But I hope the life of Suharto will not be taken to be a story justifying the pursuit of economic goals without regard for the manner in which those goals were pursued.

Suharto did not merely 'take over' from Sukarno, he deposed him in a military coup. While one might argue that his economic policies were more conducive to growth than those of Sukarno, one cannot help but wonder how much better Indonesia could have been if he had not sanctioned the personal plunder of the state by himself, his families and his cronies. Transparency International and Time Magazine have estimated that he embezzled between US$15 million and US$71 million.

And let us not forget his brutal suppression of separatist movements in West Papua and Aceh, alongside his invasion of East Timor and his suppression of democracy.

We can flippantly speak of 'objectively (giving) credit to this great leader' because his policies were benign for Singapore, but we do so only because he bullied his own instead of others.

Matthias Yong Peng Chew

Cambridge, UK