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