i miss my president

today at 1.30 PM, ex president Soeharto passed away. a sad moment indeed for indonesia.

i was in the middle of sunday shopping and quick lunch at burger king with a friend, when i heard the breaking news time signal from a tv set nearby. sad.

when i got back home, i quickly open the net to read news of his passing. i was shocked with what i found in the foreign publication. most of them was even written by indonesian american citizen. in one of the article it said that soeharto was a dictator ruled 32 years of the most brutal and corrupt government!! i was almost in tears reading about it. who are they to say such things. yes, he did use dictatorship to rule the country, but so does singapore today. maybe it was brutal to people that loves creating chaos, because they were forced to surrender to peacefulness. But for the MAJORITY of indonesian, soeharto era was the most comfortable, secure and peaceful time. i was able to drive with no tinted glass at 3AM in the morning without being afraid of getting mob. everything was affordable, from education to entertainment. indonesia was respected globally. it was religion neutral. for the MAJORITY of indonesians, it was one of the happiest moment we had. soeharto thinks of the MAJORITY of indonesians, especially the farmers, the simple people. today, who thinks of them?

i understand that he has flaws, he made mistakes, he may be corrupt. but which government is not corrupt. america? or even indonesia post soeharto era.

but i also understand and respect what he has done. and as human being, it's not right for us to discredit the good someone has done, and remember only the mistakes. soeharto may not be a saint, but during his time, it was definitely not THE MOST brutal and corrupt goverment in the 20Th century!! (totally GILA!! for someone to write something like that).

anyway, everybody has the right to speak his/her opinion, but i still feel that the right to speak is the right to speak responsible.

besides the bad article, there is something nice that i manage to find on the net. some never seen before photos of president soeharto, indonesia's father of development (soekarno is the father of independence and unity).

i will miss my president.

why do i call him "my president"?

since i was born, he was the president and my memories of growing up is him, happy, peaceful and endless opportunities.

reality check today, UNCERTAINTY.

*all photos are taken from TIMES/CNN