Rahasia Nomor Seri Rp.100.000 (IMP 2004)

Setiap uang kertas mempunyai nomor yang unik dan tidak pernah sama atau terulang. Untuk saat ini nomor seri yang dipergunakan terdiri dari 3 huruf (prefiks) diikuti 6 angka. Bank Indonesia mempunyai sistem penomoran yang mengikuti aturan tertentu. Seperti apa aturan tersebut? Info uang kuno kali ini akan mencoba untuk membahasnya.

Pada pecahan 100.000 rupiah emisi 2004 terdapat dua hal yang perlu diperhatikan, yaitu nomor seri (3 huruf) dan tahun cetak "PERUM PERCETAKAN UANG RI IMP 200x" yang terletak di sudut kanan bawah sisi belakang. Kedua hal tersebut rupanya saling hubungan. Seperti apa hubungan tersebut?

Nomor seri terdiri dari 3 huruf (PDQ)

Tahun cetak dimulai dari tahun 2004

Setelah melalui pengamatan yang cukup lama, ternyata prefiks pada uang kertas pecahan ini (dan juga beberapa pecahan lainnya) mempunyai rumus sebagai berikut:


Prefiks yang pertama di cetak: AAA, diikuti AAB, AAC dan seterusnya sampai AAZ. Lalu setelah itu naik menjadi BAA (BUKAN ABA), diikuti BAB, BAC dan seterusnya sampai BAZ. Berlanjut terus menjadi CAA, CAB dst sampai CAZ. Setelah sampai ZAZ, baru menjadi ABA.


Singkatnya adalah demikian:

AAA---AAZ

BAA---BAZ

CAA---CAZ dst sampai ZAZ baru huruf kedua berubah menjadi ABA

ABA---ABZ

BBA---BBZ dst.


Dari keterangan di atas dapat disimpulkan bahwa huruf kedualah yang menjadi dasar perhitungan, bukan huruf pertama seperti yang selama ini kita duga.
Setiap huruf diikuti oleh 6 digit angka yang bermula dari 000001 s/d 999999 (999999 lembar uang kertas, atau kita genapkan saja 1 juta lembar). Berarti dari prefiks AAA, terdapat 1 juta lembar uang kertas, demikian juga AAB, AAC dan seterusnya. Karena abjad kita terdiri dari 26 huruf dari A-Z dan pada pecahan ini hanya 24 saja yang digunakan (I dan X tidak dipakai) maka setiap satu siklus lengkap huruf ketiga (misal dari AAA s/d AAZ) terdapat 24 x 1 juta lembar = 24 juta lembar.


Demikian juga dari BAA s/d BAZ, CAA s/d CAZ, masing2 terdapat 24 juta lembar uang kertas. Bila dijumlahkan setiap pergantian huruf kedua dari AAA menjadi ABA berarti telah dicetak sebanyak 24 x 24 x 1 juta lembar = 576 juta lembar uang kertas. (mohon koreksi bila saya salah)

Setiap prefiks dicetak pada tahun tertentu, dimulai dari tahun 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 dan yang terakhir tahun cetak berubah menjadi 2004 tetapi dengan tanda tangan Boediono. Bagaimana hubungan antara prefiks dengan tahun cetaknya? Silahkan pelajari tabel di bawah:


A-Z adalah huruf pertama
A-D adalah huruf kedua
Angka 4-5-6-7-8-9 menunjukkan tahun emisi
Huruf B menandakan tanda tangan Boediono

1. Hubungan antara prefiks dengan tahun cetak

Prefiks AA- sampai dengan BA- mempunyai tahun cetak 2004
Prefiks CA- sampai dengan SA- mempunyai tahun cetak 2005
Prefiks TA- sampai dengan MB- mempunyai tahun cetak 2006
Dan seterusnya sampai saat ini yang terakhir dicatat adalah YD- (pasti akan terus bertambah)
Diantaranya terdapat peralihan, misalnya prefiks LB- ada yang memiliki tahun cetak 2006 tetapi ada juga yang 2007. Peralihan dapat terjadi pada beberapa prefiks yang berdekatan.



2. Jumlah Cetak


Dari tabel tersebut juga dapat dilihat perkiraan jumlah cetak dari masing2 tahun emisi, yang paling sedikit tentu saja yang bertahun cetak 2004 (hanya ada AA- sampai BA-) berarti diperkirakan hanya terdapat 2 x 24 juta lembar uang kertas, disusul tahun cetak 2009 tt lama (Burhanuddin Abdullah) sekitar 4x, sedangkan untuk tahun2 cetak lainnya (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) relatif seimbang. Bila rumus di atas benar maka sampai saat ini telah dicetak sebanyak 4 x 576 juta = 2.304 juta lembar uang kertas. Apakah memang demikian, kita tunggu informasi lebih lanjut dari pihak yang terkait.



3. Prefik I

Sampai dengan saat ini saya tidak menemukan nomor seri pecahan 100.000 rupiah yang mempergunakan huruf I, sangat mungkin huruf ini sengaja tidak dipakai agar tidak keliru dengan angka 1. Tetapi di pecahan 1000 rupiah huruf I tetap dipergunakan.



4. Prefiks X

Huruf X juga tidak dipergunakan sebagai nomor seri dari uang yang biasa dicetak, tetapi dipakai sebagai seri pengganti bila ada uang yang rusak atau cacat. Karena itu seri X tidak mengikuti rumus di atas, tetapi mempunyai aturan atau rumus tersendiri. Untuk saat ini, sepertinya rumus yang yang dipakai adalah mengikuti aturan umum yaitu dimulai dari XAA, XAB, XAC, dst sampai XAZ, lalu beralih ke XBA, XBB, dst. Tetapi apakah XAX atau XBX dipakai atau tidak masih perlu penelitian lebih lanjut. Data yang berhasil saya kumpulkan sampai saat ini memang masih sangat minim sekali.
XBA (2006)
XCU (2007)
XDU (2007)
XFU (2008)
XGL (2009)
XGR (Boediono)
XHB (Boediono)

Dimana peralihan dan berapa banyaknya prefiks X yang dipakai belum bisa saya tampilkan, karena kurangnya data. Mohon bantuan teman2.

Penelitian kecil-kecilan semacam ini dapat dilakukan pada semua jenis uang kertas, dan saya menghimbau kepada teman2 semua untuk memulainya dengan pecahan-pecahan lain yang masih berlaku, misalnya pecahan 50 ribu, 20 ribu, 10 ribu, 5 ribu dan seribu rupiah. Dan harap diingat bahwa tidak semua pecahan mempergunakan rumus tersebut, pecahan 5 ribu rupiah contohnya, tidak memakai aturan seperti yang sudah diterangkan.

Pada kesempatan berikut info uang kuno akan mencoba membahas pertanyaan maha guru kita pak Sumana tentang macam-macam jenis variasi water mark yang ada pada pecahan 100 ribu ini. Gambar boleh serupa tetapi tidak sama persis. Kita tidak menyadarinya sampai ada pertanyaan dari beliau. Kira-kira ada berapa macam variasi yang ada? Silahkan teman2 melihat dan memperhatikannya mulai sekarang.




Sumber : http://www.uang-kuno.com/2009/11/info-uang-kuno-4.html

Read More

Waduk Jatigede Digenangi Bencana Sedunia

Sudah banyak para ahli geologi dari mulai Ir. Sobirin Ahli Geologi dan Bendungan dari Dewan Pemerhati Kehutanan dan Lingkungan Tatar Sunda (DPKLTS) tahun 2010 sampai ke yang terbaru di tahun 2015 Dr. Ir. Emi Sukiyah, MT, Ahli Geologi UNPAD menyampaikan tentang potensi ancaman ambrolnya Waduk Jatigede oleh Sesar Aktif Baribis. Dr. Ir. Emi Sukiyah, MT menyampaikan bahwa Infrastruktur sebesar Waduk Jatigede dengan volume bendungan 1 Milyar m3 (setara 1000 kali Situ Gintung) tidak seharusnya dibangun di Jatigede karena tektoniknya aktif dan berada di episentrum gempa. Dr. Ir. Emi Sukiyah, MT juga menyampaikan bahwa pemerintah seharusnya transparan terhadap resiko Waduk Jatigede.


Apabila kita bersedia berselancar di internet dapat dengan mudah kita temukan informasi bahwa ternyata Lempeng- lempeng bumi ini saling berkaitan satu sama lainnya dan di Jawa Barat ada tiga Sesar Utama yang saling berkaitan yaitu Sesar Baribis, Sesar Lembang, dan Sesar Cimandiri. Sesar Baribis membentang dari Purwakarta, Subang, Sumedang, Majalengka dan sampai ke Jawa Timur, Sesar Lembang berada di perbukitan Lembang Bandung, dan Sesar Cimandiri sesar yang membentang dari laut selatan Sukabumi, Cianjur, sampai ke Padalarang. Pergerakan Sesar Aktif Baribis dapat menghidupkan Sesar Utama lainnya dan yang lebih mengerikan adalah dapat membangunkan Sunda Mega Thrust, Lempeng Sunda yang membentang dari Burma sampai ke mendekati Australia sepanjang lebih dari 5000 km. Menurut para ahli geologi bagian Selatan Jawa Barat serta Selat Sunda sudah lama energinya tidak dilepaskan sehingga tersimpan energi sangat besar dan tentu saja apabila bangun energi yang dilepaskan akan besar. Menurut Pak Rovicky Ahli Geologi potensi gempa-nya lebih dari 8 Skala MMI, sebagai gambaran Gempa Nepal tahun 2015 yang membuka mata dunia adalah 7.4 Skala MMI, menewaskan lebih dari 8000 Jiwa. Tsunami Aceh 26 Desember 2004 adalah contoh nyata bangunnya Sunda Mega Thrust yang menewaskan lebih dari 200.000 jiwa.

Secara Spiritual Potensi Bencana Sedunia akibat digenanginya Waduk Jatigede sudah tersuratkan dalam Uga Jatigede, "Jatigede Dikeueum Ngahudangkeun Keuyeup Bodas Anu Bakal Ngabobol Bendungan", Jatigede Digenangi Membangunkan Kepiting Putih yang akan menjebol waduk dan Lemah Sagandu Diganggu Balai Sadunya, Kawasan Lemah Sagandu Diganggu Bencana Sedunia. Apabila melihat peta ternyata bentuk Sunda Mega Thrust mirip dengan badan Kepiting. Lemah Sagandu adalah kawasan Kabuyutan Cipaku Sumedang yang berupa kawasan lembah subur yang dibatasi sebelah barat Gunung Sangkanjaya/ Gunung Padang, sebelah Utara Bukit Pareugreug (Sesar Baribis), sebelah Selatan Gunung Cakrabuana, dan sebelah Timur Gunung Jagat. Di Kawasan Lemah Sagandu terdapat banyak situs- situs cagar budaya yang sudah ada sejak jaman pra sejarah, menurut para ahli sejarah adalah peninggalan jaman Megalitikum berupa punden berundak dan makam kuno, lebih dari 33 Situs tersebar di Kawasan Lemah Sagandu. Sebagian besar kawasan Lemah Sagandu saat ini kelestariannya terganggu oleh adanya Waduk Jatigede dimana 5 kecamatan dan lebihd dari 20 desa terancam akan ditenggelamkan, termasuk didalamnya 33 situs cagar budaya.

