Soeharto neighbors sick and tired of student rallies

Soeharto neighbors sick and tired of student rallies

JAKARTA (JP): Residents living near the private residence of
former president Soeharto and his family in Menteng, Central
Jakarta, are appealing to students to halt their protests in the
upmarket neighborhood.

Interviewed by The Jakarta Post separately, the neighbors
urged the students to hold their protests at other sites, such as
the Attorney General's Office or the House of Representatives.

The residents, particularly those from Jl. Teuku Umar and Jl.
Suwiryo close to the Soeharto compound on Jl. Cendana, said they
did not object to the student protests as such, but to the
disruption of their daily lives and damage to private and public
property.

Protesters, mostly university students and members of
different student organizations, have stepped up their
demonstrations in Menteng in recent weeks.

Most of the protesters demand the Soehartos and their
associates be brought to court immediately for alleged
corruption. They also accuse Soeharto of human rights violations
during his 32-year rule.

The residents said they lived in a constant state of unease.

Mrs. Muchtony, in her 40s from Jl. Teuku Umar, said
she prepared to move her four-year-old child and 80-year-old
father-in-law to a relative's house whenever the street began to
fill with protesting students and troops.

"I mean this is a residential area. If they want to hold a
demonstration, why don't they choose other more appropriate
places, such as the Attorney General's Office or the House?" the
housewife said.

"Besides, the protests have not succeeded because the students
have never even been able to see the fence of Soeharto's house
due to the tight security blockade, let alone hoping that he, his
children or his lawyer would be willing to come out of the house
(to meet the protesters)."

Her husband's parents have owned the house, located about 200
meters from the Soeharto residence, since the 1940s. Mrs.
Muchtony runs a small cafe, Palm Terrace Cafe, on its grounds.

She said the most exasperating time for the residents was when
the protesters used stones and Molotov cocktails in an effort to
break through the cordon of security personnel.

"One of the tents in my cafe was burned recently, and many
times the protesters took the paving stones in front of my house,
which unfortunately has a low fence," Mrs. Muchtony said.

Her small cafe was once a favorite hangout for the children
and grandchildren of Soeharto.

Her next-door neighbor, Christine, also hoped students would
find another location to hold their protests.

"The students today have no clear vision for their protests
anymore," said the member of non-governmental organization the
National Solidarity Foundation. "They should have staged their
protests at the Attorney General's Office or at the House, tell
them (the officials and the legislators) to properly carry out
their jobs, negotiate with them ..."

"So, don't hold the rallies here. It's useless."

Leo, a security guard at a house on Jl. Suwiryo, which has
been used by the police for months as the site to blockade the
students, said his employers also were disturbed by the students'
actions.

"It is especially true when stones, Molotov cocktails or tear
gas canisters are thrown inside the house," he said.

Mrs. Muchtony said most of the residents were now expert at
detecting when a rally would occur.

She said a sure sign was the sudden arrival of many street
vendors.

Mrs. Muchtony said she and her neighbors also dealt with
students, police officers and reporters knocking on their doors,
asking permission to use the bathroom and perform their prayers
in the house.

"If I don't allow them, I feel bad. But if I let them in, many
others will follow. What if they do something bad inside the
house? So, I just don't give them permission."

Christine said she allowed reporters in, especially women.

"I always feel sorry for the women reporters -- what if they
got hurt? I once saw one of them injured by a stone."

The women were apathetic about Attorney General Marzuki
Darusman's plan to move Soeharto to an unidentified "secure"
location.

"If he's moved or not, that's not my business. I just don't
want to be disturbed by another rally," said Mrs. Muchtony. (09)