Suharto Epitaphs

January 14th, 2008, in Opinion, by Janma

Slightly premature epitaph poetry for Suharto.

Soeharto is about to move on people, in the spirit of celebration of what he meant to Indonesia we are now taking submissions for his epitaph to be written on his gravestone. I have started you off.


Suharto in 1965, at somebody else’s funeral.

May be in English or Indonesian.

Here lies Soeharto’s mortal remains.
His loss is our eternal gain.
For while he exercised his powers,
Whatever he gained, the loss was ours.

(Indonesian translation)

Disini berbaring almarhum Soeharto
Kehilangan beliau menjadi keuntungan kami, sebab,
selama beliau berkuasa, keuntungan beliau menjadi kehilangan kami.

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13 Comments on “Suharto Epitaphs”

  1. Martin Manurung Says:
    January 14th, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    Here lies Soeharto, former dictator of Indonesia. Catch me if you can!

  2. Achmad Sudarsono Says:
    January 14th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

    Dear Friend,

    I offer you the following poem:

    Suharto.
    The defender of Pancasila
    And builder of Indonesia
    His critic are too Westernized
    And do not know what it means to be a True Indonesia.
    The End.

  3. TheWrathOfGrapes Says:
    January 15th, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    Such a man - an officer and a gentleman
    Under-appreciated and under-honoured
    Harto, Pak, we are going to miss you
    As sala’amu alaikum
    Rest in peace
    Take care
    Omitofu

  4. Shorty Says:
    January 17th, 2008 at 9:22 pm

    Suharto 1921 - 2008.

    No more is needed. History, not populist blogs will make judgement. Remember we are the sum of our previous actions and experiences. Did suharto leave ri in a better state than when he took over in 1965? I think so.

  5. Janma Says:
    January 18th, 2008 at 10:24 am

    Or maybe just….

    “He Died”

  6. Johan Says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 2:13 am

    To Achmad,

    His “supporters” were American!!!! How much more westernized do you need to be. They plopped guns in the hands of the Sociopath’s hands, and gave the green flag to massacre alleged communists and anyone else who later posed a threat to his illegal entrance into politics….his self proclaimed 5 star general status.

    Achmad, how far up your ass is your head? I think you’re being distracted by your irregular heartbeat!

    Here’s an epitaph for the Godfather:

    Avoider of justice…
    Murderer of his own people…
    Father to spoiled, arrogant children…
    Husband of a mysteriously lost wife… (who knew too much)
    Hypocrite who journeyed to Mecca…
    Dead at last, to face a day in court that 12 lawyers could never protect him from.

    j

  7. nenek sihir Says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 5:21 am

    Yup, and Keating, Hawke and Whitlam will be pretty upset to see him gone too, while new PM Rudd here in Oz has sent his condolences…Western critics? LOL!!! Kopassus have been trained by the Australian military for years, both during and after the Suharto regime. Good riddance to him, but so many of his cronies and admirers remain-SBY and Bakrie are just a couple of examples, and don’t even start me on his vile family.

  8. Shorty Says:
    January 28th, 2008 at 6:36 pm

    It’s so bloody easy to blame those who came before for our problems.

    Grow up, it’s 10 years since suharto stepped down. Corruption and crime is far worse now than then.

    Maybe the epitaph should read ”a convenient scapegoat for our national immorality”.

    Judge yourself with the following questions.

    The cop wants rp20,000 for a real or imagined traffic infringement.

    Do you pay, or do you have your day in court?

    You need to do some official business.

    Do you automatically try to speed things up by paying/offering some cash?

    Theft is theft, bribes are bribes. the man who steals rp1000 is just as guilty as the thief who steals 1000 juta.

  9. dewaratugedeanom Says:
    January 29th, 2008 at 7:52 pm

    The head of a nation is only as strong as the number of guns that support him.

    The question is: Who paid for the guns?

  10. Thomas Says:
    January 30th, 2008 at 4:40 am

    The smiling general gone - thank god, now it is time to get his shitty family to trial
    People who really miss him should read some real history - one of the most cruel
    and corrupt of the last century. Indonesia still faces problems, but don’t
    underestimate people can vote what they want, they can say and write what they think,
    since Suharto stepped down - that is much more than any neighbouring South East Asian country
    -be proud of it Indonesia! Now it’s time to make a new step in your history - don’t let your children down

  11. mata merem Says:
    January 30th, 2008 at 6:04 am

    Here lies a man

    whose flaws one rather forget

    for if those flaws are to be remembered

    many from the ruling elite will have to be vindicated.

  12. TheWrathOfGrapes Says:
    January 30th, 2008 at 7:50 am

    History is written by the victors…
    Yes, there were some real mess in some real history…
    It is easy for us to be the judge sitting on out butts…
    If there were no Suharto, would a Sukarno marque II be any better?
    Could Indonesia have been plunged into anarchy if a weak leader had taken over?
    Could a weak leader hold an archipelago of 17, 508 islands together?
    Would “Indonesia” be better off being broken up into many countries like Russia disintegrating into the Commonwealth of Independent States?

    Questions, questions, and more rhetorical questions. We will never know the answers…
    We will never know the possible outcomes of what could have been…

  13. soeharno Says:
    March 24th, 2008 at 9:56 am

    Germany has the soul, acknowledged holocaust
    Japanese has no soul ignoring Nanking massacre
    US has no soul ignoring all its foreign policy’s death- Vietnam, Japa, Iraq.
    Indonesia (Soeharto) has no soul how they explain the killing of million innocent people.

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