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This is the reason why the military rejected the nomination of leaders involved in insurgencies,
such as the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI) rebellion and
Permesta, for national hero status.
A candidate for hero is usually nominated by regional governments (municipal or regency
level), which then submit the name to the provincial government and later to the Social Affairs
Ministry.
Following a selection phase at the ministry, the name is taken to the Board of Title, Order of
Merit and Decoration that has a membership of seven, for examination before final approval is
given by the President.
Thailand has far fewer heroes than Indonesia, and most of them have been military leaders and
monarchs.
Since the country was never directly colonized, their national heroes are individuals who fought,
for instance, against Burma. Their selection procedure is not as complicated as Indonesias,
according to Thai historian, Charnvit Kasetsiri.
In France, national heroes are comparable to figures who were (re-)buried at the Panthon in
Paris. The total number of residents in the Panthon is no more than 80 and includes scientists
and Nobel laureates Pierre Curie and Marie Curie, and writers Voltaire, Rousseau, mile Zola
and Victor Hugo. The body of Alexandre Dumas was only moved there in 2002, 132 years after
his death.
The latest internment, in 2009, was Albert Camus, whose books have been translated into
Indonesian. Those buried here are Great People and recognized by their country.
The next question would be: when would be the right time for an individual to be declared a
national hero, and how long would the nomination process take? Sukarno became a national hero
in 1986, or 16 years after his death.
It is said that the nomination of Bung Tomo, a prominent figure in the Battle of Surabaya on
Nov. 10, 1945, was rejected twice during the New Order regime. Chinese Indonesians had to
wait 50 years before their candidate, John Lie, was declared a hero in 2009.
There is, however, no national hero of Arab descent on the list. We have authors and songwriters
listed but no figures from the local world of sports.
The nominations of some candidates took a long time, while the nominations for others were
speedy, such as the cases of Soehartos wife Siti Hartinah and Gen. Basuki Rachmat, who
delivered Supersemar (The Letter of March 11), which marked the transfer of power from
Sukarno to Soeharto in 1966.
Islamic figures Mohammad Natsir and Sjafruddin Prawiranegara were proposed more than once.
Natsirs nomination was approved in 2009, but Sjafruddins hero title only came last month. The