesia.

In her Instagram account, first lady Ani Yudhoyono uploaded a picture of a rice cone and wished the president a happy birthday.

The photo received 2,200 “likes” in just one hour from the public.

“The rice cone looks good. Please, send regards to sir, madam,” Kompas.com quoted one of Ani’s followers, gemiagung, as saying.

The Cabinet Secretariat reported on its official website that the president did not hold a special event to celebrate his birthday.

Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam also congratulated the president in the website.

“May [God] continue to provide [you]with strength and patience in leading this country until the end of the term in 2014,” Dipo wrote.

On Sunday, President Yudhoyono wrote about his optimism that Indonesia could weather the current economic crisis.

The president has not taken to Twitter or Facebook to respond to the well-wishers on his birthday.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said the president was working on his birthday and nothing was done to mark the event at either the palace or his private residence in Cikeas, West Java.

“There is no special celebration. The family only wished him happy birthday and expressed their grace. He is currently working,” Julian said at the Presidential Palace.

President Yudhoyono was born in Pacitan, East Java on 9 September 1949 from parents Raden Soekotjo and Siti Habibah.

He became the first Indonesian president to complete his five-year term after the Reform Era rolled out in 1998.

He was reelected in 2009 with former Coordinating Minister of Economics Boediono as his deputy.

Filed under Macro Trends

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