Ibu Tien -- a very determined First Lady

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)