Ibu Tien -- a very determined First Lady

JAKARTA (JP): "I'm nothing," First Lady Tien Soeharto said earlier this month, only weeks before her death yesterday.

She attributed what people described as her great achievements to the fact she worked hard, not her personal wealth.

"I'm just the wife of a civil servant. Once I was wife of a soldier. That's why I'm nothing. What I have is determination, a great determination ..." she told a group of people who came to ask that she become patron of their organization.

"I have too much to do already ... now I'm old. I just want to enjoy the rest of my life. I have too much to do already, that's why I'm ill, perhaps," she was quoted by Kompas as saying early this month.

When she spoke of determination, Mrs. Tien was describing her way of life.

A descendant of Javanese royalty, known as Mangkunegaran, Mrs. Tien was the second of nine children of Soemoharjomo, a district officer in the Dutch colonial administration, and Hatmanti.

Born when her parents were living in someone else's house in Jaten, a small hamlet by the road of Tawangmangu-Surakarta in Central Java on August 23, 1923, Mrs. Tien knew hardship from the time she was small.

When she was three years old, she fell ill in an epidemic of dysentery that hit Surakarta and caused many deaths. A biography of Mrs. Tien written by Abdul Gafur, a former minister of youths and sports, states that Mrs. Tien willed herself to survive and even told her mother Hatmanti how to help cure her affliction.

The little Tien, according to the biography, was a strong- headed girl. Her mother once strapped her to a tree because she refused to go to school.

"I went, then, but unwillingly," she said.

Mrs. Tien spent her teenage years in Wonogiri, going to a Dutch school called Hollands Inlandse School and becoming an activist in the local scout movement. During the Indonesian revolution against the Dutch in the 1940s, Mrs. Tien became a member of the Indonesian Women's Legion, as well as a volunteer with the Indonesian Red Cross.

It was around this time that Mrs. Tien met then Lt. Col. Soeharto, who was 26. Mrs. Tien married Soeharto on Dec. 26, 1947, in Surakarta, Central Java, during a brief respite in the revolution before Soeharto returned to his battalion in Yogyakarta.

"Unlike (today's) young people, our marriage was not preceded by courtship," Soeharto described his marriage in his biography Soeharto: Pikiran, Ucapan dan Tindakan Saya (Soeharto: My Thoughts, Words and Deeds). "We held fast to the wise-saying witing tresna jalaran saka kulina, that love grows strong from intensive communication."

Soeharto's biographer O.G. Roeder, in his book The Smiling General (1969), described Mrs. Mrs. Tien as "the president's most trusted friend". This is an apt description of the couple's relationship.

The Soehartos then moved to Yogyakarta, and had their first child there. Mrs. Tien, as the wife of a soldier, had to move from place to place. She had lived in Yogyakarta, Semarang and Ujungpandang.

The couple had three daughters and three sons: Siti Hardiyanti Hastuti, Sigit Haryojudhanto, Bambang Trihatmodjo, Siti Hediyanti Hariadi, Hutomo Mandala Putra, and Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih. Most of their children are now successful businesspeople.

Charitable

Mrs. Tien's community work increased after Soeharto assumed the presidency in 1967. She founded or became leader of a number of women organizations such as Persit Kartika Chandra Kirana, Rukun Ibu Ampera, Dharma Pertiwi, and Dharma Wanita.

She also became very involved in a number of charitable foundations, primarily the Yayasan Harapan Kita (Our Hope Foundation), which runs the Harapan Kita group of hospitals for pediatrics, maternity, cardiology and cancer. She also was patron of various foundations and orphanages, as well as an organization which assists children with disabilities.

One of her most famous projects is the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah theme park on Jakarta's outskirts. Known as Taman Mini, the theme park was her brainchild.

She faced great pressure when she first introduced the idea in 1974. There were massive demonstrations against her plan.

Undeterred, she went on with the project. Today the park is one of the nation's most popular recreation sites and attracts tourists from all over the archipelago and the world.

Mrs. Tien has never publicly acknowledged criticism against her. Last December, however, President Soeharto himself came to the defense of his wife, denying that she ever received a commission for the construction of Taman Mini.

He acknowledged that his wife was once dubbed "Madame Tien Percent", from the Dutch word for "ten", for allegedly collecting commissions for projects requiring government approval. He dismissed the accusations. He also acknowledged that the couple's residence on Jl. Cendana was rumored to be "headquarters" for determining the amount of commission for many development projects.

"She was once called 'ten percent' as if she received ten percent of the commission for each project," Soeharto said.

"That's not true. So, just let it go. That's the mistaken opinion of some people," Soeharto said. "We trust in God, we'll leave everything to God."

The funds actually went into special coffers -- the Presidential Funds -- which have helped the country build its schools, markets and other projects for the benefit of the public.

Honors

Mrs. Tien also showed great interest in the development of the country's art and culture. She was honored in 1992 for her role in cultivating Indonesian culture. Soeharto conferred upon her the Bintang Budaya Parama Dharma medal, the highest honor for cultural development.

She was also the recipient of the Mahaputra award, the highest honor conferred upon the nation's best. In 1994, hundreds of women organizations granted her the Adhikarya Wanodya Tama award for her work for Indonesian women.

The other honors that she received include Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipradana in 1973, a Bintang Gerilya in 1987 for her role during the revolutionary years, and Satyalancana Kebaktian Sosial in 1971. Some of the foreign honors she received were the Kroon Orde in 1970 from the Dutch government, First Class of Order of the Precious Crown from Japan in 1988, and Special Order of the Grand Cross in 1970 from Germany.

In many interviews, her children described her as the ideal mother and wife. They cited how she prepared her husband's favorite breakfast, bubur Manado, herself. Her eldest Siti Hardiyanti once said that Mrs. Tien raised her children to be Javanese, respectful of their parents and helpful to each other.

Soeharto once explained the secret of how Mrs. Tien managed to combine her different roles: as wife, mother and a community member. "She divides her time between her husband and the community," Soeharto said.

It turned out that Mrs. Tien was able to "build hospitals and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. These were not completed because of her alone, but because she asked the community to help develop it", Soeharto said.

"It wasn't her own money, but she asked community members who understood and were willing ... Because the intentions were good, the park was completed with the cooperation of the people," he said.

In her biography, Mrs. Tien spoke of what she most wished to do once she no longer served as a first lady. "I know I won't feel awkward in being an ordinary citizen again because I've always been close to the common people. God willing, I'll still continue with my work for this nation if I'm able."

What she really wished for, however, was "to be able to spend the rest of my life with my beloved husband and my family". (lem/swe)