Mr. Soeharto, count your blessings on your birthday<\/p>\n
Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
When Soeharto wakes up this morning, all his grandchildren
\nwill no doubt rush to kiss his hand and say, \"Happy 82nd birthday
\neyang (grandpa)\".<\/p>\n
And then the former president can sit back and smile broadly
\nwhen he thinks about what his friends are telling him: More and
\nmore Indonesian people are saying positive things about his 32-
\nyear-long dictatorship.<\/p>\n
Soeharto is luckier than the country's other former
\npresidents. Sukarno, the father of our current leader, died in
\ndisgrace in 1970 after being toppled by Soeharto. B.J. Habibie
\nseems pretty much forgotten by the public and appears happier to
\nlive most of the time in Germany.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid? Who really listens to this kyai
\n(Muslim cleric) now?<\/p>\n
It's only five years since Soeharto's fall from power amid
\nwidespread anarchy in 1998, yet he has undergone a pleasant (for
\nhim) reversal of fortune.<\/p>\n
Many people recall only the good things about economic
\ndevelopment under his leadership. Of course, there was rampant
\ncorruption at that time, but there was also rapid development,
\nwhile today there is only corruption. There were gross violations
\nof human rights, but now some people ridiculously explain these
\naway as a \"side effect\" of development.<\/p>\n
You have to admire him. Who else could make people forget all
\nthe corruption he and his cronies reportedly committed in such a
\nshort space of time? The hunt for the reported Soeharto billions
\nwas all the rage when he made his exit, but ask the attorney
\ngeneral today, and he will no doubt say, \"There is no proof that
\nSoeharto stole one cent from the state\".<\/p>\n
Technically, it's true, as we do not have a one-cent coin.<\/p>\n
If I could get through the tight security ringing his compound
\non Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta today, I would congratulate the
\nwidower on still going strong as an octogenarian, even though the
\ndoctors tell us that he will never fully recover from his various
\nailments (they don't know that anything is possible with God ...
\nand Soeharto).<\/p>\n
I would also tell him that, with all those people looking
\nback to the good old days of his authoritarian rule, he would be
\na strong contender for the presidency if he chose to run next
\nyear. Who knows, he might be so happy at my praise that he would
\npromise me a Cabinet position. It would be an easy job, as no
\nlegislators would dare to criticize a Soeharto minister.<\/p>\n
I know him very well, but I must admit he does not know me at
\nall. In the early 1990s, I had the chance to shake hands with
\nhim, along with hundreds of other people. There was one thing
\nI didn't like about Soeharto. When you shook hands with him, he
\noffered his hand in such a way that you had to bow slightly, like
\nyou were paying homage to him.<\/p>\n
But it made for a good photo. I put it in a strategic position
\nin my home so that all the visitors would know I was \"close\" to
\nthe president.<\/p>\n
It worked like a charm -- one time a tax official ran away and
\ngave up his plan to extort money from me.<\/p>\n
Only one day after Soeharto stepped down, I hid the photo
\nbecause I did not want to be identified as a Soehartoist. As I
\nneeded a replacement for the space on the wall, and I also love
\nto be photographed with presidents, I bribed presidential
\nphotographers to take my photo with Habibie and, when I had to
\ntake down his photo, Abdurrahman, during functions at the palace.<\/p>\n
The tax man still showed a bit of respect for Habibie and he
\nonly asked me for \"understanding money\" so I would not have to
\nfill in the tax form.<\/p>\n
But there was no such luck when it came to Gus Dur's
\nphotograph.<\/p>\n
\"Do you think I care if you say you are the president's close
\nfriend?\" It was time to settle my obligations to the state.<\/p>\n
On this special day, it's unlikely that the still-proud
\nSoeharto will spare a thought for those people who opposed him.
\nMost of the time he would punish or jail anybody who dared to
\ndefy him, but there is one person who remained steadfast in her
\nopposition.<\/p>\n
No, it wasn't Megawati. If you asked Soeharto, he would
\nreluctantly crook a finger (after all, his doctors say he cannot
\nspeak) in the direction of an old house on his street.<\/p>\n
There lives Miss Johan, an older, Chinese-Indonesian woman
\nwho, people say, once worked for an oil firm. She has held out
\nagainst Soeharto and his son, Tommy, who reportedly dreamed of
\nbuilding a swimming pool on the site of her home.<\/p>\n
\"No,\" she replied firmly every time she was asked by the
\nSoeharto family to move.<\/p>\n
There are other people who, like Soeharto's cronies, were sad
\nto see him go.<\/p>\n
Every time Andi, who has sold bakso (meatballs) near
\nSoeharto's home for more than 30 years, is asked about the man,
\nhe cannot help blaming the students, prodemocracy activists and
\nanyone else who helped topple him.<\/p>\n
You see, Soeharto promised to pay for his haj pilgrimage in
\n1999, and his wife even hosted a big party in their village to
\ncelebrate. The plan came to nothing when Soeharto stepped down.<\/p>\n
\"He should not have quit before my haj pilgrimage,\" Andi
\nalways complains.<\/p>\n
Perhaps I have upset you by praising Soeharto so much. But
\nwould I really pray for a Soeharto \"comeback\"?<\/p>\n
Let me put it this way; I often dream of being able to meet my
\nlate father again. But if he actually appeared before my eyes, I
\nwould probably run away, screaming, \"Help, there's a zombie in
\nthe house\".<\/p>\n
Now, is that how we would react to a \"revived\" Soeharto?<\/p>\n
-- Kornelius Purba<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mr-soeharto-count-your-blessings-on-your-birthday-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }