CAIRO, July 4, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has lambasted extramarital relations in the world's most populous Muslim nation and urged Indonesians not to blindly imitate foreign cultures that contravenes their faith and tradition.

"There is no need to copy the lifestyles of foreign countries that are not in line with the spirit and the personality of our nation," Yudhoyono said in a key-note national address marking the Indonesian Family Day, reported The Jakarta Post on Monday, July 4.

"Living together out of wedlock is still viewed as a disgraceful deed that goes against the norms of religions and laws," he averred.

A secular politician who does not support the application of Shari`ah in Indonesia, the president urged the Indonesian people to "protect and cherish the nation’s principles and values forever."

Yudhoyono, whose election bid in September was backed by several Islamic parties, stressed that the true spirit of Indonesian families is religiosity.

Muslims make up some 80 percent of the country's 220 million population.

Most Indonesian people, including non-Muslims, consider extramarital sex a sin, according to the Post.

The practice is reportedly on the increase, however, but it still considered taboo.

Yudhoyono also called on Indonesian families to continue implementing family planning to help improve the quality of life, the Post said.

He said the central government and local administrations would reinvigorate the family planning program, which has weakened over the past several years.

The Indonesian leader stressed that family planning was one of the ways that could be used to develop quality families, and is seen as a key factor in creating a strong nation.

"Do not have big families with a lot of children if you cannot afford it," Yudhoyono said.

"Quality (families) will create respect for our nation so we will have honor and pride in interacting with other nations."

Some 16.4 percent of the people in Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous nation, live on less than US$1 a day, according to the Post.

Yudhoyono warned that the country will become poorer if population increases at a high rate.

"Without birth control, our efforts to boost economic development will be useless. Should it happens, our next generation will live in a worse condition. It will be the fault of our generation."

The Indonesian leader cited a report of the UNDP that ranked the development index of Indonesian human resources 117 out of 177 countries.

Former authoritarian president Soeharto was credited by many for his success in enforcing tough birth control measures in a bid to limit population growth.

But since his downfall in 1998, many people, particularly in provincial region, abandoned the family planning program.