National unity built on denial of the past is weak

To critics, this context matters. It risks turning a national history project into an exercise in reputation management.

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FROM B1

"The rewriting of history has no urgency at this time. In fact, it has the potential to distort public knowledge about Indonesia's past," Dr Dedi Kurnia Syah, executive director of research agency Indonesia Political Opinion, told The Straits Times.

On the proposal to name Suharto a national hero, he said: "There is no harm in acknowledging that Suharto was a dictator who undermined Indonesians' human rights during his time. By rewriting history, Mr Prabowo risks being seen as no different from Suharto - intolerant of criticism and obsessed with praise."

MEMORY MUST NOT BE POLITICISED A 1998 fact-finding team established by then President B.J. Habibie concluded that systematic sexual violence had occurred during the May riots, targeting mostly Chinese Indonesian women.

According to the report, the violence included 52 cases of rape, 14 cases involving both rape and assault, 10 cases of sexual assault, and nine cases of sexual harassment across several cities, including Jakarta, Medan and Surabaya.

Mr Habibie issued a public apology. In 2023, President Joko Widodo followed suit, officially recognising the 1998 violence as one of 12 gross human rights violations.

To question such events - or even omit them - is to betray the victims and risk repeating the mistakes of the past.