Wiranto: Country boy with big ambitions

Blontank Poer and Slamet Susanto, Surakarta/Yogyakarta

This is the fifth in a series of articles on the five presidential candidates in the eyes of their neighbors or former neighbors.

Little is known about Wiranto by the folks in the place where he was born, Blunyah Gede village in Sleman, Yogyakarta, as he was brought up in Surakarta.

Suparjiman, 60, a Blunyah Gede resident, said that he did not know much about Wiranto's family or his activities during his younger days. "I only found out that he was born here after watching television and reading newspaper articles recently on his bid for the presidency," he said.

Wiranto spent his childhood in Sawahan, a hamlet in Boyolali regency, some 20 kilometers west of the big city of Surakarta. His father, Supaham Wiryowiyoto, was an elementary school principal in the city.

Like the lives of many other people in Surakarta at the time, Wiranto's childhood days were not characterized by luxury. The seventh of 10 children, he was forced to share many things with his siblings.

Since kindergarten until attending senior high school in Surakarta, Mas Ntok, as he was familiarly called, used to help his mother buy groceries in the market and so became familiar with the price of pepper, fish paste and other cooking ingredients.

He picked up Javanese spiritualism from his immediate surroundings. His parents were hardworking, modest and patient -- which made them respected by their children. Discipline was also deeply rooted in the family.

Wiranto, for instance, liked school. He walked to school even though it was located more than two kilometers from his home.

"Mas Ntok usually did his school lessons in the evening, after a bath. He would often stay up late with his friends," said Sunaryo, 65, a friend of Wiranto's during kindergarten and elementary school.

From an early age, said Sunaryo, Wiranto was known as a quiet boy.

He was good at badminton and was renowned as a skillful kite- flyer. "He was known as a smart boy in school and once wanted to become an architect so that he could help his family out financially," said Sunaryo.

But, this was not to be. Instead of becoming an architect, Wiranto pursued a career in the military. He did well in his chosen career, and secured the top post in the military in the late 1990s.

Although he became the commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), those close to him say he never became arrogant. Wiranto often dropped by the small coffee shop belonging to his former neighbor, Yadi, according to Yoyok, who lives in Madyotaman, close to the former house of Wiranto's parents.

Although many say he is humble, and close to his former neighbors and the Surakarta public, his chances of winning big in the area appear slim. In the recent legislative elections, the Golkar Party, which nominated him to run for the presidency, lost heavily to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chaired by Megawati Soekarnoputri.