[Kabar-indonesia] 'A thousand reasons for the people to love Pak Harto'

[Joyo at aol.com]

Detik.com 
August 31, 2006

'A thousand reasons for the people to love Pak
Harto'

Gagah Wijoseno, Jakarta -- Eight years after
stepping down, former President Suharto still has
many fans. A book containing the achievements of the
New Order regime has been launched. Interested?

The book, titled "A thousand reasons for the people
to love Pak Harto", is enlivened by testimonies by a
number of New Order officials such as former
minister of justice Ismail Saleh, former armed
forces chief retired General Wiranto and the former
finance minister Fuad Bawazier.

And it is not just former government officials. The
book of essays by Dewi Ambar Sari and Lazuardu Adi
Sage, which was launched at the Taman Ismail Marzuki
Arts Centre in Jakarta on Wednesday August 30, was
also enlivened by some 300 orphans as well as
politicians Sys NS and Mieke Wijaya. The orphans got
assistance in the form of money, cloths and food as
a sign of thanks for finishing the composition of
the book.

As could already be guessed, the contents of the
book illustrates the achievements of Pak Harto when
he was the president of Indonesia such as the
integration of East Timor, the liberation of West
Papua, the launching of the Palapa satellite and
achieving food self-sufficiency. The book also
contains photographs of Pak Harto's activities, both
with his late wife Ibu Tien as well as the times
when he received visits from state guests.

The final section of the book is filled with a
number of testimonies from ordinary people such as
tollgate attendants, workers, teachers and public
figures.

In his address at the launch, Saleh questioned the
selection of the book's title. "Why is the title a
thousand, whereas there are hundreds of millions of
reasons to love Pak Harto", he asked. Saleh said he
is convinced that even eight years after Suharto
stepped down there are still groups in society that
love Pak Harto. This was demonstrated by the
presentation of an award to Pak Harto by the
Indonesian Farmers Association.

Wiranto meanwhile praised Pak Harto's thinking. When
he was Suharto's adjutant, Wiranto admitted to
having learnt about how much Pak Harto respected the
rights of the little people. "I once asked Pak Harto
why he arrived at the Palace at 9am and not at 7am.
Pak Harto answered, because at 7am there are traffic
jams in Jakarta, so if I leave at 7am there will
definitely be work that will get to the office late
because of the extra traffic jams. So I would be
doing wrong [by the people]", explained Wiranto.
(umi)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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