Suharto’s second daughter comes out of the shadows

President Suharto’s second daughter, Mrs Siti Hediati Prabowo, is assuming a higher public profile these days.

She impressed some 1,500 stockbrokers, analysts and journalists at a capital-market conference here recently with her ideas about the Indonesian stock market.

And on Wednesday, her diverse business interests were reflected when one of her companies, PT Malindo Transmadu, entered into a joint venture with Malaysia’s Renong Berhad to build a bridge linking Indonesia and Malaysia.

These public appearances have caught the media by surprise. Mrs Prabowo is rarely in the news and has kept a low profile compared to her elder sister, business tycoon and Golkar deputy chairman Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.

Better known as Titik, she is married to Major-General Prabowo Subianto, a rising star in the military.