Nation bids farewell to Ibu Tien

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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