Titles up for grabs, politicians line up
Titles up for grabs, politicians line up
Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Some people may have taken Shakespeare's "What's in a name?" to
heart and decided they needed more weight to their names,
yearning for the prestige of a royal title.
About 600 people, including prominent politicians, have
reportedly submitted requests to be granted royal titles from the
Hadiningrat Kraton of Surakarta in Central Java.
Among them are Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob
Nuwa Wea, Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure
Soenarno, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien
Rais, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, Minister
of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno and a Malaysian minister.
Should the requests be fulfilled, royal titles will be granted
to the applicants on Sept. 27, a day before the 60th anniversary
of the crowning of Sultan Pakubuwono XII, who is locally called
Jumenengan. The celebration, held four times a year, will take
place on Sunday.
"This time we have 600 requests," Prince Dipokusumo, the
executive operator of the Surakarta palace, told The Jakarta Post
on Friday evening.
Not all of the requests will be fulfilled as there is criteria
to be met. Among the criteria are that applicants should be known
by the palace, respect the country's many cultures -- not just
Javanese -- and have historical ties to the palace.
However, meeting only one of the criterion could be enough to
be granted a royal title.
Royal titles to be granted are, among others, Kanjeng Raden
Tumenggung, equal to a district chief, and Kanjeng Raden Adipati,
equal to a regent.
Both Amien and Akbar are likely to be considered as highly as
regents.
"Who will get what will be decided by the sultan," said
Dipokusumo.
Those granted royal titles are expected to help retain the
kraton's dignity as well as develop the royal culture.
However, Dipokusumo said there was no monitoring board to
later evaluate the behavior of those bestowed with royal titles.
No money should be paid to the palace for the royal titles, at
least not for Dipokusumo as he said: "I do not know about the
others, but I myself have never accepted any payment or bribes
from people for granting them royal titles."
Those bestowed with royal titles should pay only Rp 50,000
(US$5.80) for a certificate.
The advantage of becoming a royal is a question of prestige,
not material gain.
With the bestowing of titles, more "district chiefs" and
"regents" will be among the populace by the end of this month.