Suharto

1. When Stalin died, Mao gave him a 70-30 mark, meaning the good Stalin did (70%) outweighed his mistakes. At that time, Krushchev had debunked Stalin completely, ignoring his leadership during the Second World War when Russia bore the brunt of the war against Hitler losing over 20 million
lives in the epic struggle. Even though Mao did not like Stalin and never forgot the way Stalin treated him in Moscow, he had to acknowledge Stalin's contributions including his support of the Chinese revolution. When Mao died, Deng in turn gave Mao a 70-30 mark. Mao too made big mistakes in his later years but is deified today.

2. A proper historical evaluation of a great man needs the efflux of time after the early positve or negative emotions upon his death had subsided. Understanding this, the Vatican insists on a minimum time period before a holy man or woman can be considered for beatification and canonization. It is only a few years ago that China embarked on the writing of the official history of the Qing Dynasty. After a hundred years!

3. The historical judgement of Suharto also needs time. He was buried with full state honours at the beginning of the week but the debate about his place in Indonesian history rages on in the pages of the newspapers. His huge contributions to the development of Indonesia and the integration of ASEAN are undeniable. But he also had fatal flaws which brought him down in the end. Like Sukarno, I believe that the Indonesian people will judge Suharto kindly in the end.

George Yeo

Suharto

Comments

[saintmoron]

History did not record that Stalin nor Mao were charged for corruptions and nepotisms. That is a lot of difference!

[Charles]

Dear George,

are you sure comparing Suharto to Stalin and Mao does well for the service you want to render him?
Stalin being given a 70-30 by Mao thanks to whom millions died of starvation is a bit weird don't you think?
As for DXP, well one had to maintain a certain continuity, hadn't he?

But it is smart of you to link Suharto to China, as it is the Chinese who seem to complain more about Suharto's regime.

Charles
PS: do you think Stalin gave a 70-30 to Hittler before he went to the East?