F

ormer state secretary Moerdiono passed away at the Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore at 7:40 p.m., local time. He was 77.

Moerdiono had been at the hospital receiving treatment for a lung ailment for two months.

He is survived by his wife, Marijati, and their four children, Mardiana Estilistiati, Indrawan Budi Prasetyo, Novianto Prakoso and Baroto Joko Nugroho.

“He will be buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta on Saturday,” his daughter Mardiana said on Friday as quoted by kompas.com.

Born in Banyuwangi, East Java, on Aug. 19, 1934, he graduated from the Academy of Public Administration (APDN) in Malang, East Java, in 1957 and the State Administration Institution in 1967 before starting his career as a staffer at the State Secretariat in 1966. He was later promoted to assistant to the secretary of state in 1972.

Moerdiono served as state secretary from 1983 to 1998 during former president Soeharto’s regime.

Aside from his activities as a state official, he was also chairman of the executive board of the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) and chairman of the coordination committee of foreign technical cooperation.

Moerdiono was given the Yudha Dharma Nararya medal of honor in 1986 for his role in the military, the Mahaputera Adipradana medal in 1987 — the highest award for civilians — and he received an honoris causa doctorate degree from Airlangga University of Surabaya in 1994.

Soft-spoken Moerdiono reportedly married dangdut singer Machicha Mochtar under religious law between 1996 and 1998, and has a son by her.

In March this year, the man who had been one of Soeharto’s powerful hands during the New Order regime, filed for divorce from Marijati, to whom he had been married for 52 years. Moerdino’s request for separation was filed following his alleged affair with a designer and member of regional representative council, Poppy Dharsono. The couple was married under religious law in 2010.

In May, however, the South Jakarta Religious Court rejected the request for divorce, citing a lack of evidence despite the fact that Moerdiono and Marijati had been separated for 25 years.