Soeharto's children 'ignored Lee's advice'<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Former Indonesian president Soeharto's
\nchildren ignored advice to not abuse their position for financial
\nand business gain, according to excerpts of Singapore Senior
\nMinister Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs published on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The children's behavior in the end contributed to their
\nfather's downfall, he said.<\/p>\n
Lee said that former U.S. vice president Walter Mondale asked
\nhim in March 1998 to compare the former Indonesian president and
\nMarcos.<\/p>\n
"You knew Marcos. Was he a hero or a crook? How does Soeharto
\ncompare to Marcos? Is Soeharto a patriot or a crook?" Lee quoted
\nMondale as asking him.<\/p>\n
Mondale was passing through Singapore after carrying a message
\nto Soeharto from President Bill Clinton as the political and
\neconomic crisis in Indonesia deepened.<\/p>\n
"I felt Mondale was making up his mind on Soeharto's
\nmotivations before submitting his recommendations to his
\npresident," Lee said.<\/p>\n
"I answered that Marcos might have started off as a hero but
\nended up as a crook," Lee said.
\n"Soeharto was different. His heroes were not (George) Washington
\nor (Thomas) Jefferson or Madison, but the sultans of Solo in
\nCentral Java."<\/p>\n
Lee said Soeharto, who ruled for 32 years, "saw himself as a
\npatriot. I will not classify him as a crook."<\/p>\n
Marcos was deposed from 20 years in power following a popular
\nuprising in 1986 amid allegations of corruption and human rights
\nabuses. He fled to exile in Hawaii where he died in 1989.<\/p>\n
The three Philippine governments which succeeded Marcos have
\nso far been unsuccessful in prosecuting any member of the family
\nover the past 14 years despite charges they plundered billions of
\ndollars from the national coffers.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has set the stage for the 79-year-old Soeharto's
\ntrial on corruption charges.<\/p>\n
Lee revealed he met two Soeharto daughters at the height of
\nthe Asian financial crisis of 1997 and 1998 to drive home the
\ngravity Indonesia's problems highlighted by the tailspin of the
\nrupiah currency.<\/p>\n
"Alarmed at the rapid decline of the value of the rupiah, I
\ntold our ambassador to Jakarta to ask Tutut if she could meet me
\nin Singapore to convey my views to her father," he said in the
\nexcerpts published in the Sunday Times.<\/p>\n
The meeting with Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Tutut) took place on
\nChristmas day in 1997 with the presence of Singapore Prime
\nMinister Goh Chok Tong.<\/p>\n
"I strongly urged her and her siblings to understand that
\ninternational fund managers in Jakarta had focused on the
\neconomic privileges the president's children were enjoying," Lee
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"During this period of crisis, it was best if they withdrew
\ncompletely from the market and did not engage in any new
\nprojects."<\/p>\n
Lee said he asked Tutut "point blank" whether she could get
\nthe message understood by her siblings.
\n"She answered with equal frankness that she could not," said Lee,
\nwhose second volume of memoirs titled From Third World to First:
\nThe Singapore Story is to be launched here on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Lee said he persisted, sending Tutut the daily market reports
\non Indonesia from Singapore-based analysts.
\n"To judge from the actions of the Soeharto children, it had no
\neffect on them."<\/p>\n
Lee said he met another Soeharto daughter, Siti Hediati
\nPrabowo, in January 1998, who he said came to Singapore with her
\nfather's knowledge to raise U.S. dollar bonds.<\/p>",
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