Sultan Sightings

Dewi & I saw the Sultan today, or rather we saw his Mercedes being escorted by a police car into an upscale hotel. "Oh, that's Pak Sultan", she said. The license plate on his car tells it apart - in Jogja all the vehicles have license plates that read: "AB ****" (AB followed by a four-digit number), but Pak Sultan's car's plate reads "AB 1". I wonder what it must feeling riding through Jogjakarta as its Sultan. Though much is changing with regard to the Kraton's role in Javanese society and the role of the Sultan, there's still a huge amount of respect and admiration for the position of Sultan, which is evident in his royal title "Hamengku Buwono" ("He Who Cradles The World"). He is also the automatic governor of Yogyakarta, and currently an Indonesian presidential candidate. What does he see as he passes through the city - his city? What issues does he worry about? Having been Javanese royalty since birth, how does he view himself in relation to the people? What does he envision for the future of Jogjakarta?

Even though I couldn't see through the tinted windows of his Mercedes, it was still exciting to know that such a revered and powerful person sat inside - an embodiment of centuries of Javanese culture and tradition, yet thoroughly Western-educated and quite modern in many of his outlooks.

This is not to say that he is not without his detractors. Some see the entire power structure of Jogjakarta to be feudal and backwards. Others have told me that Pak Sultan is very corrupt. Many are put off by his various commercial initiatives for Jogjakarta, and would rather see another member of the royal family head the throne (my friend prefers Pak Sultan's younger brother, Joyokusumo).