Menurut leluhur Kawasan Lemah Sagandu Diganggu Bencana Sedunia, seperti kita ketahui saat ini Pembangunan Waduk Jatigede sedang mengusik keberadaan Kawasan Lemah Sagandu. Secara faktual dan ilmiah Para Ahli Geologi mengatakan bahwa Waduk Jatigede dibangun di daerah episentrum gempa dan Sesar Aktif Baribis, membahayakan. Apabila kita korelasikan antara Uga dan Fakta Ilmiah tersebut maka dapat kita pahami bahwa Uga Jatigede tersebut bukanlah omong kosong, potensi bencana sedunia akibat penggenangan Jatigede itu nyata di depan mata. Apabila Jatigede digenangi akan membangunkan Sesar Baribis yang menjebol waduk dan Sunda Mega Thrust yang akan menciptakan Bencana Sedunia! Apabila kita mebuka mata hati melihat contoh nyata Bencana Gempa di Nepal baru- baru ini dan Tsunami Aceh tahun 2004 maka dampaknya sangat mengerikan.

Pemerintah seharusnya tidak menutup mata dengan potensi bencana yang akan terjadi karena dampaknya akan luar biasa terhadap keutuhan bangsa Indonesia. Secara teknologi pemerintah ketika membangun Waduk Jatigede sudah memasang robot atau alat untuk mendeteksi pergerakan tanah, namun apagunanya robot- robot tersebut apabila kemudian gempa besar merusak mendadak terjadi dimana sebelumnya tidak ada indikasi adanya retakan tanah. Saat ini tidak ada teknologi yang mampu mendeteksi kapan gempa akan terjadi namun sudah dipastikan di daerah yang pernah terjadi gempa atau di kawasan Sesar Aktif pasti akan terjadi gempa. Secara historis sudah terjadi bencana akibat gempa merusak di kawasan Sesar Aktif Baribis sehingga seharusnya pemerintah lebih membuka mata hati nuraninya terhadap potensi bencana yang akan datang.

Lebih parahnya potensi bencana akibat Penggenangan Waduk Jatigede pun menurut Uga tidak hanya mengancam Hilir dan Hulu Waduk Jatigede namun juga seluruh dunia. Pemerintah seharusnya lebih bijaksana untuk segera mengkaji kembali Waduk Jatigede dengan mengundang Tim Ahli Geologi dan Bendungan yang kompeten dan bersih (integritasnya baik) untuk mengevaluasi keamanan dan keselamatan Waduk Jatigede. Pemerintah harus segera menghentikan rencana penggenangan Waduk Jatigede yang rencananya akan dilakukan Akhir Juni 2015 dan menjadikan Waduk Jatigede sebagai Monumen Konservasi dan Lingkungan menunjukan bahwa pemerintah peduli terhadap kelestarian Sumber Daya Alam, Lingkungan, Budaya, dan Potensi Bencana yang akan terjadi.

Berikut ini Liputan Khusus Kompas Tahun 2011 yang membahas tentang Bencana Mengancam Indonesia.

https://books.google.co.id/books?id=uiRCgtidUwAC&lpg=PR15&ots=9H8Zx3bAui&dq=sesar%20baribis&hl=id&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q=sesar%20baribis&f=false




Sumber : http://www.kompasiana.com/dkabayan/waduk-jatigede-digenangi-bencana-sedunia_5562adeb79977396048b4569

Read More

Kembali Ke UUD 1945 Yang Asli

UUD 1945 termasuk salah satu konstitusi progressif di dunia. Di dalamnya terdapat semangat anti-kolonialisme dan pro-kesejahteraan sosial. Pasca reformasi, seiring dengan menguatnya angin liberalisme, UUD 1945 mengalami empat kali amandemen. Banyak yang berubah: UUD 1945 tidak asli lagi…

Satu hal yang patut dicatat dari amandemen itu: yang terjadi bukan proses melengkapi UUD 1945 itu agar senafas dengan kemajuan jaman, tetapi justru upaya mengotak-atik isinya dan membuang segala fondasinya yang berbau anti-kolonialisme dan pro kesejahteraan rakyat.

Hasilnya pun gampang ditebak. Sejak amandemen, kita menemui kembali bentuk-bentuk kolonialisme lama, yang dulu diperangi founding father kita, dalam berbagai aspek kehidupan ekonomi, politik, dan budaya.

Pengaturan ekonomi oleh negara dihilangkan: liberalisasi perdagangan, deregulasi, dan privatisasi. Model pengelolaan kekayaan alam dan sumber daya nasional pun berorientasi keluar (asing). Tujuan kegiatan ekonomi adalah keuntungan bagi usaha perseorangan, bukan lagi kemakmuran rakyat. Kita bukan lagi warga negara, tetapi sudah menjadi warga pasar.

Dalam politik juga terjadi demikian. Sistim pemerintahan kita menjadi penyokong kuat otonomisme yang hanya membesarkan raja-raja kecil di daerah dan mempermudah penetrasi modal asing di seluruh pelosok negeri. Parlemen kita hanya menampung pemburu kekuasaan dan pencari popularitas. Politik kita sekarang ini mirip dengan politik kolonial: politik yang mengabdi kepada kepentingan segelintir elit dan mengabaikan mayoritas rakyat.

Kehancuran budaya jauh lebih parah lagi. Semangat kolektivisme, yang menjadi ciri bangsa kita sejak dulu, telah hancur digerus oleh konsumerisme dan semangat mementingan diri sendiri. Kecintaan kepada negeri dan rakyat sudah berganti menjadi pemujaan terhadap komoditas.

Amandemen UUD 1945 salah kaprah. Alih-alih mengikut semangat reformasi, amandemen justru menjadi “kuda tunggangan” agenda neo-kolonialisme. Yang dituntut reformasi adalah adendum, yaitu penambahan klausul tanpa mengubah naskah aslinya, tetapi yang dijalankan oleh kaum reformis—yang dibelakangnya adalah lembaga-lembaga asing—mengubah substansi UUD 1945. Yang bermasalah kan cuma soal masa jabatan Presiden, tetapi kenapa Pembukaan, Batang Tubuh, dan Penjelasan diobrak-abrik juga.

Sebagai respon atas berbagai problematika bangsa itu, muncullah keinginan untuk kembali kepada semangat UUD 1945 yang asli. Akan tetapi, sebagian orang picik—khususnya klas menengah dan intelektual salon—berteriak “hati-hati dengan orde baru dan tentara!” Seolah-olah, di mata mereka itu, kembali ke UUD 1945 adalah proyek restorasi orde baru.

Ah, orang-orang ini tidak tahu sejarah. Orde baru tidak pernah melaksanakan UUD 1945 secara murni dan konsekuen. Apa yang terjadi selama 32 tahun orde baru adalah pengebirian terhadap UUD 1945: kolonialisme direstorasi sejak 1967, demokrasi dan hak-hak berpendapat diinjak-injak, dan mayoritas rakyat telah dikeluarkan dari agenda pembangunan orba itu.

UUD 1945 dilahirkan oleh Revolusi Agustus 1945. Karena itu, jiwa dan semangat UUD 1945 adalah jiwa dan semangatnya Revolusi Agustus. “UUD 1945 adalah jiwa daripada revolusi 1945. UUD 1945 adalah anak kandung atau saudara kembar dari Proklamasi 17 Agustus 1945,” kata Soekarno, bapak pendiri bangsa kita.

Dengan demikian, upaya kembali ke UUD 1945 adalah bermakna kembali kepada semangat dan jiwa Revolusi Agustus. Ibarat orang yang sudah kesasar di tengah belantara, dengan bahaya sudah mengancam di hadapannya, maka tak ada pilihan selain bergegas mencari jalan pulang. Setelah itu, barulah kita berjalan kembali dengan penuh kehati-kehatian.

Hampir semua pergulatan gagasan dan cita-cita perjuangan bangsa kita terangkum dalam semangat Revolusi Agustus. Dan UUD 1945, yang dilahirkan sehari setelah proklamasi kemerdekaan, merupakan peta yang seharusnya menjaga kita dalam perjalanan panjang mengarungi cita-cita menuju masyarakat adil dan makmur.

Kini, peta itu  sudah dimanipulasi kolonialis dan kaum liberal. Petunjuk jalan yang mesti kita lalui sudah dikaburkan. Di tengah kebingungan dan keputus-asaan melihat jalan mana menuju ke depan, para perampok datang silih-berganti merampasi barang-barang dan bekal kita. Itulah yang terjadi saat ini.

Kita harus kembali ke semangat UUD 1945 yang asli: anti-kolonialisme. Sebagai langkah demokratis untuk ke sana, saya mengusulkan dilaksanakannya sebuah referendum. Referendum ini hanya membawa satu tugas pokok: menanyakan kepada rakyat apakah mereka setuju atau tidak untuk kembali ke UUD 1945 yang disahkan pada tanggal 18 Agustus 1945.

SUNARIO, warga negara Republik Indonesia (RI) dan tinggal di lereng Gunung Wilis, Madiun, Jawa Timur.

Read More

Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 Tidak Bisa Diubah dan Tidak Boleh Diubah

Dalam perspektif agama, semulya-mulya isi hati manusia ialah ‘Al Iman’ (Q.S. Al Anfal/55).
Karena iman itulah yang menjadi pondasi hidup, pegangan hidup, kompas hidup, pelita hidup dan nilai hidup.
Adapun cinta tanah air adalah salah satu cabang dari 79 cabang iman (HR Muslim, Abi Dawud, Nasai, Ibnu Majjah. Ket.dari Shohabat Abi Huroiroh).
Jadi cinta tanah air itu erat sekali hubungannya dengan agama, sebab cinta tanah air itu bagian dari iman, dan iman itu pokok pangkal agama.

Bagaimanakah mengaplikasikan rasa cinta tanah air itu ?
Didalam kitab Dalilul Falihin karangan Muhammad Ibnu `Alan Ash Shiddiqi, diterangkan :
“An yanbaghii likaamilil iimaani an ya`muro wathonahu bil `amalish shoolihi wal ihsaani”.
Artinya : “Seyogyanya bagi orang yang sempurna imannya akan berbuat kemakmuran tanah airnya dengan amal sholeh dan kebajikan”.
Menurut ta`lif diatas, untuk merealisasikan wujud cinta tanah air adalah dengan cara memakmurkan tanah airnya dengan : (1).Amal sholeh, dan (2). Kebaikan.
Memakmurkan dalam arti bahasa (arab) ialah “meramaikan”. Dengan kata lain, realisasi wujud cinta tanah air ialah dengan meramaikan/mengisi negeri ini dengan amal sholeh dan kebaikan.

Dengan cara apa ?
Banyak hal yang bisa dilakukan untuk itu, seperti : semangat bela negara, menjaga kelestarian ekosistem alamnya, turut serta mencerdaskan masyarakat dengan ilmu yang dimilikinya, ikut membantu membenahi moral penduduk di lingkungannya, mencegah hal-hal buruk yang mengganggu tanah airnya, dan yang tidak kalah penting ialah menjaga dan melestarikan kesucian Negara Republik Indonesia.

Adapun kesucian dan kemulyaan Negara Republik Indonesia telah terpuntal didalam Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45. Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 adalah mutiara kilau kemilau yang harus dijaga sampai kapanpun sebagai bukti cinta tanah air kita.Usaha Merongrong PancasilaPada saat ini, memang ada usaha merongrong Pancasila. Dari kelompok yang berhaluan kiri ingin menjadikan Indonesia sebagai negara sekuler. Juga adanya bahaya laten yang masih mengancam Pancasila, ialah ideologi marxisme. Sedangkan dari kelompok yang berhaluan kanan, mereka ingin setback ke masa lalu dengan menambahkan 7 kalimat pada sila pertama : “Ketuhanan, dengan kewajiban menjalankan syariat Islam bagi pemeluk-pemeluknya”. (Piagam Jakarta sebelum penyempurnaan, yg disusun pada 22 juni 1945). Bahkan ada juga kelompok ekstrim kanan yang ingin mengganti Pancasila dengan ‘asas Islam’, dengan sistim pemerintahan khilafah (dipimpin oleh seorang kholifah).

