Ibu Tien -- a very determined First Lady<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): \"I'm nothing,\" First Lady Tien Soeharto said
\nearlier this month, only weeks before her death yesterday.<\/p>\n
She attributed what people described as her great achievements
\nto the fact she worked hard, not her personal wealth.<\/p>\n
\"I'm just the wife of a civil servant. Once I was wife of a
\nsoldier. That's why I'm nothing. What I have is determination, a
\ngreat determination ...\" she told a group of people who came to
\nask that she become patron of their organization.<\/p>\n
\"I have too much to do already ... now I'm old. I just want to
\nenjoy the rest of my life. I have too much to do already, that's
\nwhy I'm ill, perhaps,\" she was quoted by Kompas as saying early
\nthis month.<\/p>\n
When she spoke of determination, Mrs. Tien was describing her
\nway of life.<\/p>\n
A descendant of Javanese royalty, known as Mangkunegaran, Mrs.
\nTien was the second of nine children of Soemoharjomo, a district
\nofficer in the Dutch colonial administration, and Hatmanti.<\/p>\n
Born when her parents were living in someone else's house in
\nJaten, a small hamlet by the road of Tawangmangu-Surakarta in
\nCentral Java on August 23, 1923, Mrs. Tien knew hardship from the
\ntime she was small.<\/p>\n
When she was three years old, she fell ill in an epidemic of
\ndysentery that hit Surakarta and caused many deaths. A biography
\nof Mrs. Tien written by Abdul Gafur, a former minister of youths
\nand sports, states that Mrs. Tien willed herself to survive and
\neven told her mother Hatmanti how to help cure her affliction.<\/p>\n
The little Tien, according to the biography, was a strong-
\nheaded girl. Her mother once strapped her to a tree because she
\nrefused to go to school.<\/p>\n
\"I went, then, but unwillingly,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Tien spent her teenage years in Wonogiri, going to a
\nDutch school called Hollands Inlandse School and becoming an
\nactivist in the local scout movement. During the Indonesian
\nrevolution against the Dutch in the 1940s, Mrs. Tien became a
\nmember of the Indonesian Women's Legion, as well as a volunteer
\nwith the Indonesian Red Cross.<\/p>\n
It was around this time that Mrs. Tien met then Lt. Col.
\nSoeharto, who was 26. Mrs. Tien married Soeharto on Dec. 26,
\n1947, in Surakarta, Central Java, during a brief respite in the
\nrevolution before Soeharto returned to his battalion in
\nYogyakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Unlike (today's) young people, our marriage was not preceded
\nby courtship,\" Soeharto described his marriage in his biography
\nSoeharto: Pikiran, Ucapan dan Tindakan Saya (Soeharto: My
\nThoughts, Words and Deeds). \"We held fast to the wise-saying
\nwiting tresna jalaran saka kulina, that love grows strong from
\nintensive communication.\"<\/p>\n
Soeharto's biographer O.G. Roeder, in his book The Smiling
\nGeneral (1969), described Mrs. Mrs. Tien as \"the president's most
\ntrusted friend\". This is an apt description of the couple's
\nrelationship.<\/p>\n
The Soehartos then moved to Yogyakarta, and had their first
\nchild there. Mrs. Tien, as the wife of a soldier, had to move
\nfrom place to place. She had lived in Yogyakarta, Semarang and
\nUjungpandang.<\/p>\n
The couple had three daughters and three sons: Siti Hardiyanti
\nHastuti, Sigit Haryojudhanto, Bambang Trihatmodjo, Siti Hediyanti
\nHariadi, Hutomo Mandala Putra, and Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih.
