President's gifts find a home in Taman Mini museum

JAKARTA (JP): A peek inside the Purna Bhakti Museum at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta reveals what heads of state receive as gifts from their own people and other heads of state. Everything imaginable, from a betel nut set to a sword, from a jar to a jade bed, are stashed in the museum.

Inaugurated by President Soeharto on Aug. 23, 1993, Ibu Tien's 70th birthday, the Purna Bhakti Museum is the fulfillment of the first lady's dream.

In 1984 Ibu Tien told Indonesian architect Franky du Ville to build a museum where the historical evidence of her husband's achievements and dedication to the nation could be preserved. The collection stretches from the early years of independence up to the era of national development. The museum was also planned to be a showcase for the president's family to display the souvenirs they have received from other leaders and from friends.

"It is clear that physically these souvenirs are given to me. But, I know that actually all of these souvenirs are presented as a token of friendship for all Indonesian people. By establishing this museum, I want to show the world that their message of friendship has been conveyed to the Indonesian," the President said at the inauguration.

The museum is also a token of gratitude from President Soeharto and his family to God and of the President's recognition for the support and trust from the people of Indonesia.

Javanese tradition dictates that nasi tumpeng (rice cone) be served during thanksgiving ceremonies. The museum therefore takes the form of a tumpeng. The idea came from Mrs. Soeharto, who chairs the Purna Bhakti Pertiwi foundation which funded and manages the museum.

Du Ville translated Mrs. Soeharto's idea into a giant plate- shaped building with a big cone surrounded by nine smaller ones. The peak of the largest conical structure is decorated with golden ornaments. The white cement lines coiling up the exterior resemble the slices of egg omelette spiraling up a tumpeng. The nine smaller cones are capped with green peaks to resemble the green banana leaf covering the top of a tumpeng.

Surrounding this 18,000-square-meter building are four more conical structures. These are yellow, are linked to main building and house the special collections.

It took five years, from 1987 to 1992, for PT Wijaya Kusuma Contractor to build the museum and develop its 19.73 hectare compound.

The project cost Rp 40 billion (US$17.77 million) which doesn't included the cost of the land.

Despite the sheer number and great variety of the gifts, the air conditioned museum is spacious and comfortable. Unlike other Indonesian museums, it is clean, luxurious and modern.

Thanks to its architecture, Indonesians who find museum visits deadly boring will find the Purna Bhakti Museum different.

Struggle

Visitors are welcomed in the main building by the Struggle Exhibition Hall. Wood reliefs depicting President Soeharto's life decorate the walls.

There are six panels, each describing a certain period of Soeharto's life. The first panel portrays the pre-independence period, starting with a relief of baby Soeharto, who was born on June 8, 1921, in Kemusuk village, Yogyakarta, being carried by his parents Kertosudiro and Sukirah. To the right side of Soeharto and his parents is a man beating a drum. There is also a scene of children reading the Koran. The information board says that between 1929 and 1935, Soeharto did not only like to play with his friends, but also used to pray and read the Koran in the village prayer house. The panel, which focuses on Soeharto's career path, includes his 1944 promotion to the rank of chudanco or company commander in the Japanese backed PETA (Indonesian auxiliary troops).

The second panel is for the independence period. In October, 1945 Soeharto led a 12-hour-attack on the Japanese garrison in Yogyakarta; December, 1945 Soeharto, a lieutenant colonel at that time, was appointed commander of Regiment III of Yogyakarta by Gen. Sudirman, the supreme chief of the people's army. This period ends with Soeharto's marriage to Siti Hartinah who is known today as Ibu Tien.

The third panel mostly describes Soeharto's successful military career. He was assigned to fight members of the Indonesian Communist Party who, led by Muso, raised arms against the government in Madiun, East Java in September 1948. He was the commanding officer in a battle with rebels in West Papua (now Irian Jaya) in 1962.

The abortive communist coup in 1965 marks the beginning of the fourth panel. In 1966, Lt. Gen. Soeharto appeased a student movement protesting against the ruling government. On March 11, 1966, Soeharto was assigned by President Sukarno to stabilize the country that was in tumult. On March 12, 1967, Soeharto became Indonesia's acting president.

Soeharto's inauguration as president and the implementation of the first to fourth Five Year Development Plans (Repelita) are depicted in the fifth and sixth panels. The general elections in the New Order period are also mentioned here. There are also reliefs of Soeharto receiving a 1985 Food and Agricultural Organization award for Indonesia's achievement in food production and a 1989 United Nation ward for his achievement in the national family planning.

The panels are carved from Blora, East Java teakwood, and was executed by Balinese artists.

An annoying flaw of the museum is the frequent spelling mistakes in the information texts. Lancome, the famous cosmetic brand name, for example, is written Lancom. The name of the wife of a former president of Egypt is written Jehan Sadat in the English version, but Jihan in the Indonesian version.