Mereka beralasan, bahwa negara yang ‘baldatun thoyyibatun warobbun ghofur’ ialah negara yang meniru persis seperti negara yang didirikan Rosululloh dan dilanjutkan oleh para kholifah Khulafaur Rosyidin. Bila Indonesia ingin menjadi negara thoyyibah maka hanya dengan itulah satu-satunya cara. Menanggapi sistim pemerintahan khilafah, memang kami pernah mendengar hadits berbunyi : “Sebaik-baik masa adalah masaku dan masa-masa setelahku”. Tetapi bukan berarti kita harus mengikuti simbol-simbolnya seperti sistim pemerintahannya, adat-istiadatnya, surbannya, jenggotnya, dsb. Namun nilai-nilai positifnya-lah yang perlu kita ikuti, sebab pada tiga abad pertama Islam itu adalah masa-masa kejayaan dan keemasan, yaitu dengan muncul dan berkembangnya peradaban, ilmu pengetahuan, ilmu tafsir, ilmu hadits, ilmu tajwid, ilmu qiroat, ilmu nahwu, shorof, balaghoh, kedokteran, matematika, astronomi, dengan tokoh-tokohnya seperti Ibnu Sina, Al Farabi, Al Kindi, juga Syafii, Maliki, Hambali, Hanafi, Bukhori, Muslim, dsb.
Kalau mau mengikuti maka ikutilah nilai-nilai positifnya kebenaran Abu Bakar, keberanian Umar, kepandaian Ali, bukan simbol-simbolnya. Toh model pemerintahan khilafah tidak menjamin kebaikan negerinya, buktinya…mungkin kita lupa bahwa sepeninggal itu telah terjadi pertumpahan darah berebut kekuasaan di negara Madinah.

Sedangkan menanggapi tentang pengubahan Pancasila dengan menambah 7 kalimat pada sila pertama, atau mengganti Pancasila dengan asas Islam, maka secara tidak langsung berkeinginan memecah belah Bangsa Indonesia yang beraneka suku dan agama. Justru ini adalah langkah mundur.
Kalau difahami betul, sebenarnya sila pertama dalam Pancasila ialah ‘Tauhid’.
Sebab yang dimaksud ‘Tuhan’ dalam sila Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa, ialah Tuhan yang bernama “Alloh”, bukan lainnya.

Apa buktinya ?
Bahwa pengertian dalam sila-sila Pancasila itu dijabarkan/ditafsirkan/dijelaskan di dalam Pembukaan dan Batang tubuh UUD`45.
Buktinya, didalam Pembukaan UUD`45 alinea 3 berbunyi : “Atas Berkat Rohmat Alloh Yang Maha Kuasa”.
Kemudian didalam Batang tubuh UUD`45 / bab III / pasal 9, berbunyi : “Demi Alloh,”.
Dari awal sampai akhir UUD`45 tidak menyebut nama Tuhan lain selain “Alloh”, kalau dialih-bahasakan menjadi Laa ilaaha illalloh.
Inilah salah satu kesucian dan kemulyaan Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 yang harus kita amankan.

Memang kekhawatiran kita terhadap usaha perongrong Pancasila ini perlu kita cermati lebih dalam, karena kelompok masyarakat yang satu ini telah mempunyai kendaraan politik yang mulai mendapat simpatik dari masyarakat luas. Maka tak ada salahnya kalau kita lebih meningkatkan kewaspadaan untuk mengamankan Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45.

* * *


Mungkin ada sebagian yang bertanya-tanya : “Pancasila yang diyakini paling baik dan sempurna telah dijadikan dasar negara, dan tidak diubah-ubah, tapi mengapa sampai sekarang Negara RI masih compang-camping, masih jauh dari cita-citanya. Kenapa bisa begitu ?”.


Jawaban atas pertanyaan ini ialah : Pancasila sebagai dasar Negara RI adalah sudah baik dan sempurna, tapi Pancasila itu tidak bisa praktek sendiri, para penyelenggara negara dan seluruh lapisan bangsa yang harus mempraktekkan Pancasila agar Negara RI bisa mencapai cita-citanya.


Kiranya ada sepenggal kalimat dalam UUD`45 yang banyak dilupakan, yaitu didalam Penjelasan UUD`45 / rum II / judul: Pokok2 pikiran dalam Pembukaan / ayat 4 :
“.....yang mewajibkan pemerintah dan lain-lain penyelenggara negara untuk memelihara budi pekerti kemanusiaan yang luhur dan memegang teguh cita-cita moral rakyat yang luhur”.
Dan disebutkan lagi dalam Penjelasan UUD`45 / rum IV / judul: Undang2 Dasar bersifat singkat dan supel / alinea 4 : “Yang sangat penting dalam pemerintahan dan dalam hal hidupnya negara ialah semangat, semangat para penyelenggara negara, semangat para pemimpin pemerintahan. Meskipun dibikin Undang2 Dasar yang menurut kata-katanya bersifat kekeluargaan, apabila semangat para penyelenggara negara, para pemimpin pemerintahan itu bersifat perseorangan, Undang2 Dasar tadi tentu tidak ada artinya dalam praktek”.


Jadi menurut kedua Penjelasan UUD`45 di atas, oleh karena Undang-Undang Dasarnya sudah bagus maka yang penting ialah prakteknya.
Dengan praktek itulah maka Negara Republik Indonesia akan mencapai tujuannya.

* * *
Secara obyektif, sebenarnya Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 itu tidak bisa diubah dan tidak boleh diubah sampai kapanpun dan oleh siapapun.

Adapun alasan-alasannya ialah sbb :

Alasan Pertama.
Pancasila, disamping sebagai dasar negara, Pancasila juga menjadi falsafah hidup Bangsa Indonesia yang tertanam dalam jiwa Bangsa Indonesia sejak berabad-abad lamanya, Pancasila adalah kepribadian Bangsa Indonesia.

Pada pidato Amanat Presiden yang diberi judul “Apa sebab Negara RI berdasarkan Pancasila” pada tgl 24 september 1955 di Surabaya, Presiden Sukarno berkata : “Aku tidak mencipta Pancasila. Sebab sesuatu dasar negara ciptaan tidak akan tahan lama….. Jikalau engkau hendak mengadakan dasar untuk sesuatu negara, jangan bikin sendiri, jangan karang sendiri. Selamilah sedalam-dalamnya lautan dari pada sejarah. Gali sedalam-dalamnya bumi dari pada sejarah….. Aku menggali lima mutiara yang terbenam didalamnya….. Aku bukan pencipta Pancasila… Aku hanya menggali Pancasila dari pada buminya Bangsa Indonesia sendiri. Aku gali kembali dan aku sembahkan Pancasila ini atas persada Bangsa Indonesia kembali untuk dipakai sebagai dasar dari pada wadah yang harus berisi masyarakat yang beraneka agama, beraneka suku, beraneka adat-istiadat”.

Dan lagi, pada tgl 5 juni 1958 di Jakarta, dalam pidato Bung Karno yang berjudul “Pancasila membuktikan dapat mempersatukan Bangsa Indonesia”, beliau mengulangi lagi bahwa ia bukan pembentuk dan pencipta Pancasila, melainkan sekedar salah seorang penggali dari pada Pancasila itu.
(Kedua pidato Presiden Sukarno diatas kami nukil dari buku “Perjuangan Bangsa Indonesia menegakkanPancasila dalam masa penjajahan” hal 164, karangan Prof. Mr. A.G. Pringgodigdo).
Jadi Pancasila itu bukan karangan siapa-siapa. Jiwa Pancasila telah ada sejak dahulu bersamaan dengan adanya Bangsa Indonesia. Para pendiri negara hanyalah menggali dan merumuskan apa yang sudah ada dalam benak Bangsa Indonesia sejak dulu.
Oleh sebab itu, pada tgl 1 juni 1945 mungkin lebih tepatnya bukan disebut ‘Hari lahirnya Pancasila’ tapi ‘Hari lahirnya istilah Pancasila’.

Atau pada tgl 29 mei 1945 bisa juga disebut ‘Hari lahirnya redaksionil Pancasila’ karena pada hari itu pertama kalinya lima sila disampaikan oleh Mr. Muh.Yamin secara lesan (pidato) maupun tertulis di depan BPUPKI (ada perbedaan dalam redaksionil rumusan lima sila secara lisan dengan yang tertulis). Walaupun Mr.Muh.Yamin tidak memberi nama ‘Pancasila’ tapi redaksionil dalam lima sila (rumusan tertulis) itulah yang paling mirip/mendekati dengan redaksionil Pancasila yang berlaku sah sampai sekarang.

Berdasarkan fakta di atas, mungkinkah Pancasila yang sejak ribuan tahun lalu telah menjadi jiwa Bangsa Indonesia, menjadi kepribadian Bangsa Indonesia, identitas Bangsa Indonesia, dan kemudian dijadikan dasar negara, akan bisa diubah seenaknya?

Tidak bisa, kecuali bila Bangsa Indonesia dimusnahkan dulu, lalu dimunculkan bangsa yang baru, maka bisalah mengganti Pancasila, tapi itu tidak mungkin terjadi.
Jadi Pancasila tidak bisa diubah dan tidak boleh diubah.

Alasan Kedua.
Pada zaman Sriwijaya dan Majapahit, Bangsa Indonesia telah mengalami masa yang gemilang, mempunyai negara yang merdeka, bangsa yang bersatu dan berdaulat, mengenyam kehidupan yang adil dan makmur, gemah ripah loh jinawi tata tentrem kertaraharja, karena unsur2 yang terdapat didalam Pancasila telah menjadi asas dan menjiwai kehidupan Bangsa Indonesia di zaman Sriwijaya dan Majapahit.
Didalam buku “Orientasi singkat Pancasila” hal 15, karangan Prof. Darji Darmodiharjo SH., diterangkan : Bahwa memang istilah Pancasila telah dikenal pada zaman Kerajaan Majapahit di abad XIV M, yaitu sebagaimana terdapat didalam buku “Nagarakertagama” karangan Prapanca dan didalam buku “Sutasoma” karangan Tantular, dengan sebutan : ‘Pancasila Krama’ artinya : Pelaksanaan kesusilaan yang lima.

Oleh sebab itu, bila Bangsa Indonesia ingin mengulang kembali kejayaan yang pernah dialami oleh Sriwijaya dan Majapahit, maka Pancasila harus tetap menjadi asas dan menjiwai kehidupan Bangsa Indonesia di Negara RI ini.

Mungkinkah ada unsur ketidaksengajaan sehingga Pancasila itu bisa berlanjut sejak Sriwijaya, lalu Majapahit, dan kemudian Negara RI?
Jelas disini ada ‘Kehendak Agung’ yang mengaturnya.
Oleh sebab itu Pancasila tidak boleh diubah karena sudah menjadi Kehendak Pengatur alam semesta.

Alasan Ketiga.
Pancasila sebagai dasar negara menunjukkan bahwa Pancasila itu sebagai sumber dari segala sumber hukum atau sumber dari seluruh tertib hukum yang ada di Negara RI.
Berarti semua sumber hukum atau peraturan2, mulai dari UUD`45, Tap MPR, Undang-Undang, Perpu (Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang2), PP (Peraturan Pemerintah), Keppres (Keputusan Presiden), dan seluruh peraturan pelaksanaan yang lainnya, harus berpijak pada Pancasila sebagai landasan hukumnya.
Semua produk hukum harus sesuai dengan Pancasila dan tidak boleh bertentangan dengannya.

Oleh sebab itu, bila Pancasila diubah, maka seluruh produk hukum yang ada di Negara RI sejak tahun 1945 sampai sekarang, secara otomatis produk hukum itu tidak berlaku lagi. Atau dengan kata lain, semua produk hukum sejak awal sampai akhir, semuanya, ‘Batal Demi Hukum’. Karena sumber dari segala sumber hukum yaitu Pancasila, telah dianulir.
Oleh sebab itu Pancasila tidak bisa diubah dan tidak boleh diubah.

