Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana ( Hastuti; born 23 January 1949), popularly known as Tutut Suharto, is an Indonesian businesswoman and politician. She is the first child (and eldest daughter) of

Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...

, the second president of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. She is a former Minister of Social Affairs and a former member of the

People's Consultative Assembly The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia (, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the members of a lower body, House of Representatives (DPR) and an upper body, Regional R ...

, representing

Golkar The Party of Functional Groups (), often known by its abbreviation Golkar, is a Centre politics, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right big tent secular nationalist political parties in Indonesia, political party in Indonesia. Founded in ...

from 1992 to 1998.

Early life

Tutut Suharto was born in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

in 1949. She is the first child of

and

Siti Hartinah Raden Ayu Siti Hartinah (23 August 1923 – 28 April 1996), also known as Siti Hartinah Suharto or Tien Suharto, was the first lady of Indonesia from 1967 until 1996. She was the wife of Indonesian president, Suharto. She is popularly known as ...

. At that time, her father was Commander of the Mataram Brigade (Wehrkreise III) in Yogyakarta with the rank of Lieutenant colonel. Tutut is also a descendant of Mangkunegara III from her mother's side. The name Tutut comes from her childhood nickname. At first, she was often called ''Tuti'' (short for Hastuti), but sometimes she did not respond when called. Her father humoured her with the sound of a train: ''Tut tut tut'', which successfully grabbed her attention and made her laugh. Gradually this nickname stuck, becoming ''Tutut''. It was characteristic of a military family’s life that three of

's children, including Tutut, were born when he was on duty and away from his family. Tutut was born when Suharto was fighting in a

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism ...

outside of

. Her father did not see his first daughter for three months after her birth. When her father was first inaugurated as president, Tutut's parents decided not to make

Merdeka Palace The Merdeka Palace (; also known in Indonesian as and during the Dutch colonial times as ), is one of seven presidential palaces in Indonesia. It is located on the north side of the Merdeka Square, Jakarta, Merdeka Square in Central Jakarta, In ...

their private residence. They moved instead from ''Jalan Haji Agus Salim'' (the street where they first lived in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

) to ''Jalan Cendana'' in the suburb of

Menteng Menteng is a district () in the administrative city of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. Menteng is surrounded by the districts of Senen and Matraman to the east, Tebet and Setiabudi to the south, Tanah Abang to the west, and Gambir to the north. ...

. One of the main reasons for the move was security. There was a high-rise building behind the house in ''Haji Agus Salim''. Merdeka Palace had not been Suharto’s choice because he wanted his children to have freedom. At that time, Tutut was 18 years old.

Personal life

In 1972, Tutut married Indra Rukmana, son of businessman Edi Kowara Adiwinata. The wedding was held in

Bogor Palace The Bogor Palace (; ) is one of seven presidential palaces of Indonesia, it is located in the city of Bogor, West Java. The palace is noted for its distinctive architectural and historical features, as well as the adjoining botanical gardens. Ist ...

. The couple have 4 children together.

Career

Philanthropy & social activism

In 1986, she led the donations effort to flood victims in

Padang Pariaman Padang Pariaman Regency is a regency ''(kabupaten)'' of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It has an area of 1,343.58 km2, and it had a population of 390,204 at the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 430,626 at the 2020 census;Badan Pu ...

and Pasaman,

West Sumatra West Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. West Sumatra borders the Indian Ocean to the west, as well as the provinces of ...

. In 1988, she was elected chairperson of the Indonesian Association of Social Workers (''Himpunan Pekerja Sosial Indonesia'') for a 5 year term, and has been involved with the organization since its inception. In 1994, she was elected chairman of the

Indonesian Red Cross Society The Indonesian Red Cross Society (, PMI) is a humanitarian organization in Indonesia. It is a member of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Indonesia is one of the few Muslim-majority countries to use the Red Cros ...

. She served as chairman from 1994 to 1999. She is recently active in social activities under the Dharmais Foundation (Yayasan Dharmais). In 2019, the foundation organized a mass cataract operation for people living in underprivileged communities. Since its inception in 1976, the foundation has created a positive impact for 140,000 people.

Business career

Tutut built part of her fortune as a major shareholder of the Citra Lamtoro Gung Group, with interests in more than 90 companies ranging from telecommunications to infrastructure, including tollway projects in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. In 1991 she was elected Chairman of the Advisory Board of HISPI (Himpunan Santri Pengusaha Indonesia/Indonesian Santri Entrepreneurs Association), an association for muslim entrepreneurs.

Political career

Tutut served as deputy chairperson of

from 1993–98. Following the death of her mother in 1996, she acted in the capacity of first lady of Indonesia in official ceremonies. In addition, Suharto appointed her as Social Affairs Minister in March 1998 in his final cabinet. During her time as Minister, she implemented a short-term free meal program where the government provided free meals to people who were laid off or experiencing food hardship. In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs also developed a savings program (Takesra) and Business Credit program (Kukesra) for people who were recently unemployed. Following her father's resignation as president in May 1998, Golkar in July announced it had recalled Tutut, her brothers Bambang Trihatmodjo and Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra and Bambang's wife Halimah from the

(MPR). Golkar officials in 2008 said they would not object to Suharto's children, especially Tutut, rejoining the party's board. In addition, Golkar Deputy Secretary General Rully Chairul Anwar also noted that as of 2008 Tutut, Bambang Trihatmodjo and Titiek Suharto were still listed as Golkar members albeit as non-active members. Tutut planned to run for the presidency in the 2004 presidential election on the ticket of the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB). However, since the party won only 2.1% of the popular vote in the 2004 general election (giving it just two seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

), she was ineligible to run. At that time, political parties needed to receive at least 5% of the popular vote or 3% of seats in the DPR to field a presidential candidate. The election was ultimately won by former General

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to as SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired Indonesian Army, army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014 and the second president of Ind ...

, defeating incumbent President

Megawati Sukarnoputri Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (; born 23 January 1947) is an Indonesian politician who served as the fifth president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004 and the eighth vice president under President Abdurrahman Wahid from 1999 to 200 ...

. In Indonesia's 2009 general election, PKPB won 1.4% of the popular vote, losing its two seats in the

. In 2014, the party failed to qualify for the 2014 general election.

Other activities

Tutut is known to be fond of writing songs and poems, which she has started doing since 1983. Some of her compositions uses the pseudonym "Diyanti R" (which is a shortened version of her name). This hobby was also strongly encouraged by her mother, Mrs Tien Soeharto. As of 2018, she has composed over 120 songs and poems.

Honours

Star of Mahaputera, 4th Class () (11 August 1997)

References

Sources

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