\nMost of their children are now successful businesspeople.<\/p>\n
Charitable<\/p>\n
Mrs. Tien's community work increased after Soeharto assumed
\nthe presidency in 1967. She founded or became leader of a number
\nof women organizations such as Persit Kartika Chandra Kirana,
\nRukun Ibu Ampera, Dharma Pertiwi, and Dharma Wanita.<\/p>\n
She also became very involved in a number of charitable
\nfoundations, primarily the Yayasan Harapan Kita (Our Hope
\nFoundation), which runs the Harapan Kita group of hospitals for
\npediatrics, maternity, cardiology and cancer. She also was patron
\nof various foundations and orphanages, as well as an organization
\nwhich assists children with disabilities.<\/p>\n
One of her most famous projects is the Taman Mini Indonesia
\nIndah theme park on Jakarta's outskirts. Known as Taman Mini, the
\ntheme park was her brainchild.<\/p>\n
She faced great pressure when she first introduced the idea in
\n1974. There were massive demonstrations against her plan.<\/p>\n
Undeterred, she went on with the project. Today the park is
\none of the nation's most popular recreation sites and attracts
\ntourists from all over the archipelago and the world.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Tien has never publicly acknowledged criticism against
\nher. Last December, however, President Soeharto himself came to
\nthe defense of his wife, denying that she ever received a
\ncommission for the construction of Taman Mini.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that his wife was once dubbed \"Madame Tien
\nPercent\", from the Dutch word for \"ten\", for allegedly collecting
\ncommissions for projects requiring government approval. He
\ndismissed the accusations. He also acknowledged that the couple's
\nresidence on Jl. Cendana was rumored to be \"headquarters\" for
\ndetermining the amount of commission for many development
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
\"She was once called 'ten percent' as if she received ten
\npercent of the commission for each project,\" Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
\"That's not true. So, just let it go. That's the mistaken
\nopinion of some people,\" Soeharto said. \"We trust in God, we'll
\nleave everything to God.\"<\/p>\n
The funds actually went into special coffers -- the
\nPresidential Funds -- which have helped the country build its
\nschools, markets and other projects for the benefit of the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
Honors<\/p>\n
Mrs. Tien also showed great interest in the development of the
\ncountry's art and culture. She was honored in 1992 for her role
\nin cultivating Indonesian culture. Soeharto conferred upon her
\nthe Bintang Budaya Parama Dharma medal, the highest honor for
\ncultural development.<\/p>\n
She was also the recipient of the Mahaputra award, the highest
\nhonor conferred upon the nation's best. In 1994, hundreds of
\nwomen organizations granted her the Adhikarya Wanodya Tama award
\nfor her work for Indonesian women.<\/p>\n
The other honors that she received include Bintang Republik
\nIndonesia Adipradana in 1973, a Bintang Gerilya in 1987 for her
\nrole during the revolutionary years, and Satyalancana Kebaktian
\nSosial in 1971. Some of the foreign honors she received were the
\nKroon Orde in 1970 from the Dutch government, First Class of
\nOrder of the Precious Crown from Japan in 1988, and Special Order
\nof the Grand Cross in 1970 from Germany.<\/p>\n
In many interviews, her children described her as the ideal
\nmother and wife. They cited how she prepared her husband's
\nfavorite breakfast, bubur Manado, herself. Her eldest Siti
\nHardiyanti once said that Mrs. Tien raised her children to be
\nJavanese, respectful of their parents and helpful to each other.<\/p>\n
Soeharto once explained the secret of how Mrs. Tien managed to
\ncombine her different roles: as wife, mother and a community
\nmember. \"She divides her time between her husband and the
\ncommunity,\" Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
It turned out that Mrs. Tien was able to \"build hospitals and
\nTaman Mini Indonesia Indah. These were not completed because of
\nher alone, but because she asked the community to help develop
\nit\", Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
\"It wasn't her own money, but she asked community members who
\nunderstood and were willing ... Because the intentions were good,
\nthe park was completed with the cooperation of the people,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In her biography, Mrs. Tien spoke of what she most wished to
\ndo once she no longer served as a first lady. \"I know I won't
\nfeel awkward in being an ordinary citizen again because I've
\nalways been close to the common people. God willing, I'll still
\ncontinue with my work for this nation if I'm able.\"<\/p>\n
What she really wished for, however, was \"to be able to spend
\nthe rest of my life with my beloved husband and my family\".
\n(lem\/swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ibu-tien-a-very-determined-first-lady-1447893297",
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