Alasan Keempat.
Dalam pembukaan sidang pertama BPUPKI tgl 29 mei 1945, Dr.KRT. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat (ketua) meminta agar sidang mengemukakan dasar Indonesia Merdeka.
Pada saat yang sama pula, Mr.MuhYamin dan R.P.Suroso mengutarakan pentingnya merumuskan dasar negara Indonesia. Selanjutnya Mr.Muh.Yamin menyampaikan lima dasar untuk Negara Indonesia Merdeka.
Tgl 31 mei 1945, Prof.Dr.Soepomo dalam pidatonya juga membicarakan bagaimana dasar-dasar Indonesia Merdeka.
Tgl. 1 juni 1945 dalam sidang BPUPKI, Ir.Sukarno mengemukakan dasar Indonesia Merdeka, selanjutnya beliau memberi nama Pancasila.
Pada tgl 22 juni 1945, sembilan tokoh menyusun Piagam Jakarta yang merupakan cikal bakal rumusan Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45.
Dan akhirnya pada tgl 18 agustus 1945 disahkan oleh Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia menjadi dasar negara.
(Dalam buku “Orientasi singkat Pancasila” hal. 9-10, karangan Prof. Darji Darmodiharjo SH.).


Berdasarkan sejarah, maksud dan tujuan para pendiri negara merumuskan Pancasila, tidak lain adalah untuk dipergunakan sebagai dasar Negara RI.
Apabila merubah Pancasila berarti kita meragukan pengorbanan jiwa raga dan harta benda para pahlawan kemerdekaan. Hal itu tidak patut dilakukan dan tidak ada rasa hormat serta rasa bakti kepada para pejuang yang telah mendahului kita.

Prof. Mr. Muh.Yamin di hadapan seminar Pancasila ke 1 di Yogyakarta, beliau mengatakan : “Zaman untuk memperdebatkan maksud dan isi Pancasila telah lama lewat dan lampau. Tidak baik dan melanggar rasa kebaktian apabila kita memperdebatkannya…. Akan melanggar rasa kebaktian penuh kehormatan kepada beribu pejuang yang telah gugur di medan pertempuran membela NKRI berdasarkan ajaran Pancasila. Berdebat tentang Pancasila akan berarti suatu tanda kebimbangan ratusan rakyat sekarang kepada pengorbanan bagi pelaksanaan peranan luhur segala pejuang yang mengorbankan harta benda dan jiwa raga”. (Pidato ini dinukil dari buku “Hubungan antara Proklamasi dengan Pembukaan dan Batang tubuh UUD`45” hal.220, karangan Letkol. J.W. Sulandra SH.).

Berarti Pancasila tidak patut untuk diubah karena akan melanggar etika dan moral terhadap para pejuang tanah air.

Alasan Kelima.
Pembukaan UUD`45 adalah mencakup tentang pokok-pokok kaidah negara yang fondamental, seperti : sifat negara (alinea 2), bentuk negara (alinea 4), dasar negara (alinea 4), tujuan negara (alinea 4).
Dengan kata lain, Pembukaan UUD`45 merupakan wujud utuh bangunan Negara RI. Sehingga apabila merubah Pembukaan UUD`45, berarti merubah sifat negara, bentuk negara, dasar negara, tujuan negara. Dan ini sama halnya dengan merombak total bangunan Negara RI.
Walhasil, kalau merubah Pembukaan UUD`45 maka secara otomatis merobohkan Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia sama sekali, dan mendirikan negara yang benar2 baru lagi.
Oleh sebab itulah Pembukaan UUD`45 tidak bisa diubah dan tidak boleh diubah.

Alasan Keenam.
“Maka disusunlah Kemerdekaan Kebangsaan Indonesia itu dalam suatu Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Indonesia” (alinea 4 Pembukaan UUD`45).
Mencermati kalimat diatas, Pembukaan UUD`45 mengamanatkan untuk segera disusunnya Batang tubuh UUD`45.


Jadi Pembukaan UUD`45 ini menjadi landasan hukum atau payung hukum adanya Batang tubuh UUD`45.
Berarti secara hirarki tertib hukum, kedudukan Pembukaan UUD`45 ini lebih tinggi dari kedudukan Batang tubuh UUD`45.


Dan berdasar atas prinsip bahwa suatu peraturan hukum hanya dapat diubah oleh lembaga yang lebih tinggi atau yang sama kedudukannya, maka Pembukaan UUD`45, bahkan Pancasila, tidak dapat diubah oleh siapapun termasuk oleh MPR hasil pemilu sekalipun. Karena keberadaan MPR itu dibentuk oleh Batang tubuh UUD`45 / bab II / pasal 2, yang notabene kedudukan hukumnya ada dibawah Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45. Otomatis MPR tidak punya wewenang untuk mengubahnya, apalagi DPR atau Presiden.
Jadi Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 tidak bisa diubah dan tidak boleh diubah.

Alasan Ketujuh.
Didalam naskah akhir rumusan Pembukaan UUD`45 yang ditetapkan oleh PPKI pada tgl. 18 agustus 1945, draft kalimat dalam alinea ke 3 yang berbunyi “Atas Berkat Rohmat Alloh” itu diganti menjadi “Atas Berkat Rohmat Tuhan”.
Tapi anehnya, didalam Berita Republik Indonesia Tahun II nomor 7, kalimat yang muncul ialah “Atas Berkat Rohmat Alloh”, ini ajaib. (dinukil dari buku “Hubungan antara Proklamasi dengan Pembukaan dan Batang tubuh UUD`45” hal 227, karangan Letkol. J.W. Sulandra SH.).


Dalam sejarah tidak ada penjelasan siapakah yang mengembalikan dari sebutan “Tuhan” menjadi sebutan “Alloh” lagi, padahal yang telah disahkan oleh PPKI adalah yang berbunyi : “Atas Berkat Rohmat Tuhan”.
Seakan-akan proses perubahan kalimat ini atas Kehendak Alloh.
Siapakah yang mengganti kalimat itu? Dicari-cari dalam sejarah tidak ada yang tahu.
Tapi kenapa bisa berganti?
Inilah yang menjadi alasan gaib berikutnya mengapa Pembukaan UUD`45 tidak bisa diubah dan tidak boleh diubah.

Alasan Kedelapan.
Didalam Pembukaan UUD`45 alinea 3 yang berbunyi : “Atas Berkat Rohmat Alloh Yang Maha Kuasa dan dengan didorongkan oleh keinginan luhur supaya berkehidupan kebangsaan yang bebas maka rakyat Indonesia menyatakan dengan ini kemerdekaannya”.
Pernyataan ini menunjukkan suatu ikrar akan keyakinan hidup religius yang mendalam dari Bangsa Indonesia.
Oleh karena 'kemerdekaan' (satu paket yg meliputi Pancasila, Proklamasi 17 agustus, dan Pembukaan UUD`45) yang diraih Bangsa Indonesia itu merupakan Karunia Alloh (“Atas Berkat Rohmat Alloh”) maka manusia tidak berhak mengubah Karunia Alloh tersebut.

Alasan Kesembilan.
Antara Proklamasi 17 agustus `45 dengan Pembukaan UUD`45 adalah satu rangkaian yang tidak bisa dipisahkan.
Isi pengertian teks Proklamasi memuat dua hal pokok :
1). Pernyataan Kemerdekaan Bangsa Indonesia.
2). Tindakan2 yang harus segera diselenggarakan sehubungan dengan pernyataan kemerdekaan itu.

Begitu juga Pembukaan UUD`45 hakekatnya merupakan pernyataan kemerdekaan yang lebih terperinci dengan memuat pokok2 pikiran untuk mendirikan negara dengan segala aspek kelengkapannya.
Alinea 3 yang berbunyi : “maka rakyat Indonesia menyatakan dengan ini kemerdekaannya”, substansi kalimatnya sama dengan pokok yang pertama dalam teks Proklamasi (pernyataan kemerdekaan).
Dan alinea 4 yang berbunyi : “Kemudian dari pada itu untuk membentuk suatu Pemerintah Negara Indonesia...............sampai akhir”, substansi kalimatnya sama dengan pokok yang kedua dalam teks Proklamasi (tindakan2 yang harus segera diselenggarakan sehubungan dengan pernyataan kemerdekaan itu).

Keduanya ada keterkaitan karena Pembukaan UUD`45 merupakan penuangan jiwa Proklamasi, dan Pembukaan UUD`45 adalah uraian terperinci dari Proklamasi 17 agustus `45.
Sehingga, apabila merubah Pembukaan UUD`45 maka secara tidak langsung 'menganulir' Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia 17 agustus `45, yang menjadi garis demarkasi antara era penjajahan dengan era berdirinya Negara RI.
Mengubah Pembukaan UUD`45 sama halnya dengan tidak mengakui Kemerdekaan Bangsa Indonesia dan tidak mengakui berdirinya Negara RI.
Oleh sebab itu Pembukaan UUD`45 tidak bisa diubah dan tidak boleh diubah.


* * *

Maka berdasarkan alasan-alasan di atas, hakekat dan kedudukan Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 adalah fondamental, kuat, dan tetap. Sehingga Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 tidak bisa diubah dan tidak boleh diubah oleh lembaga apapun termasuk oleh MPR hasil pemilu sekalipun.

Lalu bagaimana dengan amandemen UUD`45 yang telah empat kali dilakukan MPR?
Amandemen pertama disahkan pada 19 oktober 1999, amandemen kedua disahkan pada 18 agustus 2000, amandemen ketiga disahkan pada 10 november 2001, amandemen keempat disahkan pada 10 agustus 2002.

Penjelasannya ialah : MPR sama sekali tidak punya wewenang merubah Pembukaan UUD`45, karena kedudukan hukum Pembukaan UUD`45 berada di atas lembaga MPR.
Namun terhadap Batang tubuh UUD`45, MPR diberi peluang bisa mengubah / mengamandemennya, sebagaimana disebutkan dalam Batang tubuh UUD`45 / bab XVI / pasal 37 / ayat 1,2,3,4.
Dari ayat 1 sampai ayat 4, semuanya menyebut tentang “perubahan pasal-pasal Undang Undang Dasar”, jelaslah bahwa yang dimaksud ialah merubah Batang tubuh, bukan Pembukaannya ('pasal-pasal' hanya ada di dalam Batang tubuh, tidak ada di dalam Pembukaan).
Jadi amandemen Batang tubuh UUD`45 (bukan Pembukaan UUD`45) secara hukum boleh dilakukan asalkan tidak bertentangan dengan Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45, karena Batang tubuh UUD`45 itu merupakan pokok2 pikiran yang terkandung didalam Pembukaan UUD`45.

Dengan kata lain, boleh-boleh saja mengamandemen Batang tubuh UUD`45 asalkan pasal-pasal yang menjelaskan tentang prinsip-prinsip dasar dalam Pembukaan UUD`45 tidak ikut di-amandemen, seperti : pasal 1 (tentang bentuk negara dan kedaulatan negara), pasal 29 (tentang dasar negara).
Sedangkan pasal-pasal dalam Batang tubuh UUD`45 yang tidak mengatur tentang kaidah negara yang fondamental, boleh-lah di-amandemen seperti pasal-pasal yang mengatur soal lembaga-lembaga tinggi negara, hubungan antar lembaga, atau yang mengatur tentang tata kelola pemerintahan negara, dan sejenisnya.

* * *

Mengamankan Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 berarti menyelamatkan, mempertahankan dan menegakkannya secara benar, agar tidak diubah, dihapus, ataupun diganti dengan yang lain.
Mengamankan Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 pada hakekatnya adalah mengamankan Negara Republik Indonesia.

