Talk:Suharto/Archives/2008/August

Soeharto's Name

The quality of this page is a bit dubious when his name is wrong. Soeharto is Javanese and has just one name: Soeharto. Haji is a title and shouldn't be included in his name, especially given his lack of spiritual leadership having amassed an estimated $US40 billion during his stint as President of Indonesia.

Soeharto's full name with his title is Jend. Besar (Purn.) H. Mohammad Soeharto.

IIRC, the "Haji Muhammad" (not Mohammad) part was given by King Fahd after Soeharto done pilgrimage to Mecca. --User:Mdamt August 20, 2005 22:10 (GMT+0300)

His full name is Mohammad Soeharto. Even though in Standardized Indonesian Language oe should be changed to u, but there is an exception for people's name. Those whose name written in old standard of Indonesian Language, do not have to change to the new one. That's why in Indonesian magazines and newspapers, his name is always written as "Soeharto", not "Suharto". It is the same with Soekarno and his daughter, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Jend. Besar (Purn.) is short of Jenderal Besar (Purnawirawan). It is his military rank, which means Great General (Retired). Great General is the highest military rank in Indonesia, whose badge is 5 stars (General has 4 stars). This special rank is for General who has very great contribution to the country. There are only 3 persons who ever achieved the this rank including Soeharto. The other two are Soedirman (1916-1950) and Abdul Haris Nasution (1918-2000).

While H. is short from Haji or Hajj. It is the title for those who has done pilgrimage to Mecca.

Actually Soedirman is nearly always rendered as Sudirman, e.g., Jalan Jenderal Sudirman in Jakarta.

Both forms are used in Indonesian newspapers in fact. A search on the "Suara Merdeka" website gives 1308 hits for "Suharto" and 2540 hits for "Soeharto", though a few of these hits refer to other people called Suharto/Soeharto. Rhion 17:51, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

I've been doing some research by looking at old NY Times articles from the 65 - 66 timespan. Interestingly enough, he was already being referred to by SUharto (and not SOEharto) in that time. Take that as you will. --Daniel 08:01, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

Interestingly, comming from Malaysia I've always seen his named spelt locally as Suharto not Soeharto and I've always assumed it was largely the American media unwilling to go with the time and continuing to use the old spelling. Can anyone else confirm the Indonesia press commonly used Soe in modern times in addition to Su? However perhaps most importantly, can anyone confirm which spelling was used in modern times by the Suharto government before he left? Surely this is the best source... Nil Einne 04:16, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

I did a brief Google News search, and "Soeharto" pops up in the pages of Anatara (the state news agency of Indonesia). I think this is fairly authoritative. "Suharto" may have been more popular in Malaysia as it was a former British colony and adopted the English (rather than Dutch) method of transliterating and pronouncing Javanese words/names. --Daniel 09:37, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

As discussed above Soeharto's name is spelled with 'oe' by himself, by major Indonesian news media and by the government (when he was in power all his portraits in buildings said 'soeharto'. I think it is incorrect and disrespectful to change the spelling of somebody's name-should we label the current French president as Sarkozee? that wouldn;t make sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mtl1969 (talk • contribs) 19:39, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes proper names were exempted by the spelling reforms. Indeed should I spell the former US president as Klinton? Because otherwise it would be mispronounced by Indonesians? Meursault2004 (talk) 22:02, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Soeharto should not have the word "Muhammad" in his name because it would just bring a shame to Islamic society where arguably one of the biggest corruptor in the world has include Muhammad's Name within his name. This is a mockery. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yandri (talk • contribs) 03:18, 1 August 2008 (UTC)