VISIT OF OLD FRIEND: MM Lee speaking to two of Mr Suharto's daughters, Ms Siti Hutami Adiningsih (left) and Ms Siti Hediati Hariyadi, while visit their father at the Pertamina Hospital in Jakarta yesterday. MM Lee also spent some time alone at Mr Suharto's bedside. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF Y.Y.YEONG

Speaking to Singapore reporters just before his flight home in the afternoon, Mr Lee said: 'I am very sad to see his life coming to an end without the full glory that he deserves.'

Doctors yesterday described Mr Suharto's condition as 'very critical', and gave him a 50-50 chance of surviving.

On his arrival in Jakarta in the morning, Mr Lee spent some 15 minutes at the Pertamina Hospital where the former Indonesian leader had been warded since Jan 4.

There, he met two of Mr Suharto's daughters, Ms Siti Hediati Hariyadi and Ms Siti Hutami Adiningsih, and was briefed by doctors tending to the former Indonesian president.

Donning hospital scrubs, Mr Lee also spent some time alone by Mr Suharto's bedside - a privilege normally restricted to family members.

TRIBUTE TO SUHARTO 'He gave Indonesia progress and development. He educated the population. He built roads and infrastructure. And from Sukarno's Konfrontasi and other foreign policy excesses, he stabilised international relations.' MM LEE, on Mr Suharto's achievements 'I want to pay this tribute to him, and I came here. It is sad to see a very old friend, with whom I worked closely over the last 30 years, not really getting the honours that he deserves.' MM LEE, on why he went to Indonesia to visit Mr Suharto

Mr Suharto, 86, was sedated. He has been on a ventilator after suffering multiple organ failure last Friday.

At the press briefing later in the day, Mr Lee said: 'There are very few people of his age and my age who can remember the past. If they remember the past, they will know that in the 1960s, Indonesia was in very dire economic difficulties, mired in hyperinflation.

'In 1965, he acted decisively. He saved Indonesia from further going down that slippery road. From 1967, when he became president, right up to 1997, the economy grew and Indonesia was on the point of taking off.'

The fact this had failed to happen should not be blamed on Mr Suharto, said Mr Lee.

Recalling the tumultuous events of 1997, Mr Lee said Bank Indonesia had interest rates too high then, so companies borrowed in US dollars for low interest rates.

'And then when confidence was lost after the Thai baht crisis, people wanted to pull their money out, and the whole thing collapsed.

'It was not his fault,' Mr Lee said. 'Yes, there was corruption. Yes, he gave favours to his family and his friends. But there was real growth, real progress.'

Mr Lee said Indonesians were lucky to have had Mr Suharto, a general, at the helm, and drew comparisons with Myanmar to make his point.

Both countries experienced military coups in the 1960s - Indonesia in 1965 and Myanmar in 1962 - and were subsequently led by generals.

But while Mr Suharto had picked a team of competent administrators, including a very good team of economists, to build up Indonesia, Myanmar's General Ne Win 'did it his own way' and looked to socialism.

Mr Lee said: 'If Suharto had been like Ne Win or like the present generals, Indonesia would be like Burma. But it is not. Ten years after the financial crisis, the economy is steadying, growth rate is returning.'

Burma is the former name for Myanmar.

Pointing to the present situation in Indonesia and Myanmar, Mr Lee asked: 'Just compare Indonesia to Burma. Look, same time, 1962 Ne Win, 1965 Suharto, both well-endowed and rich countries. Well, you compare. Who is better off? Who deserves to be honoured? What is a few billion dollars lost in bad excesses? He built hundred of billions of dollars worth of assets.'

Mr Lee stressed that much credit should go to Mr Suharto for what he had done for Indonesia and the region.

'He gave Indonesia progress and development. He educated the population. He built roads and infrastructure. And from Sukarno's Konfrontasi and other foreign policy excesses, he stabilised international relations.'

Mr Suharto cooperated with Asean, allowing for the emergence of a stable South-east Asia today.

'The younger generation, both in Indonesia and the world, do not remember where Indonesia started from. I do. That is why I came here to visit him,' said the Minister Mentor.

'I want to pay this tribute to him, and I came here. It is sad to see a very old friend, with whom I worked closely over the last 30 years, not really getting the honours that he deserves.'

azhar@sph.com.sg