Bila dasar negara terancam berarti negara terancam. Bahkan apabila Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 diganti, maka runtuhlah negara, artinya negara telah dikhianati atau Negara Proklamasi 17 agustus `45 telah diganti (dengan negara lain / baru).

Oleh sebab itu, Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 harus dijaga dengan baik, lebih-lebih dalam dunia modern sekarang ini, dimana persaingan ideologi bangsa-bangsa telah menumbuhkan pertentangan baru, seperti kapitalisme-komunisme-fasisme.
Maka masalah pengamanan Pancasila dan Pembukaan UUD`45 adalah masalah yang sangat penting dan menjadi tanggung jawab pemerintah beserta seluruh rakyat Indonesia.

Penulis: Al Halaj Muhyiddin

Read More

Cendana Dalangi Peredaran Uang Palsu

Cendana Dalangi Peredaran Uang Palsu
JAKARTA (SiaR,16/3/99), Tommy Suharto, Bambang Tri dan Mbak Tutut terlibat dalam pembuatan uang palsu pecahan Rp 20 ribu dan Rp 50 ribu, ironisnya uang tersebut digunakan untuk membayar kelompok masyarakat kecil dan preman bayaran guna mendukung operasi politik laskar Cendana.

Banyaknya uang palsu beredar di masyarakat tampaknya merupakan usaha anak-anak Soeharto untuk membiayai kegiatan laskar sipilnya. SiaR menemukan uang pecahan palsu yang banyak beredar di masyarakat berbentuk pecahan Rp 50 ribu dan Rp 20 ribu, dua pecahan Rupiah tertinggi. Uang palsu tersebut sekilas persis sekali dengan uang yang asli. Baik dari segi kualitas tintanya maupun kertas yang digunakan.

Menurut sumber SiaR jenis kertas yang digunakan adalah kertas yang lazimnya untuk bahan uang kertas, dan masuknya bahan kertas itu ke Indonesia tidak bisa sembarangan. Menurut sumber tersebut dahulu bahan kertas tersebut diimpor oleh 7 perusahaan yang mendapat ijin dari Perusahaan Uang Republik Indonesia (PERURI).

Perlu diketahui, pada era Orde Soeharto hanya 4 perusahaan saja yang boleh mendatangkan bahan kertas tersebut. Perusahaaan tersebut adalah perusahaaan milik Bambang Tri, Mbak Tutut, dan Tommy Suharto. Pihak swasta lain di luar keluarga Cendana yakni perusahaan milik Usman Sapta, seorang pengusaha dari Kalimantan.

Dalam beroperasi peredaran uang palsu tersebut keluarga Cendana menggunakan 11 orang pemasaran yang bertindak mencari nasabah yang mau membeli bahan kertas tersebut. Menurut sumber SiaR yang layak dipercaya , para pemasar itu kebanyakan dari kalangan ABRI dengan 5 orang otak pelaku. Yakni seorang pejabat tinggi PERURI, seorang brigjen dari Badan Intelejen ABRI (BIA), seorang mayjen anggota BAKIN era Sudibyo, seorang pengusaha dan seorang direktur Bank Indonesia.

Dalam prakteknya kasus peredaran uang palsu ini nyaris seperti praktek pencucian uang (money laundering). Contohnya, jika anda membeli sebanyak Rp 200 juta maka Anda akan mendapat uang "aspal" senilai Rp 500 juta. Itu belum termasuk honor para broker (istilahnya: "ranger fee"). Untuk honor mereka, 45% uang "aspal" Anda akan dipotong untuk para broker dan pemasar tersebut. Dengan demikian 55% sisanya jadi milik Anda. Menurut sumber tersebut bahkan lewat fasilitas seorang otak komplotan yang direktur Bank Indonesia bisa didapat no seri untuk uang tersebut hingga mirip uang asli. Namun no seri yang berlaku resmi tersebut juga digunakan oleh beberapa kertas mata uang pecahan lain. Ditengarai sebuah no seri tersebut bisa tercantum di puluhan kertas uang "aspal" tersebut.

Meski sepintas sama, secara kualitas uang "aspal" tersebut gampang untuk dicheck ke"asli"annya. Antara lain dengan menyinarinya di bawah cahaya ultraviolet. Yang palsu tak tampak tanda tersembunyi (hologram) bertulisan "BI". Selain itu, kalau mau diteliti, gambar tokoh yang disembunyikan dan baru bisa dilihat dicahaya juga berbeda. Pada yang palsu "si tokoh" dalam pecahan Rp 20 ribu dan Rp 50 ribu lebih tua dan lebih jelek ketimbang yang asli. Kertas uang palsu juga mudah robek, meski dari bahan yang yang sama yaitu linen paper.

Menurut beberapa sumber SiaR di kalangan wartawan sudah banyak terjadi kasus penolakan uang yang diduga palsu saat disetorkan ke bank, setelah di periksa dengan infra merah ternyata uang tersebut palsu. Berdasarkan hasil investigasi SiaR proses pencetakan uang tersebut ternyata dilakukan di dua tempat yakni di sebuah percetakan swasta di daerah Bandung dan percetakan milik Tommy di Pulau Batam. Indikasi bahwa keluarga Cendana terlibat dalam penggunaan dan peredaran uang palsu tersebut adalah saat SiaR menemukan beberapa anggota Yayasan Kesejahteraan Masyarakat Indonesia (YAKMI) yang menceritakan kekagetannya saat menyetor uang ke bank swasta di daerah Ciputat yang ditolak kasir karena uangnya palsu dan langsung digunting.

"Beberapa teman saya juga mendapat perlakuan yang sama," ujarnya. YAKMI laskar sipil yang bermarkas di perumahan Permata Pamulang, terdiri dari preman yang direkrut dan dilatih di Rindam Jaya selama 2 minggu guna menjaga kepentingan keluarga Cendana. Mereka digaji sebesar Rp 200 ribu saat latihan dan Rp 600 ribu saat tugas. Konon kelompok ini mempunyai sekitar 14 ribu anggota. Jika Satgas Tenaga Bantuan Sukarela (TEBAS) yang dipersiapkan YAKMI saat Sidang Istimewa November 98 lalu bersama Pasukan Pengaman Swakarsa (PAM-SWAKARSA) sadar bahwa mereka diupah dengan uang palsu yang dikeluarkan keluarga Cendana, mungkin mereka akan berpikir dua kali untuk rela berhadapan dengan mahasiswa .***

Sumber : https://www.library.ohiou.edu/indopubs/1999/03/16/0036.html

Read More

A Javanese “king” And His Cukong

Tulisan ini adalah bab pertama dari buku The Business Pillar of Suharto's Indonesia (Richard Borsuk, Nancy Chng).

A JAVANESE “KING” AND HIS CUKONG

One hankered after power, the other after money, and when they paired up they made a potent team that kept them on top in Indonesian politics and business respectively for three decades. President Suharto and Liem Sioe Liong worked very closely together, building a symbiotic relationship that resulted in huge benefits for both. Liem, founder of the colossal business conglomerate known as the Salim Group, proved himself to be a reliable businessman and became Suharto’s main cukong financial backer who is given protection by powerful political or military leaders. In his rise from an itinerant peddler to Indonesia’s wealthiest businessman, Liem received patronage from several generals, but most importantly from Suharto himself. The strongman acquired unchecked and, for a long time, uncheckable power and until his shocking resignation in May 1998, was one of the world’s longest-serving heads of government.  In 1983, sycophantic parliamentarians conferred on him the title Bapak Pembangunan — “Father of Development”, which Suharto cherished, as he liked to claim that all his endeavours were for the good of the “common man”. But while he claimed to identify with the “wong cilik” (Javanese for “little people”), Suharto saw himself as possessing the wahyu, sort of a divine right, to be the country’s ruler. An Indonesian historian once commented: “Like a Javanese monarch, Suharto always equated his self-control and harmony in relation to the spiritual world with the well-being of the nation and the state.”

He surrounded himself with people who could serve faithfully and unquestioningly. To stay at the apex of power, Suharto relied on several pillars. One was the military — which the general used effectively. He used money to keep the armed forces loyal to him and used them to suppress political opponents — both real and perceived ones. The military had stepped in to run companies of the colonial Dutch that Sukarno, the first president, nationalized in 1957, and top generals became used to having opportunities to enrich themselves. They became an even bigger player in Suharto’s New Order. Another crucial prop for Suharto was financial and other aid from the West. Indonesia was in dire straits when he came into power, and the way he and his team of Western-trained technocrats opened the country for foreign investment was vital for economic growth.
But the nation also needed to generate wealth domestically, and here is where Liem made substantial contributions to the New Order. The cukong and his Salim Group became a pillar for Suharto.


A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP

During Suharto’s authoritarian regime, politics and business were closely intertwined. Throughout his military career, Suharto had shown a keen interest in business, stemming from the days when he, like all regimental commanders, was expected to secure additional income to supplement the meagre pay of the soldiers. From as early as the 1950s, he had several trusted military aides and businessmen such as Sudjono Humardani and Mohamad “Bob” Hasan engage in ventures to raise funds. An early endeavour involved bartering sugar from Java for rice. Suharto’s overzealousness in generating money later earned him a rebuke and a transfer out of active command in 1959. The need for extra-budgetary funds predates the New Order; during President Sukarno’s time, the government also leaned on businessmen to fund his projects. Sukarno had a so-called “Revolution Fund”, from which he could dip into for his pet projects. But that paled in comparison to the fund-raising endeavours of his successor. Suharto was a master at squeezing money, which he needed to cement political support. These “unscrutinized off-budget sources of income” amounted to perhaps one-half of actual government expenditures in the New Order’s formative years, said an academic of his early prime contributors was Ibnu Sutowo, boss of state oil company Pertamina. This was one reason the president was so hesitant to hold the oil honcho accountable when he nearly bankrupted the country in the mid-1970s. Suharto’s early group of advisors included the influential “financial generals” who helped him network with Chinese businessmen, among whom was Liem.

After the Japanese Occupation ended in 1945, Chinese traders such as Liem scrambled to revive their interrupted businesses. They started provisioning soldiers of the new republic, who sometimes camped in the hills of Central Java in their fight with the Dutch troops. Liem was one of the suppliers to Suharto’s unit and managed to impress the soldiers with his eagerness, diligence and personable nature. One officer in charge of logistics, named Sulardi, was a cousin of Suharto. Some twenty years later, Sulardi’s younger brother Sudwikatmono would become Liem’s business partner. According to Sudwikatmono, it was his brother who introduced Liem to the man who became the second president of the republic. It was shortly after Sukarno relinquished power to Suharto in March 1966 that the seeds of the Liem-Suharto collaboration began to germinate. The following March, Suharto became Acting President, and he took an active interest in exploring business ventures with Chinese businessmen as well as members of his family.

In 1952, Liem moved to Jakarta, capital of the young republic, to hunt for opportunities. He left his business in Kudus to be looked after by his two brothers, although he still regularly travelled there as well as to Semarang. In 1956, Suharto was appointed commander of the Diponegoro Division, based in Semarang, and several of his aides in charge of finance continued their friendship with Liem. A few of them went on to assume important roles in the Suharto presidency; at least one recommended Liem as a worthy cukong for Suharto. Over time, Liem became what journalist David Jenkins called a “cukong extraordinaire” the president’s top “go-to guy” in money matters, transplanting other Chinese businessmen who jostled for proximity. Suharto, his limited formal education notwithstanding, was as wily as a fox when it came to making use of people, discarding those who could not consistently deliver the results he sought.

Although Liem and Suharto were born in different countries, they shared many attributes and character traits. Foremost was their humble backgrounds: Both were born to rural families and had limited access to formal education. They were superstitious and ascribed to mysticism. Character-wise, both men were usually unstintingly polite who hid their true feelings behind a pleasant countenance. This, however, belied the steeliness of their character. The Liem-Suharto partnership sustained each man’s ambitions. The Chinese migrant who arrived penniless in Java in 1938 became one of Asia’s wealthiest individuals, thanks to a combination of his character, link with the president, his business instincts and his networking skills. Liem, a big believer in feng shui, or Chinese geomancy, attributed his good fortune to hokie, or luck.

