TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Leonardus Benjamin (Benny) Moerdani was a chapter in the history of modern Indonesia. He appeared at the beginning of the 'times of change', in an era the Republic's founder was preparing to step down and be replaced-not without injury-by a regime that would govern Indonesia for more than three decades.
No discussion on what became known as the New Order would be complete without a mention of Benny Moerdani. His name emerged when diplomatic relations with Malaysia were being restored, along with other figures such as Ali Moertopo and Des Alwi. Diplomatic ties with Malaysia had been severed dramatically with the proclamation of the 'People's Two Commands' (Dwikora) by President Sukarno in 1963. Sukarno viewed 'Malaysia' as a project of 'Imperialist Britain', and therefore it had to be 'crushed'.
Benny first became familiar with weapons in 1945 when at the age of 13 he joined Detachment II of the Student Army Brigade 17 led by Achmadi-later minister of information in Sukarno's final cabinet. For practically the rest of his life, he was involved with 'war' and 'conflict' both real and metaphorical.
Slowly but surely Benny built a legend around himself through stories that were partly true, only because they were difficult to confirm. The tale of his parachute jump in Pekanbaru to take over the Caltex oilfield in the Revolutionary Government of Indonesia era, despite never having had parachute training, is very dubious. There are other 'heroic' stories that should be taken with a grain of salt, but from the accounts that can be verified, we can still conclude that Benny was a brave man.
He was also a loyalist-perhaps in the true sense of the word. His habit of taking his oath of office with five fingers-not the three customary for Catholics-as a sign of his loyalty to the Pancasila state ideology was unique and had not been seen before. Towards the end of his life, in a wheelchair, he was seen trying to stand every time the national anthem was played on television.
But his greatest loyalty was to Suharto, his supreme commander. He had on several occasions to 'soak his hands in blood' to defend his boss. For example, at the time of the 'mysterious killings', Benny admitted responsibility. It was only later, in 1989 in his book My Thoughts, Words and Deeds that Suharto admitted that the killings of thousands of people was his idea.
Under Suharto, Benny Moerdani was the most controversial figure. Some feared him, while others found hope. He was a vicious general in the Woyla (1981) and Tanjung Priok (1982) incidents, but also became a 'patron' of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank founded by Ali Moertopo. Some Islamic groups viewed him with hatred and suspicions, but another time he kept watch over several Islamic boarding schools friendly to Gus Dur. He also established the Taruna Nusantara School in Magelang, Central Java in 1990.
Aside from military affairs, Benny was also active in diplomatic and ceremonial circles. He served as a diplomat in Korea, and ensured Indonesia was able to 'retrieve' assets embezzled by the late Pertamina official Ahmad Tahir in a Singapore court. Thanks to the testimony of Benny, who was portrayed as being 'very smart and admirable', Indonesia was able to recover proceeds of corruption amounting to US$76 million.
But, 'no matter how high the heron flies, in the end it must come down to the ditch'. And one day, Benny was thrown into the 'ditch'. Perhaps he forgot two things. Firstly Suharto had no favorites, and secondly, Suharto had no tolerance for anybody who criticized his family. Benny crossed this line: he warned the boss about the business activities of his children-even though this 'warning' was part of his loyalty.
From the inner circle of power, he was pushed out into a dark corner. The obscure trail of one of Indonesia's intelligence champions became harder to follow. It is difficult to imagine his last days: a skilful and swift general confined to a wheelchair. He may have been a chapter in the contemporary history of Indonesia, but the chapter was never completed. (*)
Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
