General (Rtd) President Haji Mohd Suharto is no more.
He passed away just after 1pm yesterday after more than 3 weeks of being gravely ill.
Just what kind of legacy did he leave behind?
Suharto was instrumental in ending the Confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia, and advocated the strengthening of ties between the two countries. He also ended the life of the Partai Komunis Indonesia, an organisation his predecessor, President Sukarno, maintained, thus weakening the influence of the communists in this part of South East Asia.
It is my believe that the late President of Indonesia had to rule his country the way he did. It is not easy to maintain the cohesion of a country that is made of 13,000 islands with 200 million people. Look at what has happened to the country after that style of ruling was removed with the stepping down of Suharto in May 1998, following the Asian Economic Crisis. I am not trying to exonerate him of his acts when he was in power; I am merely saying that at that point of time, Indonesia needed such a ruler.
Despite the existence of nepotism, collusion, cronyism, corruption that existed during his rule, Suharto should be remembered for turning his country from a poor post-colonial nation into a modern and strong country. Most of those who demonstrated against him since 1998 until his passing were too young to remember the late President’s gift to them: freedom from colonial oppression.
During his time, race and religion issues never surfaced; but has now reared its ugly head, causing countless deaths amongst both Indonesians and foreigners. Forlorn Soldier should remember how ugly it was in Sulawesi when he was stuck there during the racial and religious wars that happened there after Suharto stepped down: something that had never happen before in that part of the world.
What Indonesians failed to see back in 1998 was, Suharto was not to blame for the economic crisis that had caused them to lose up to 80% of their purchasing power. It was a regional thing. Much like the empty promise certain quarters have made to the people of Malaysia should they be voted in to form a government – to reduce the price of fuel: where had these people come from? Saturn?
Anyway, my personal experience of Suharto’s Indonesia was of not hearing of any major crime taking place in Indonesia during Suharto’s time. No banks were ever robbed there. It would be almost suicidal to rob banks in Indonesia then, or to commit crimes against foreigners.
He also used to send one of his trusted friends, General Drs Widodo Budidarmo, then the Inspector-General of the Indonesian Police Force to Malaysia to enhance cross-border ties with the Royal Malaysian Police. My family hosted dinner for Pak Widodo at our residence (now part of the Tun Razak Memorial complex) at least three times before his retirement in 1978. The relationship between the police force of both nations were at its best then. It was then that my father was awarded the Bintang Bhayangkara Utama by Suharto, while Pak Widodo was made an Honorary Tan Sri when he received the Panglima Setia Mahkota Malaysia Yang Mulia (PSM).
Suharto, love him or hate him, was the best son Indonesia ever had up until now.
al-Fathihah.
SeaDemon Says 
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