Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Museum – Jakarta, Indonesia

The brainchild of Madam Tien Soeharto, the late Indonesian first lady, Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Museum houses more than 10,000 gifts from the 33 years of President Soeharto's rule. This museum is located outside Jakarta, so don’t go if you don’t have a particular interest in seeing what a man can amass in more than 30 years of power.

Outside: Hosted on the land that belonged to Soeharto family, the museum is the largest in Indonesia. The museum resembles a tumpeng (rice cone), which is the centerpiece of Javanese ceremonial banquets and which symbolizes gratitude, welfare and eternity. Nine small tumpengs surround the large one. The museum is adjacent to Taman Mini Indonesia, an amusement park with full-scale reproductions of traditional Indonesian houses. Outside the museum, one can see a big villa now closed (Soeharto was planning to live here, but the government did not allow him), a garden with all sorts of fruit trees, a pond for fishing, the Indonesia warship that served during the 1963 mission of liberating Irian Jaya, three old Soeharto’s cars and one Harley Davidson.

Inside: The inside main hall is huge, on three level and can host 100,000 people. When I visited, I was the only visitor! Amongst hundred of paintings, artifacts, and art objects from all over the world, one highlight is a Chinese princess's jade bed. It is pure cult of personality! (Last visited 12/2005)