Suharto and Liem had a classic patron-client relationship, with the president “protecting” Liem, and ensuring his formative ventures succeeded by allowing him monopolies and preferential treatment. The payback was funds channelled the president’s way — either to family members, senior generals, the Golkar many foundations. Liem gave shares in his companies to Suharto’s family, starting with the president’s cousin Sudwikatmono, who was the designated partner for the Chinese businessman. He gave equity to Suharto’s two older children in his bank, Bank Central Asia. The conglomerate that Liem founded became known as the Salim Group, after the Indonesian surname he adopted in 1967, when Chinese in Indonesia were exhorted to adopt Indonesian-sounding names to facilitate their integration. Liem’s Indonesian name was Soedono (sometimes spelled Sudono) Salim. The “Soedono” part was picked for him by the president. It was an apt choice:
the prefix “soe” means “good” in Javanese (and many Javanese names, such as Suharto’s own start with that). It also jelled with Liem’s Chinese name, Liong, actually spelled Liang in hanyu pinyin, good. The “dono” part is Javanese for dana — the Indonesian word for funds or money. Salim, an Indonesian-sounding name indeed, resembled the Chinese for san Lin, san being the Chinese for three. It stood for the three Lins, Liem and his two brothers who migrated to Java. The fact that Suharto chose Liem’s Indonesian name in 1967 indicated how fully he came to trust Liem early in his tenure.

Liem withstood the test of time, proving his usefulness to the president over many years. He and Bob Hasan were Suharto’s closest cronies to the end. Bob was a foster son of Suharto’s ex-commanding officer Gen. Gatot Subroto. Aside from carrying out Suharto’s business assignments (since the 1950s), Bob was more of a chum to Suharto — his lifelong fishing and golfing partner. He was long-time chairman of the Indonesian Wood Panel Association, known as Apkindo, which operated in effect as a cartel. His political machine or Suharto’s companies received preferential treatment over the course of the New Order. A Chinese convert to Islam, Bob was given the Trade and Industry portfolio in Suharto’s last Cabinet in March 1998; the government lasted less than ten weeks (instead of the intended five years) when riots culminated in Suharto’s resignation. Never one to shy from controversy, the moustachioed Bob once declared he was “proud” to be a Suharto crony.

Like Bob Hasan, Liem admitted to being the president’s crony, despite the negative connotations the term had. In a 2006 interview with the authors, he said: “Yes, I was an antek (crony, or lackey), but I was not a bad one.” to as his main milk cow. He was trustworthy and could be counted on rallying fellow Chinese Indonesian tycoons to cough up contributions for Suharto’s many foundations — his “spigots” as Jusuf Wanandi called them Wanandi, an important behind-the-scenes political player and co-founder of the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in his memoir that Liem was the coordinator for donations by the Chinese tycoons for the president. Before each election, for instance, Suharto would summon Chinese tycoons to his ranch at Tapos, and drum up money for his political machine, Golkar. “We must make sure Golkar wins. For that I will ask Liem Sioe Liong to ask donations from you,”
Wanandi quoted the president as saying. “He [Liem] would decide (how much each would give) because he knew how much they were worth. And they wouldn’t dare not to give. They would transfer the money to Sioe Liong and he would give it to Suharto.”

In the early days of Suharto’s presidency, there were several Chinese businessmen who enjoyed closer links to the general, and got chances to do business for him. One was a Peranakan11 businessman, Jantje Liem, whose Chinese name was Lim Poo Hien. He later adopted the Indonesian name Yani Haryanto. Jantje’s father was a motorcycle distributor, but the son had an engine business. Jantje was introduced to Suharto by one of his generals, and soon won over the trust of the new president. His Indonesian name — Haryanto — was picked by Suharto, who injected Yan (which is how Jan is pronounced; the “tje” is Dutch for “little”) into the contraction of his own name — Harto. The Dutch-educated Jantje was debonair and mingled easily with Westerners. His fondness for hunting brought him in close contact with another wild game aficionado, Ken Crane, who worked at the U.S. embassy, and a firm and lifelong friendship developed. Jantje lived on Jalan Cendana in Jakarta’s Menteng district, and got Suharto to move there from his house on Jalan Agus Salim. Jantje became wealthy Over the years, Liem was the one the president turned from his sugar plantations and became a business partner with various members of Suharto’s family, including Mrs Tien Suharto’s brothers and later, with the president’s children (who grew up with his own kids).  Suharto’s suggestion that Jantje partnered Liem in business did not work out due to the different personalities, styles and cultural backgrounds.

Among the Totok (more recent arrivals of the Chinese) preceding Liem as having close links with Suharto were a small group of Hokchia, including Djuhar Sutanto, who were already supplying uniforms to the navy. But Liem came highly recommended by some of Suharto’s closest advisors including Maj. Gen. Sudjono Humardani, one of the financial generals, whose special relationship with Suharto was enhanced by his role as mystical advisor. Through him, Liem won Suharto’s confidence. When Liem became the cukong closest to Suharto and the one the president tended to turn to for getting big schemes started, one major factor may have been that Liem was spectacularly successful in getting capable partners to work with him. Also, he was able get capital from outside the country — hard to come by in the early New Order, when foreign banks were not making loans to the country.

Liem’s trustworthiness stood him apart; once he gave his word to undertake a mission, he would fulfil it, even if he had to make a loss. It was the way that Liem could be depended on, that was the glue for the strong bond that developed between the two men. In 1967, Suharto asked Liem to take Sudwikatmono as a partner, which signalled the start of what became referred to as “Cendana’s business interests”, Cendana being the name of the street where Suharto lived in Menteng, central Jakarta. Suharto tried to pair Liem with his wife’s brother, but that did not work out. The winning partnership turned out to be Liem, Sudwikatmono and two others — Djuhar Sutanto, who brought with him his associate, Ibrahim Risjad. These four formed the foundation of the Salim Group. The Indonesian media dubbed the four men “Empat Serangkai”, meaning a quartet, but the moniker which stuck was “the Gang of Four”.

THE JAVANESE “KING”

“Serving his master is the religion of the Javanese.” — Multatuli’s Max Havelaar

The earliest English language biography of Suharto, published in 1969, was written by journalist O.G. Roeder, who aptly described him as The Smiling General. Like the quintessential Javanese, Suharto sought to mask his feelings behind a smile (although there were occasions during his presidency when he showed flashes of anger). His cousin Sudwikatmono once noted that the word sabar, meaning calm or patient, is often associated with Suharto. It is one of three “S” words in the motto Suharto displayed on his office door: “Sabar, Sareh, and Soleh”. The motto, Sudwikatmono said, represented “Pak Harto’s [as Suharto was called] philosophy of life.
The words stood for patience; thoughtful consideration; and piety or virtue.” He wrote:

"If, for example, a staff member reports something in a hasty and nervous manner (Suharto) as a supervisor would accept it with “sabar”, not become excited himself. With “sareh”, a matter must be considered thoroughly before making a decision. Further, once a decision is taken, it should not be changed. As for “soleh”, we must always pray for HIS blessing as God will ultimately decide everything. For the Moslems, this is done by praying five times a day."

Because Suharto was so understated compared with his flamboyant predecessor, it was easy to underestimate him. When he took over the presidency from Sukarno, the U.S. embassy in Jakarta sent a cable to headquarters describing him as a “devious, slow-moving, mystical Javanese”. Another embassy report filed later called him inscrutable — “a contradictory mixture of modernizer, single-minded military officer and Javanese traditionalist”. Brian May, a journalist living in Jakarta in the 1970s wrote in his book Indonesian Tragedy:

"there were rare occasions when the man who overthrew Sukarno, and then brought to heel all the generals who helped him, shows himself for a second or two. The soft features suddenly sharpen and the kindly eyes glint menacingly. Few people have seen this steely transformation, but those who have, are struck by it. I saw it only once, when Suharto suddenly turned and fixed his glance on a suspected general who was talking to a European at a reception. At this moment he immediately appeared as a man who could not only lead, but rule, Indonesia."

Suharto was Javanese to the core — circumspect and deliberately slow to act, like a chess player pondering his next moves. The Javanese are polite and frown on emotional displays and flamboyant conduct. Retnowati Abdulgani-Knapp, author of an authorized biography of Suharto, commented on the nation’s second president: “His reserved approach and reluctance to make anyone feel uncomfortable or to embarrass anyone in public makes it hard to understand or guess what he is really thinking there are hints in his expression and gestures but they are not easy to decipher.” R.E. Elson, in his 2001 biography on Suharto, said “patience, stubbornness and calculation were Suharto’s watchwords — pushing forward when he saw openings, holding ground when opportunities closed, orchestrating the isolation and departure of potential obstacles or troublemakers.” On Suharto’s deceptively calm demeanour, Elson wrote:

"It took many of the Jakarta elite some time to realise that the cool, restrained, taciturn and ever-smiling Suharto had grown into a devastating, ruthless, manipulative politician, who had managed by shrewd calculations of timing, bluff and threat to dethrone the father of nationhood and himself attain the highest office in the nation within thirty months of the October 1 (1965) affair."

American political scientist Ben Anderson, banned for many years by the government from entering Indonesia for implying in his writings that Suharto might have had advance knowledge of the coup attempt launched the night of 30 September 1965, wrote after the strongman’s death: “Resentful, suspicious and cunning, the dictator made sure that no potential rivals, military or civilian, could develop any independent social or political base.”19 The late Mangunwijaya, a respected Catholic priest, once contended that Suharto felt he owned and was the state, remarking: “Suharto combines in himself the attributes of a King of Mataram, a Japanese military commander and a Dutch plantation lord.”

As a young man, Suharto did not stand out as someone destined for great things. He showed no burning ambition. He did not speak Dutch and was not fluent in English, unlike Sukarno who could converse in seven languages. And unlike promising officers in his peer group, Suharto was not picked for a training course overseas. Compared to Sukarno, who was university educated, suave and charming, Suharto was dull and rather wooden. Elson related the time Suharto nearly hung up his uniform; in 1950, when he was reprimanded by his divisional commander, Gen. Gatot Subroto, for starting a transport business to benefit his veterans, Suharto became so disheartened that he “almost decided to quit military service and pursue another profession; if need be [he] was prepared to become a taxi driver.” His wife quickly disabused him of the idea: “I told him that I did not marry a taxi driver; I married a soldier.”21 Despite his apparent lack of ambition, Suharto demonstrated that he was capable of seizing opportunity, something that Liem was also good at in business. And unbeknown to many in the early days, Suharto had a streak of ruthlessness in him. In the uncertain days following the attempted coup, his superior, Gen. Nasution (himself the target of the coup plotters) also underestimated him. While Nasution wavered (he was said to be traumatized by his daughter’s death, from gunshot wounds sustained the night of the coup), Suharto did not, and forced Sukarno to sign over power to him on 11 March 1966. Those who had their doubts about Suharto’s staying power would be proven wrong.

