Tutut launches 'Love Rupiah' drive<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti
\nHardiyanti Rukmana, sold U.S. dollars for rupiah yesterday in a
\nhighly publicized bid to restore confidence in the local
\ncurrency.<\/p>\n
She arrived at Bank Bumi Daya in Central Jakarta carrying a
\nbrown envelope containing dollars. She declined to say how much
\nshe sold, but an aide said it was US$50,000.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think it's necessary to say the amount of dollars I
\nsold,\" she said. \"The money was the remainder of funds for my
\nchildren, who are now studying in the United States.\"<\/p>\n
Hardiyanti, better known as Tutut, then called on the public
\nand fellow business tycoons to sell their dollars for rupiah.<\/p>\n
\"Let us all exchange our dollars for rupiah,\" she said. She
\nsaid she sold her dollars because she was an Indonesian citizen
\nwho loved her country very much.<\/p>\n
\"I love the rupiah,\" she said. \"And I also keep rupiah in the
\nbank.\"<\/p>\n
She dismissed a suggestion that she sold her dollars in order
\nto profit from the high dollar rate yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"It's not because the dollar is high or low,\" she said. \"(My)
\nintention is to help the country and the people. We should value
\nour currency... our rupiah,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"If we don't appreciate the rupiah, who will? Please follow my
\nexample,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She rejected a reporter's suggestion that as a businesswoman
\nshe had been involved in foreign currency trading. \"Why would I
\njeopardize my country by doing such a thing?\" she said. \"I can't
\ndo and don't like foreign currency trading.\"<\/p>\n
She said the amount of money she sold was insignificant,
\ncompared to the amount of money the country needed to overcome
\nthe crisis.<\/p>\n
\"However, God willing, it will help to secure the national
\ncurrency if everybody, businesspeople in particular, support and
\nfollow this move,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether her brothers and sisters -- most of whom were
\nalso business tycoons -- would follow suit, Hardiyanti said she
\nwas sure they would do the same thing.<\/p>\n
Earlier, reporters covering her activities queried why she had
\nnot emulated public figures in Thailand and South Korea who had
\nsold their dollars and waged massive campaigns to restore
\nconfidence in their battered currencies. (imn)<\/p>",
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