Titik Tolak Reformasi: Hari-hari Terakhir Presiden Soeharto

by Edward Aspinall, Herbert Feith (Editor), Gerry van Klinken (Editor)

When President Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998, amidst widespread protest and a shocking economic collapse, it caught almost everyone by surprise. His resignation brought to a close three decades on which he had imprinted his reserved, strangely remote personality.
Some of the world's most experienced journalists and academic experts on Indonesia wrote about the spectacular last days of the leader of this the fourth largest nation on earth as they happened. This book brings together 47 of their more analytical articles, which mostly appeared in English-language media at the time.

416 pages, Paperback

First published February 19, 1999

About the author

Edward Aspinall is professor of politics at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

a collection of news clippings from the late 1990s focused on - you guessed it - the last days of president Suharto's 32 years of authoritarian rule. most of the articles are from Australian newspapers while the minority come from general Asian news sources. the book is broken into sections representing the various elements that eroded Suharto's rule. some examples include the Southeast Asia Financial crisis, Suharto's character, Timor Leste, and implications for Indonesia, post-Suharto. the section overviewing the protests that helped push Suharto out of office contains some excellent reporting with detailed account of how everything from the internet to performance art contributed to the Velvet Revolution/Ruwantan Bumi/Earth Exorcism in 1998. there is also a handy timeline in the back of the book which breaks down the events of Suharto's downfall by the day.