When Suharto spoke — unlike Sukarno, he could not excite or inspire crowds — he regularly used the word “framework” (rangka). His personal framework heavily reflected how the feudal traditions of Javanese culture were firmly embedded. In politics, Suharto proved to be a masterful dalang — the puppeteer who control the characters in the Javanese shadow puppet play, wayang kulit. Liem’s youngest son Anthony Salim, who after his return from studies in the United Kingdom often accompanied his father to meet Suharto, noted that there were multiple characters on Suharto’s screen, and “we are just only one of the players”. The president, he added was “a very strong man. He took advice from various sources but he made his own decisions.”
Often trying to weigh in were Suharto’s team of technocrats, led by economist Widjojo Nitisastro, and dubbed “Berkeley Mafia” as most were graduates of the University of California at Berkeley. But they had to compete for the president’s ear with a big cast, including cukongs, army generals and a group called the “nationalists”, led by influential Research and Technology Minister B.J. Habibie, whose big-spending national aircraft programme the technocrats hated but Suharto loved. (Habibie was Suharto’s last vice-president; he was sworn in as president when Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998.) Like the dalang, Suharto adeptly directed the political theatre. He masterfully played rivals off against each other and balanced competing interests. He would summon his advisors to see him individually — leading to people dubbing the process “KISS”, for ke-Istana sendiri-sendiri, or “going to the palace one by one”. People seeking time with the president often bumped into each other at Cendana. Anthony recalled multiple occasions when he and his father would bump into Widjojo coming out of meetings with Suharto. “He didn’t like us very much,” Anthony said of Widjojo.

Once his confidence grew, Suharto had his technocrats, politicians and military running scared. He brooked no dissent, and effectively sidelined those advisors deemed too big for their boots, or who were perceived to pose possible threats to his power. An early rare public display of anger was manifested after student protesters in 1971 slammed his wife’s grandiose plans to build a multimillion dollar theme park, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (for which Liem and other tycoons were squeezed for donations). Armed toughs bashed the students while Suharto threatened to use the military to “pummel anyone who tries to violate the constitution”.
Later, when a group of disaffected distinguished retired generals and former ministers signed a petition to parliament (referred to as Petisi 50) criticizing the president’s “self-serving” interpretation of the national ideology Pancasila, an enraged Suharto made their lives miserable for years, banning them from overseas travel, cutting off their credit and impeding their business activities.

AN IDEAL CUKONG

If Suharto needed a crony, there couldn’t be a better one than Liem. The Chinese businessman had a natural entrepreneurial flair, a pleasant personality and a charming mannerism that was an advantage when it came to networking. Moreover, he was generous, discreet and trustworthy. Liem’s credibility with the president grew when he was able to consistently deliver the goods. (Reliability was of paramount importance to Suharto. Long-time Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew wrote in his memoirs of his Indonesian counterpart: “I found him to be a man of his word his forte was his consistency.” Being Chinese, Liem posed no political threat to Suharto. Their relationship — formed from mutual need — became a real friendship. In 2006, when asked what kind of man Suharto was, Liem replied: “Kind and compassionate. He set up charities to help people; I told him, I have money, we can work together.”26 Kindness and compassion were not adjectives normally associated with the country’s second president, as his political enemies would attest. Naturally, Liem viewed the president from a different perspective, being beholden to Suharto. On his part, Liem could have been called “the genial tycoon”. People close to Liem describe him as even-tempered. His cousin Djoni Prananto said he never once saw Liem get angry or raise his voice. “Om [using the Dutch word for ‘uncle’, which is how most people address Liem] is sabar (calm or patient); he never got mad. Everyone liked him. And if someone  crosses him, he doesn’t seek revenge. If he ever got angry, he was quick to  forget”, added Djoni. Suharto quickly got comfortable with the Chinese businessman, who became a frequent visitor, dropping by casually some evenings without prior appointment at the residence on Jalan Agus Salim, and then at Jalan Cendana No. 10 after Suharto moved there. Unlike some of the leader’s relatives and aides, who treated him with condescension and occasionally even disdain, Suharto was always courteous with Liem. Liem recalled: “Pak Harto would stand up when I entered the room. Once I said to him, ‘Please don’t do that; we only stand up for our seniors but he laughed and replied: ‘I am an ordinary person’.”

Both Liem and Suharto had good instincts about people, and valued loyalty. Liem lined up an impressive array of partners who enabled him to achieve his goals. Suharto, thrown into decision-making at the highest level when he was ill-prepared, initially relied heavily on advice from a coterie of trusted aides and technocrats. But as they gained confidence and experience, both trusted their own judgements most of all. Suharto’s long list of advisors in the early days of the New Order got whittled down, and by early 1990s, he seemed to be listening only to a handful of sycophantic people and his immediate family. In the early years of his presidency, Liem and Suharto frequently exchanged ideas on business, with the cukong offering suggestions, but these would have been raised in the only way Javanese would do it — carefully, indirectly and in private. Later, Liem was the conduit for feedback from the private sector.

In dealing with Suharto, it was prudent to know one’s place. The president let it be known in no uncertain terms that he was the ultimate decision-maker. Anthony Salim made this comment about Suharto: “When speaking to any boss, you know where you stand. He is the boss.
In any organisation, the boss is still the boss, whether you think the boss is stupid or [is] right or wrong it doesn’t matter — he is the holder of power.”
His father’s decades-long relationship with Suharto was predicated on Liem knowing where he stood in relation to the president.
Only then could he continue to be in Suharto’s good graces and receive protection for his businesses.

Suharto and Liem both wanted to make money and that desire helped fuel their friendship. Although money made them powerful, and they lived for decades with the trappings of wealth and prestige associated with their station in life, both men clung to the nostalgia of their village childhood — the president was most relaxed being around the folksy-ness of farmers and Liem was content to have a simple breakfast of porridge and fried tofu with his family. Throughout his presidency, Suharto lived in the same unpretentious house on Jalan Cendana. His chief weakness was his indulgence in his children, and allowed them to enjoy the privileged life he never had when he was young. Although after his fall, many allegations were made about Suharto’s ill-gotten wealth (in a May 1999 issue, Time magazine claimed its correspondents found indications that at least US$73 billion passed through the family’s hands between 1966 and 1998), but Elson wrote that he believed Suharto was “not personally a greedy man ... he was interested in money because it was central to his capacity to maintain power and to move Indonesia in the directions he desired.”
Liem never publicly criticized the president, but years after Suharto’s resignation, the cukong opined that the president “indulged his children too much”.
On his part, Suharto almost never publicly talked about Liem, even when the Indonesian media were critical of favours accorded the cukong and his group. On one occasion he directly addressed these criticisms — meeting with pribumi (indigenous) bosses of small and medium-sized enterprises at his Tapos ranch in September 1995, he denied that he was in “collusion” with the Chinese financier. The reason Liem enjoyed big positions in cement and flour-milling was that he had been asked to invest in industries needed by the state, the president said. Liem said Suharto enjoyed listening to stories about Chinese history and folktales, even if initially he did not understand everything Liem said. Speaking in a mixture of Indonesian and Javanese but with a very heavy Chinese accent, Liem could not always make himself understood to the president. Sudwikatmono once half-jokingly said whenever he was present at their meetings, he had to be translator for Liem. Liem said he introduced Suharto to Chinese herbs, and made sure the president was supplied with ginseng, bird’s nests, cordyceps and other expensive herbs and tonics.

So intertwined were the fortunes of the two men that it was inevitable that Suharto’s fall in 1998 imperilled Salim. Just as Suharto had a long list of enemies that grew over his thirty-two-year rule, Liem attracted a host of business rivals and foes, both Chinese and pribumi who resented Salim’s special position. May 1998 opened payback and backlash time. Liem’s time as strategist and deal-maker was over; it fell to Anthony to prevent the crushing of the empire. In retrospect, Anthony said, one of Suharto’s main failures was that he did not embrace change because he became too powerful and stopped listening to things he did not want to hear. “Suharto ruled the country based on [the concept of] Javanese king and philosophy Society could accept that, at the time. But it takes two hands to clap. [Over time], the situation changed, the social structure changed, expectations changed. So you have to embrace change in order to adapt, otherwise you become a dinosaur.” The close association that Liem had with Suharto came at a price — enmity. When the strongman fell, the knives came out for all those associated with him. Naturally, Liem was a prime target. During the frenzied May 1998 rioting, mobs (thought to be organized) broke into Liem’s Jakarta residential compound, setting fire to his house and cars. Liem would never live in Indonesia again.

Shared Belief in Mysticism
Another common ground shared by Liem and Suharto was their interest and belief in mysticism. Liem was deeply superstitious, often seeking advice from Buddhist monks and Taoist fortune-tellers before embarking on ventures. Before he became more overtly Muslim, Suharto was a practitioner of kebatinan — Javanese mysticism — and often consulted with dukun, or spiritual advisors. For a period in his youth, he studied under a Javanese mystic Kiai Daryatmo, from whom he “absorbed a great deal of spiritual backboning”.34 He learnt meditation in his quest to attain inner development and spiritual wisdom. He meditated in holy caves in Java.

The late Indonesian historian Onghokham wrote:

"If former President Sukarno became a dictator because he was the Great Leader of the Revolution, Suharto became one because, like the old Javanese kings praised in song and myth, he was Paku-Buwono, the “Nail of the Universe.” If you take the nail away, the universe collapses."

Suharto surrounded himself with sacred heirlooms of power, noted the historian. Called pusaka, these objects helped leaders maintain their hold on power. Among them were a gong from the palace of Surakarta (Solo) and the Gajah Mada masks of Bali, dating to the thirteenth century Majapahit empire. Of course, the most dominant pusaka in his possession was his wife, Ibu Tien, a descendant of the Mangkunegara royal family. From her, he derived his wahyu, the God-given right to rule. To many observers, it was no coincidence that after her death in 1996, things went downhill.

It was said that Suharto identified with Semar, the clown-god from Javanese mythology, who entertained audiences in the wayang kulit shadow puppet performances. Although Semar was a comical figure, he was actually wise and powerful and was regarded as the guardian spirit of Java. According to an anthropologist, Semar represents the common folks, and their suffering.37 Semar was in effect, Suharto’s alter ego. In 1974, the year before Indonesia invaded East Timor, Suharto took the highly unusual step of inviting Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam to a cave in Central Java called Gua Semar (Semar’s cave) where he used to meditate. The occasion was significant for the Indonesians and interpreted as Suharto’s taking the Australian leader into his confidence.

Liem, too, was familiar with Javanese holy sites. He often made pilgrimages to a sacred area in East Java called Gunung Kawi, where he consulted fortune-tellers before undertaking substantial business commitments. Gunung Kawi, said to be the burial site of two Javanese saints, is revered by worshippers of different faiths. It gets more than 100,000 pilgrims each year, many of them Indonesian Chinese — but quite a few Javanese — seeking blessings or favours. Believers maintain that meditating under the “goddess tree” (Dewa Ndaru in Javanese) enhances prospects of having one’s dreams realized. Many believers sit under the tree with hopes that a leaf may drift onto their laps, an indication that their prayers would be answered. For years, Liem was a regular pilgrim, making the three-hour drive from Surabaya four or five times a year. Chinese temples coexist with a mosque, and it is at one of the temples located here that Liem used to seek divination about his business plans. Liem must have had many prayers answered, as he donated heavily for upkeep of the area, paying for road improvements and building a dormitory for worshippers. He also donated towards construction of a Goddess of Mercy statue in the area. According to him, Suharto had also visited the site. Liem adhered closely to the advice proffered by monks.

At temples where he worshipped, Liem often resorted to divination methods to help him decide on what course to take. One commonly used involved the shaking of inscribed sticks from a bamboo cylinder until one falls out, which is then read and interpreted by a monk or fortune-teller. The timings of the inauguration of factories were all calculated to the minute, using the time and date of his birth according to the Chinese calendar. His divine consultations even reached the more mundane levels, such as whether the timing was right for his banks to obtain a foreign exchange licence.

His adherence to the principles of Chinese geomancy, or feng shui, led him to be extremely cautious about undertaking unnecessary changes. He would often keep things as they were, just so that his hokie, or luck, would not be compromised. Thus, the decrepit-looking house in Kudus where the peanuts were pressed and the weekend bungalow in the hills in Central Java where he sometimes sought solitude still look quite unchanged. His modest single-storey home in Jalan Gunung Sahari was hardly renovated, although the soothsayers did not object to his building a modern double-storey mansion right next door (this was the one that was attacked and burnt by rioters in May 1998). He would not even dare touch the very simple headstones that marked his ancestors’ graves in his hometown in China, never mind that they were so small they could barely be seen.

