President to dedicate monument

President to dedicate monument

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to
preside over the unveiling of a "Brotherhood Monument" this
coming Sunday to commemorate the May 1998 riots in the area of
Chinatown here that left hundreds dead.

"The Brotherhood Monument was erected to remind people to take
a lesson from the incident, so as to prevent such an incident
from reoccurring," said Lieus Sungkharisme, chairman of the
Indonesian-Chinese Reform Party, as quoted by Antara.

"We hope that President Megawati will dedicate the monument
during the fifth commemoration of the tragic incident," Lieus
said.

From May 13 to May 15, 1998, gangs of thugs were bused into
Glodok, Jakarta's Chinatown, where they went on a spree of
burning shops, looting, killing and raping in the predominantly
ethnic Chinese quarter. Around 1,000 people died in the mayhem,
which finally led to the resignation of former President Soeharto
on May 20.

The Brotherhood Monument, which will depict two men holding up
the national symbol of Garuda and designed by noted Balinese
sculptor Nyoman Nuarta, will sit in Candranaya Park in Kota, the
old section of Glodok, which once served as the seat of power for
Batavia, the Dutch colonialist name of their former capital.--JP