JAKARTA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- A mass body exercise, claimed as world's record-breaking event, was held in the Indonesian capital on Sunday, which was participated by 65,000 people including the country's president, ministers and senior officials.
The event was part of national sessions to commemorate the 73rd national Independence Day and welcome the 18th Asian Games slated to be held in the two cities of Jakarta and Palembang.
"This time Indonesia has booked a historical moment. The poco-poco has been listed in Guinness World Records. It is surely made us proud," Indonesia Youths and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said, referring theme of the mass exercise which was taken from a traditional dance from eastern Indonesia.
Participants of the morning exercise did the activities along the city's main roads, from the Asiad stadium of Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) in Senayan to the Monas landmark square in front of the presidential palace.
Addressing the record-breaking event, President Joko Widodo expected that it could bolster nationalism spirit of Indonesian athletes assigned to vie in the upcoming Asiad.
"We want to see great success in the 2018 Asian Games event. We have succeeded the preparation. We expect to see more success in organizing the matches during the sports event and in the achievements of our athletes," the president said.
Head of the record-breaking exercise event Firdaus Ali said that similar events were also held in 48 cities across the nation and nine cities in foreign countries.
"This is the first to be held in the nation's history," he added.
Indonesia has been praised by head of Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah for its preparation for the 18th Asian Games.
The upcoming Asiad would be the second for Indonesia to host the event after in 1962. The Asian Games themed "Energy of Asia" was scheduled from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 in Indonesia's Jakarta and Palembang, participated by over 11,000 athletes from 45 Asian countries and regions.
