President reads poems to House

JAKARTA (JP): The golden anniversary of Indonesia's independence appears to be a time for everyone to express themselves with a poem. President Soeharto is no exception.

In his state of the nation address on Wednesday, Soeharto broke with tradition by starting his speech with a poem, and ending it with another. The 500 members of the House of Representatives and their guests expressed their admiration with applause.

Here is the first untitled poem inserted at the beginning of his speech addressing the way the nation is celebrating Independence Day.

Our homeland looks so beautiful and dignified, dressed up by our people.

At night, glittering ornamental lights can be seen all over the country.

From far above, it looks like a stream of emeralds strewn along the equator

We have struggled for 50 years, we have passed through joys and sorrows, and we have worked hard. This year, we can rejoice.

The second poem inserted towards the end of the speech reads:

Like in a long journey, we need to pause a while. We have looked back at the start of our journey 50 years ago.

We have crossed valleys, descended ravines, and climbed hills and mountains.

Sometime we feel tired by the heat of the sun. But quite often, we feel refreshed by the cool breeze. (emb)