RIP Pak Harto

Finally, after weeks of breathless coverage of his near-death experience, Pak Harto had gone to meet his Maker. It's about time. I have no love whatsoever for Haji Muhammad Suharto, Indonesia's second President, who reigned with an iron fist for an unbelieveable 32 years. He was one of the most corrupt and brutal dictators in the 20th century. Think this is a stretch? Try asking the 500,000 members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and its perceived sympathizers who were violently vanquished in 1965-65 at the beginning of Suharto's New Order regime. Or the hundreds of thousands of East Timorese who were wiped out in scorched-earth campaigns when Indonesia annexed the then East Timor (now Timor Leste) in 1975. Or ask the thousands of Acehnese and Papuans who were mercilessly slaughtered in the military's decades long war against separatism. Or ask the countless numbers of activists who were 'disappeared' by the state apparatuses during his 32-year rule. Or people who are still being blacklisted for government jobs or university admission because their grandparents donated Rp100 to the Communist Party back in the 1960s.

Body counts aside, there is also the issue of chronic corruption. Suharto and his family, according to Time magazine and Transparency International, is the most corrupt head of state in the world, far surpassing Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (both are ignominously ranked second and third, respectively). No justice has ever been taken against Suharto, and now that he's gone his pending corruption charges will most probably be dropped or at the very least swept neatly under the rug by spineless current politicians who owe their wealth and influence from the man, Suharto, himself. I've always wondered why despicable people live a long life while noble ones don't. Suharto was 86 years old when he died and his fellow SE Asian despots-in-arm/golf buddies like Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew are still alive and kicking. I guess the old saying "only the good die young" never rings truer. It also reminds me of a quote by Oscar Wilde: No man is rich enough to buy back his past. And Suharto's blood-soaked past will always be an irrevocable part of his legacy however hard his family, cronies and sycophants try to spin it. Anyway, rest in peace Pak Harto, or however much peace you can get when you're finally being delivered your comeuppance in the hereafter. Amin!