Nation bids farewell to Ibu Tien

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): First Lady Mrs. Siti Hartinah Soeharto was laid to rest yesterday at a family mausoleum in a funeral befitting a national heroine and a Javanese princess.

At the mausoleum, she was given military honors. But preceding the state ceremony, she was honored in the Javanese royal tradition.

A sea of tens of thousands of people jammed the 30 kilometer stretch of road from her family residence in Kawitan district to the mausoleum in Giribangun hamlet, all for a glimpse of the procession, to pay their last respects to Ibu Tien, the country's first lady for the last 28 years.

Her coffin, wrapped in the national red and white flag and decorated with chains of flowers, was carried into the mausoleum by soldiers wearing the red berets of the Army's Special Forces, accompanied by the steady murmur of Koranic verses.

A huge crowd was waiting outside the plush family mausoleum with marble graves and copper roofs, where 13 people, including Mrs. Tien's parents, have already been buried.

Addressing the state ceremony at the cemetery, Speaker of the House of Representatives Wahono said Ibu Tien was an exemplary, dedicated and modest woman. "May God receive her and may the Soehartos be steadfast," Wahono said.

President Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana made a brief speech, thanking the public for their sympathy, before she broke down in tears.

"On behalf of the Soehartos, I would like to ask for forgiveness for any wrong that Ibu Tien Soeharto has done. And if she had any debt or unfulfilled commitment, the problem should be settled with us," she said.

After Mrs. Tien's body was lowered into the grave, 2.5 meter long, 1.6 meter wide, and two meters deep, mournful President Soeharto and his children and grandchildren scattered petals of white jasmine over it; this had been her favorite flower.

On hand at the mausoleum were Vice President Try Sutrisno, members of the cabinet and his relatives, including business tycoons Probosutedjo and Sukamdani Said Gitosardjono.

Mrs. Tien died of a heart attack in the Gatot Soebroto Army hospital in Jakarta at 5.10 on Sunday, about an hour after she was rushed there with breathing difficulties. She was 72.

The daughter of a regent and an aristocratic descendant in Surakarta during the Dutch colonial years, she and Lt. Col. Soeharto were married in 1947. It is understood that Mrs. Tien had been President Soeharto's most trusted political adviser.

Thai Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Brunei Sultan Hassanah Bolkiah, Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and President Ong Teng Cheong as well as special representatives from friendly countries were present to pay their last tributes.

Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Azwar Anas, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and Armed Forces (ABRI) chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung cut short their haj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to attend the First Lady's funeral.

The funeral, originally planned for yesterday morning, was postponed until the afternoon to wait for the return of Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and Siti Hediyati, both in Europe when Mrs. Tien passed away on Sunday.

The state guests were welcomed by Central Java Governor Suwardi and regional military command chief Maj. Gen. Subagyo before they expressed their condolences to President Soeharto and said a prayer for the deceased.

The Dalam Karawitan, the residence of Mrs. Tien's family, was opened to members of the public for a few hours in the morning to allow thousands of people to pay their last respects as close quarters.

The area was later cleared before the ceremony started.

The funeral procession began at midday when a Mangkunegaran royal servant lit a kerosene lamp and symbolically swept the road that the convoy of mourners would take. According to ancient Javanese mystical belief, this signifies the hope for a bright and smooth road for Mrs. Tien to eternal life.

Before her body was moved into a waiting car, President Soeharto and his relatives passed under the coffin in a traditional ritual that symbolizes farewell.

Six Kopassus soldiers moved her body into a waiting car. Two platoons of Kopassus soldiers gave a military salute in a ceremony led by Lt. Gen. (ret.) Ahmad Taher, chief of the Indonesian Veterans Legion.

Flanked by his children and grandchildren, President Soeharto slowly walked behind the coffin and was seen wiping his somber face with a handkerchief. (har/17/pan)

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