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3-meter statue of Soeharto has been erected by the late president’s family in the town where he was born, Kemusuk Lor Hamlet in Bantul, Yogyakarta.

The monument sits on a 3,800-meter plot and is flanked by 30 pillars and exhibits featuring photographs and memorabilia depicting moments from Soeharto’s life until his death in 2008.

“We built this monument so that the people who come after him will still be able to recognize what Pak Harto did for his beloved country,” Soeharto’s half brother, Probosutedjo, said on at a ceremony to inaugurate the monument of Friday.

The opening of the monument coincides with the commemoration of the March 1 General Attack in 1949, when Indonesian freedom fighters daringly captured Yogyakarta from the Dutch for six hours to stymie a critical UN vote on the then Dutch East Indies.

Soeharto, then a lieutenant colonel, played a leading role in the attack, although some historians have questioned his exact contribution.

The daughter of Soeharto, Siti Hardiyanti “Tutut” Rukmana said she hoped that the monument would provide a positive experience for the Indonesian people.

“Please take all the benefits from learning from my father’s experiences and just throw out the bad examples, should you find them,” she said.

Tutut said that her family would build traditional Javanese rooms called senthong on the site to revive memories of her his father’s childhood. The rooms would be opened to the public on the observance of Soeharto’s birthday, June 8.

Probosutejo declined to say how much the monument costs. “The funds came basically from my pocket. I just hope that this can also serve as an educational monument.

Soeharto was born on June 8, 1921, to a poor farmer’s family in Kemusuk.

His father, Kertosudiro, was in charge of overseeing the allocation of irrigation water in the village. His mother, Sukirah, was from a neighboring hamlet.

On March 27, 1968, Soeharto was named president by a People’s Consultative Assembly whose members he discreetly handpicked.

Collusion, corruption and nepotism shadowed the next 32 years of Soeharto’s authoritarian rule until May 1998 when he resigned amid riots and protests following the Asian financial crisis the previous year.