Soldier

The second part of the Struggle Exhibition Hall is devoted to mementos from Soeharto's soldiering days, such as his uniform, rifle, pictures and decorations.

Right in the middle of this Struggle Exhibition Hall is a 15- meter inverted tree, its roots pointing in the air. The sawo kecik (small fruit tree), brought from the Alas Purwa forest in Banyuwangi, East Java.

Agung B. Partawijaya, from Central Java, sculpted the 1.48- meter tall tree with a diameter of over two meters. The carving depicts an episode from the Ramayana epic entitled Rama Tambak. The epic tells of King Rama's quest to get his wife Sita back after she is kidnapped by Rahwana. It also tells of the willingness of King Rama's people to sacrifice themselves and to assist him. It obviously implies that Soeharto's achievements are based on the strong support of Indonesians, hard work, mutual cooperation and God's blessings.

Entering the second hall of the main building, which is also the Main Exhibition Hall, visitors are greeted with a couple of Panyembrana statues made of antique coins installed at the right and left side of the entrance. The 2.4-meter-tall statues were made by Dewa Made Windih of Bali.

Collections

The museum holds more than 10,000 items from both Indonesia and other countries. They include gifts and the private collection of President Soeharto and his family.

The first lady supervised the team arranging the displays inside glass cases. The eight months of work reminds the visitor of a luxurious jewelry store.

Because of the wide variety of gifts, the displays are arranged according to what each item is made from. There are cabinets teaming with silver, gold, crystal, wood, lacquered wood, precious stones including jade and onyx, various traditional cloths, ceramics and diamonds to mention a few. Paintings, toy soldiers, wayang kulit (leather puppets) and stuffed animals are also exhibited. Some items are new, others are antiques.

The gifts come from heads of state, tycoons, ministers, governors and community groups. There is a lovely silver sailing boat from the Indonesian community in Spain, a gold-plated sirih (betel) set from R. Muhamad Noer Atmadibrata, a former governor of Jambi (1968 - 1974), a porcelain jar with a square cover with Arabic calligraphy from Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication Joop Ave, famous glassware by American artist Dale Chihuly from President and First Lady of the United States Bill and Hillary Clinton, a Palestine State Honor sword from Yasser Arafat and an 18th century Ching dynasty basin from real- estate tycoon Ciputra.

Aside from famous people, the gifts also come from ordinary citizens, such as a marcolin crystal eagle from the committee of the inauguration of Terminal II of the Sukarno-Hatta airport.

Jade

A wood statue by I Ketut Modern of Bali entitled Membrayut was a present from tycoon Sudwikatmono, a devoted donor to the museum as indicated by numerous other gifts displayed in many parts of the museum. The carving on johar (Cassia siamea) wood could be related to Sudwikatmono's admiration for Soeharto's success in reducing the fast growing number of population through the family planning program. The statue shows a couple carrying their 13 sons. There is no explanation on why there are no girls in the family since the wording in the information sign says only "Previously, people believe the more children they have, the luckier they are. But now, the more children we have, the more burden we get."

Two jade items placed in separate big glass boxes are obviously the creme de la creme of the collections. One is a Chinese Empress bed presented by tycoon Probosutejo, who is a step-brother of President Soeharto. The bed is 2.77 meters long, 2.14 meters wide and 3.04 meters tall. It is a replica of Chinese empresses' beds during the Sung (960 to 1279) and Ming (1368- 1644) dynasties. The elegant bed is rich in ornaments and jade carvings.

The other one is a ship made of Nephrite jade, entitled Nine Dragon Ship, presented by Sudwikatmono and two other businessmen, Budi Djohari and Herman Wijaya. The ship, which is a symbol of the grandeur of the Chinese empire, weighs 3.90 tons, is 4.10 meters long, 0.95 meter wide and 2.50 meters tall.

For the Chinese, jade is considered the best gift one can give to a president because in old Chinese tradition, jade represents power and sovereignty. Since it is considered a symbol of perfection, the Chinese empire always used it as an imperial seal.

In the Special Exhibition Hall, visitors are confronted with hundreds of medals, certificates and coins. The Soeharto's have set up their wayang kulit collection in the Hastabrata Hall. The wayang set is from the Wahyu Sri Makutha Rama story and depicts eight leadership principles known as the hastabrata.

On the second floor on this hall are family photos. It is very interesting to see the family's intimate and informal pictures. There are photos of Pak Harto playing the guitar, practicing his photography, golf and fishing and vacationing on a beach in Bali with his grandchildren. Also there are the wedding pictures of Mbak Tutut, a nickname for the president's first daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, one of Indonesia's most successful businesswomen. The pictures give a brief peep into the other side of the first family.

President Soeharto's library of 40,000 titles from various fields, such as philosophy, religion, politics and sciences, is locked up in a special hall in the museum compound. Unfortunately, visitors are only allowed to browse through a small number of books and magazines on the first floor. (als)