Kind hearts are worth more than coronets<\/p>\n
By K. Basrie<\/p>\n
CIREBON, West Java (JP): What's so right about being royal in
\nan era when democracy, with its thorough leveling of social
\nclasses, reigns supreme?<\/p>\n
Nothing, according to nobles attending the ongoing Keraton
\n(Palace) Festival here.<\/p>\n
Character and skill are what really count, they told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"You are nobody if you have a bad attitude and it will be hard
\nfor you to find work if you have no skill, even though you have a
\nroyal title,\" said Andi Kumala Idjo, 35, son of the last ruler of
\nGowa Kingdom in South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Idjo said mistakes or lapses in judgment by bluebloods
\nreceived more attention from the public.<\/p>\n
Others nobles agreed. Pangeran (prince) Haryo Endro Kusumo
\nfrom the Pakualaman principality of Central Java said: \"Once a
\nroyal family member makes a mistake, everyone in the family bears
\nthe impact.\"<\/p>\n
Royalty no longer commands kowtowing and awed respect. But
\nsome people, and particularly those living around former palaces,
\nstill look up to nobility and expect them to be models of
\ndecorum, Endro said.<\/p>\n
\"We have few problems in a big city like Jakarta, where people
\ndon't care much about the royal families,\" he said. \"But we have
\nto be what the people and the palace rules want us to be if we
\nlive in our own society.\"<\/p>\n
Poppy, a Cirebonese studying at a university in Bandung, said
\nthere were still high expectations of those of noble birth. \"I
\nhave a lot of friends and neighbors from the royal families, and
\nI learned that it isn't so easy for them because they cannot do
\nthings like us.<\/p>\n
\"Just to go to a disco for a birthday party, they should think
\na thousand times in case their friends mock them,\" said the 21-
\nyear-old.<\/p>\n
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, so to speak?<\/p>\n
\"Not really,\" said Imanuddin, 43, from the Kanoman Palace of
\nCirebon. \"It depends on one's personality.\"<\/p>\n
Imanuddin said some of his relatives had dispensed with their
\nnoble titles and no longer wished to be identified in royal
\nfamily trees.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know why, maybe because they feel ashamed or that it
\nis pointless to have such titles,\" he said. \"Or they might be
\nbored with what they call complicated palace rules.\"<\/p>\n
Prestige<\/p>\n
The prevailing public perception is that a royal name and
\npedigreed background is the red carpet to privileges in
\ngovernment and business.<\/p>\n
\"Who said that?\" said Ratu (queen) Sriningrat, 66, wife of the
\nlate ruler Prince Muhammad Amir Mulyono Natadiningrat of
\nKacirebonan Palace.<\/p>\n
The glory of the past is just that, she said sadly.<\/p>\n
\"Today is today. We're no different than other poor people in
\nthis town,\" she said through tears. \"I've sold almost all of our
\nproperty to put my son through university, but it's still hard
\nfor him to find a job even though everybody here knows him as the
\nson of a former ruler.\"<\/p>\n
Imanuddin, a construction supplier who holds the royal title
\nPangeran Patih, said he had never received any \"facilities\".<\/p>\n
\"Businessmen wouldn't take a second look at the title, except
\nif you had a renovation project for your palace to be bid upon,\"
\nhe said. \"Then they will come to you calling out your titles.\"<\/p>\n
Idjo from Gowa Kingdom had a similar opinion.<\/p>\n
\"Not all relatives of our family, for example, could become
\nemployees at the state offices even though the local authorities
\npaid great attention to us,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"If you fail the entrance exam, not even a royal title can
\nhelp.\"<\/p>\n
Prince Arifudin Martawijaya from the Kasepuhan Palace of
\nCirebon said only good manners and a fine education would help
\npeople, including royalty, reach the top.<\/p>\n
\"The glory days are dead,\" he said. \"Today, one should work
\nand study hard to get success. The royal names and social status
\nmean a lot in this palace compound and its surroundings, but
\nnothing outside.\"<\/p>\n
There have been reports that some public figures, including
\nthose in business, are prepared to pay to have royal insignia
\nbehind their names.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think so,\" said Martawijaya. \"It might be a
\nmisunderstanding.\"<\/p>\n
Royal titles were only through descent or, on occasion in the
\npast, granted to loyal servants or people who had devotedly
\npresented gifts to the ruler.<\/p>\n
\"I don't believe that people today are still looking for
\ntitles from the palace, which for many means nothing at all,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Kings, sultans and their brethren once ruled areas in Sumatra,
\nJava, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Maluku.<\/p>\n
Their days as divine rulers ended with Indonesia's
\nindependence in 1945. Only the Sultan of Yogyakarta, a staunch
\nsupporter of Indonesian independence, retained his titles and his
\nhereditary holdings.<\/p>\n
Many royal families have scattered and their members departed
\nthe ancestral home.<\/p>\n
Those who remain within palace walls receive stipends from the
\nlocal authorities for repair and other maintenance work.<\/p>\n
\"But they are not mere artifacts,\" said Sri Sultan Hamengku
\nBuwono X, the present ruler of Yogyakarta. \"They should also do
\nsomething, based on the current needs, to make the palace more
\nattractive for both local and foreign tourists.\"<\/p>",
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