He consulted monks and seers often about a whole range of subjects. He said he once asked a clairvoyant about the duration of Suharto’s presidency and was told it would last no more than seven terms.40 (Suharto resigned less than three months into his seventh term.) In 1998, while recuperating in the United States from eye surgery during the darkest days as Jakarta burned and the Suharto regime was collapsing, Liem visited a Buddhist temple in Los Angeles. The monk told him to be patient. While it was “winter” for him now, the “Sakura” (spring) season would arrive, the monk said.

ESTABLISHING BIG BUSINESS
In the early days of his presidency, Suharto was advised by Liem to strive to fulfil people’s “four basic needs” — yi, shi, zhu, xing, in Chinese, namely, clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. Only then, Liem said, citing a Chinese belief, would society become more stable and the population more content (and presumably, more pliant). The Javanese equivalent of these basic necessities is encapsulated in the expression sandang pangan — meaning food and clothing. Liem indicated that he was ready to do the president’s bidding, and Suharto did, in some cases, effectively assign him to build a factory or enterprise. When Liem entered a new area such as flour-milling, it was not exactly risky as Suharto ensured the investor would have a sole or dominant position in the market.

Besides helping to fulfil the “four basic needs”, Liem added a fifth. For many Indonesians, taking a puff of their clove-infused cigarette, called kretek, was almost a basic need. Liem — and Suharto’s half-brother — got exclusive rights for years to import cloves from Zanzibar and Madagascar.
Getting the balance right between supply and demand for cloves had always been tricky, and although cloves were native to Indonesia, the country had in the past resorted to importing the spice from those two African countries. Smuggling of the commodity from the entrepôt centre of Singapore also earned some individuals a pretty penny.

Clothing was the area in which Liem would have a very small role. Because textiles was a highly competitive area in much of Asia and not one in which Suharto could make him dominant, Liem switched attention to other areas. Japanese researcher Yuri Sato, the first to look at the Salim Group in detail, wrote in 1993 that after receiving early on lucrative profits  from government-licensed businesses that it could dominate, “pursuing monopolistic and oligopolistic market positions became a cornerstone of the group’s corporate behaviour”.42 Being in privileged positions helped put Salim on a fast growth track. In 1992, Sato wrote, Salim “accounted for 39 per cent of the total sales of the 10 largest Indonesian business groups, making it by far the largest conglomerate in the country and the largest in Southeast Asia, ahead of those in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong and just behind the Republic of Korea”.

To the public, the Salim Group became huge because of monopolies, which gave it the cash-flow to invest in businesses where there was competition. Before it branched out into a vast array of businesses, the group had three main pillars which gave it a solid foundation:

Food: Bogasari Flour Mills was the first substantial investment for Salim. Established in 1969, it was to become the world’s biggest miller.
It was a crucial pillar of his empire, with its history illustrating some aspects of Suharto’s Indonesia: while it was a privately owned company, its articles of association stipulated that 26 per cent of profits go to two foundations linked to Suharto. The company’s position was controversial throughout the New Order. Suharto maintained its business position until the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forced him to end the protection, but through the years the president could not stop the milling company from being a significant target for criticism. Indofood Sukses Makmur in the 1990s became the world’s biggest maker of instant noodles, even overtaking the Japanese manufacturer that invented it. In 1995, the company had captured 90 per cent market share in Indonesia.

Cement: Another pillar was cement, a business in the area of “shelter”. It had an oligopolistic position although there were state-owned manufacturers, and, in 1985, its company Indocement received a state bailout that was essential to the group’s survival.

Banking: Liem became a kingpin through PT Bank Central Asia (BCA). With help from seasoned banker Mochtar Riady, it became a behemoth and the country’s largest privately owned bank. Liem allocated 30 per cent shares for Suharto, put in the names of his two older children, Sigit Haryoyudanto and Siti Hardiyanti Hastuti Rukmana, better known as Tutut. The bank suffered a massive run in May 1998 after Suharto’s resignation and Liem lost his flagship financial institution.

In the area of transport, Salim was not in the dominant position in Indonesia, though it rose to become number 2, behind Astra International, founded by William Soeryadjaya. Financial woes of the Soeryadjaya family led to Salim owning stakes in Astra (for a few years) as well as its own Indomobil. Liem entered property primarily in partnership with Ciputra, a savvy developer who also worked with the Jakarta government. Salim expanded into scores of other areas, including chemicals, sugar and oil palm plantations, mining, forestry, pharmaceuticals, shipping, distribution and retail, communications and the leisure industry. The group described itself as “opportunity-driven” and there was no shortage of opportunities, especially as Suharto pushed import-substitution policies for many years. Anthony Salim, who became the group’s chief executive, was quoted as saying: “In the 1990s, it was as if every business you touched turned into gold.”44 As Liem was close to Suharto, many business people sought partnerships with Liem.

Salim was not content simply to be a large domestic player. In the early New Order years, Liem registered companies in Singapore, where he could take loans more easily than in Indonesia (until he obtained Indonesian citizenship). But it was only after Anthony’s return in 1971 from studies in England, that Salim actively pursued geographic expansion beyond Indonesia so that not all eggs were in one basket. With Salim money, Anthony and Filipino banker Manny Pangilinan, in 1981 started First Pacific, an investment company in Hong Kong. In the first of waves of asset acquisition and shuffling, First Pacific bought a Dutch trading company, Hagemeyer (founded in Java during the colonial days), and a California bank, Hibernia Bank. At one time, First Pacific had operations in more than forty countries. In 1996, it became a component stock in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index. After Suharto fell in 1998, Salim’s eggs outside Indonesia proved very helpful to efforts to deal with debts and keep Salim in Indofood.

A combination of risk-taking, winning personality and the willingness to share the spoils contributed to Liem’s emergence as the best-suited Chinese-Indonesian crony for Suharto. Many Chinese entrepreneurs had to latch onto senior military figures for their businesses to grow — and it could be said vice versa, for the benefits were mutual. After laying claim to power in the aftermath of the 1965 abortive coup, Suharto wasted no time in using his cukongs to raise funds for the military, whose full support he needed to consolidate his position. But it was not just a strong relationship with the president that propelled the Salim Group. Liem exhibited excellent intuition and foresight, demonstrating an uncanny ability to pick good managers and partners. Also, his successor, Anthony, born a month after Liem survived a horrific car collision, possessed needed skills and tried to steer Salim to go global. However, as pointed out by an academic, the effort did little to change the group’s image in the eyes of the public, “which interpreted the business of the group as an extension of the Suharto family”.

Responding to charges that the Salim Group became synonymous with Cendana (the president’s family) interests, Anthony admitted: “We know too, but unfortunately we had no choice ... we had to have two feet on the accelerator, not because we wanted to, but we cannot be separated. How can you move away when all the major industries of the country are with you? All the important commodities — food, banking, construction — [we were] the nerve and muscle.”46 He added: “The main thing is knowing where you put yourself. You get burned if you’re too close to the fire; when you’re too far away, you get cold and die. That’s very important ... Just to be warm [enough to] feel the heat, but you don’t get burned.”


Notes

1. Cukong is derived from a Hokkien term meaning “boss” (zhu gong). See Leo Suryadinata, ed., Ethnic Chinese in Contemporary Indonesia (Singapore: Chinese Heritage Centre and ISEAS, 2008), p. xiii.

2. Onghokham, “Soeharto and the Javanese tradition of monarchy”, Indonesia and the Soeharto Years: Issues, Incidents and Images (Jakarta: Lontar, 2005,) p. 320.

3. R.E. Elson, Suharto: A Political Biography (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), p. 151.

4. Interview with Sudwikatmono, 8 August 2006.

5. David Jenkins, “The quiet, bald moneymaker of Jakarta’s elite”, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 1986.

6. Abbreviated for Golongan Karya, meaning functional groups. It later became in effect, Suharto’s political party.

7. Hanyu pinyin is the official romanization system of Chinese characters adopted by China and other nations.

8. Interview with Bob Hasan, 29 May 2003.

9. Interview with Liem, 3 June 2006.

10. Jusuf Wanandi, Shades of Grey: A Political Memoir of Modern Indonesia, 1965–1998 (Jakarta: Equinox, 2012), pp. 236–37.

11. A Peranakan was an assimilated Chinese whose ancestors may have arrived in Indonesia several generations ago. Usually unable to speak Chinese, the men were sometimes referred to as “Baba” and the women as “Nonya”.

12. Given his U.S. embassy connections — which Liem did not have — Jantje expected to play a part in milling the American wheat that Washington gave Suharto as aid. But Jantje found himself cut out of a role in flour-milling, which went to Liem. According to a confidential source, Jantje got lucrative sugar plantations as a consolation.

13. Sudwikatmono, “Manajemen 3 Sa: (catatan seorang pengusaha)”, in Manajemen Presiden Suharto: Penuturan 17 Menteri, edited by Riant Nugroho Dwidjowijoto (Jakarta: Yayasan Bina Generasi Bangsa, 1996).

14. Bradley Simpson, Economists with Guns: Authoritarian Development and US-Indonesian Relations, 1960–1968 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008), pp. 214, 219–20.

15. Brian May, The Indonesian Tragedy (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978), pp. 156–57.

16. Retnowati Abdulgani-Knapp, Soeharto: The Life and Legacy of Indonesia’s Second President (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2007), p. 329.

17. Elson, Suharto: A Political Biography, p. 166.

18. Ibid.

19. Benedict Anderson, “Exit Suharto: Obituary for a mediocre tyrant”, New Left Review, no. 50 (Mar–Apr 2008).

20. Theodore Friend, Indonesian Destinies (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2003), p. 258.

21. Elson, Suharto: A Political Biography, p. 50.

22. Interview with Anthony, 22 July 2007.

23. The authors tried on several occasions to talk with the ailing Widjojo, one of modern Indonesia’s most important planners, but were told that the time was not suitable or that he was not feeling well. He died in March 2012.

24. Elson, Suharto: A Political Biography, p. 199.

25. Lee Kuan Yew, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965–2000 (NewYork: Harper Collins, 2000), p. 305.

26. Interview with Liem, 3 June 2006.

27. Interview with Djoni Prananto, 6 May 2006.

28. Interview with Liem, 6 May 2006.

29. Interview with Anthony, 22 July 2007.

30. “Indonesia: It’s All In The Family”, Time, 31 May 1999.

31. Elson, Suharto: A Political Biography, p. 281.

32. Interview with Liem, 6 May 2006.

33. Interview with Anthony, 14 October 2007.

34. Elson, Suharto: A Political Biography, p. 6.

35. Onghokham, “Soeharto and the Javanese tradition of monarchy”.

36. Ibid.

37. Niels Mulder, Mysticism in Java: Ideology in Indonesia (Amsterdam: Pepin, 1998), p. 31.

38. Lee Khoon Choy, Indonesia: Between Myth and Reality (Singapore: Federal Publications, 1977), p. 147.

39. Confidential interview, Jakarta.

40. Interview with Liem, 6 May 2006.

41. Ibid.

42. Yuri Sato, “The Salim Group in Indonesia: The development and behavior of the largest conglomerate in Southeast Asia”, Developing Economies XXXI, no. 4 (December 1993), p. 437.

43. Ibid., p. 408.

44. Marleen Dieleman, The Rhythm of Strategy: A Corporate Biography of the Salim Group of Indonesia (Amsterdam: ICAS/Amsterdam University Press, 2007), p. 59.

45. Ibid., p. 126.

46. Interview with Anthony, 4 March 2007.

47. Interview with Anthony, 22 July 2007.

Read More