INDONESIA:With the next election two years away, it's a little early to be wooing voters with love songs.
So when the president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono released a CD of schmaltzy pop tunes he penned, including My Longing For You and Dear, I Miss You Too, some Indonesians were left wondering what's up with their leader? The former army general has long been a closet composer.
"The secret is taking a little time to reflect," Mr Yudhoyono said at the album launch. "Between the tight schedule of work, in the middle of problems, I need to rearrange my heart. And that's when I want to communicate, to express my ideas, my heart as an ordinary human being. That's when I create."
He insisted he put out the album not as a political play but to highlight a fight by performers and songwriters against piracy. Besides, he pointed out, lots of world leaders have hobbies. "There's a president that loves to read poems, such as the president of India," he said. "And the leader of Malaysia likes to ride horses. There is a president who likes to play saxophone, and there is a prime minister who loves climbing, such as New Zealand's prime minister. And there is also a president who loves fishing. As for me, my hobby is music."
Mr Yudhoyono said he wrote one song, about peace, brotherhood and love, on the first night of Ramadan, the holy month when observant Muslims fast to cleanse their souls. A song entitled God's Power, came to the president when he was on a long flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Tokyo, heading home from the United Nations' autumn session in New York.
News that Mr Yudhoyono is a man with songs in his heart hasn't caused much of a stir in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Newspapers briefly noted the release of his album. Next to a large photo of Mr Yudhoyono singing with his guitar, an Indonesian news magazine predicted: "His album is sure to sell well." So far, however, music reviewers haven't hazarded critiques of the president's musical talent.
The harshest review has come from opposition politician Herman Herri, who advised Mr Yudhoyono to save sentiment for his diary, leave music to experts and turn his mind to creating jobs for Indonesians.In the first three years of a five-year term, Mr Yudhoyono's approval rating has plunged from 80 per cent to 54 per cent.