by Jeremy Wagstaff
The only time Suharto was seen crying was when his wife, Ibu Tien, died in 1996. As with most the key watersheds in the New Order, the moment is cloaked in mystery. But his tears told us more about the man than anything else he said or did in 31 years of being Indonesia’s president.
Some time between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Sunday, April 28, Ibu Tien had awoken. She slept alone: They had been married 48 years but in recent times had grown apart. She had grown tired of the trappings of power, and had watched as her children’s avarice destroyed the family and as her husband renege on promises to step down. The previous day she had visited her beloved horticultural garden outside Jakarta. None of her family was with her and, to those who accompanied her, it seemed as if she was saying goodbye.
