Originally posted by ^tamago^:
[b]Suharto not getting
honours he deserves: MM
TODAYonline
Monday January 14, 2008
JAKARTA Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew says that many have
forgotten what former Indonesian President Suharto has done for his
country. He was in Jakarta yesterday to visit the critically-ill Mr
Suharto.
Speaking to the media after he left the hospital, Mr Lee said Mr
Suharto is not getting the recognition he deserves.
Adding that he came to pay tribute, he said: "I feel sad to see a
very old friend with whom I had worked closely over the last 30
years not really getting the honours that he deserves. He deserves
recognition for what he did. And the younger generations both in
Indonesia and in the world do not remember where Indonesia
started. I do.
"He gave Indonesia progress and development. He educated the
population. He built roads and infrastructure. And from Sukarno's
konfrontasi and other foreign policy excesses, he stabilised
international relations, cooperated in Asean and made Asean more
successful than SARC in South Asia. And today, we have a stable
South-east Asia.
"Yes, there was corruption. Yes,
he gave favours to his family and his friends. But there was real
growth and real progress. I think the people of Indonesia are
lucky. They had a general in charge, had a team of
competent administrators including a very good team of economists
to build up the country."
Mr Lee went on to put the developments in perspective.
"From '67 when he became President right up to '97, the economy
grew and Indonesia was on the point of taking off. It didn't take
off not because of his fault but because Bank Indonesia's interest
rate was too high."
Mr Suharto's condition worsened yesterday, two days after he
suffered multiple organ failure, doctors said. AGENCIES
He couldn't think less of that of
himself, so in his view, corruption is OK, as long as there's
progress overall, even if majority of it goes to the
elites.[/b]
of course suharto dun deserve the respect... he made indonesia
to become so poor... 
