From My Point of View

For years, we trusted Soeharto, the smiling Javanese Army General who became Indonesia's second president in 1966. For 32 years to be exact, villagers, farmers, fishermen, people on the street, my family, even me myself, trusted that man, who in appearance looked humble, sincere and honest. In front of his people, us, Soeharto always talk of serving his country without hoping for anything in return. He always talk about his call, his duty to this nation and its people, to bring prosperity, justice and transform Indonesia into a just and prosperous country: "Masyarakat Adil dan Makmur". And 1998 came. And the riot happened, students killed. Activist kidnapped and also killed. Layer by layer, the truth surfaced. Human rights violation, corruption, ineficient government, immoral police, prosecutors and judges. And we suddenly cannot trust Soeharto anymore. We lost our trust to him. And with it, we also lost our trust to the system, to the authority, to the state, to whoever ...