The writer goes on to note the awareness, among the upper reaches of society, of the Sultan the values of the good and just king, or ratu adil. He was a rich businessman yet lived in comparative modesty and gave generously. This was contrasted with the perceived, shameless greed of Suharto’s family and inner circle. Actually, Indonesians could not easily explain their grief. After all the Sultan was surely an anachronistic figurehead. Yet the Jogyakarta daily, Kedaulatan Rakyal, duly reported the succession of supernatural acts which were said to have accompanied the royal decease. Clearly. Javanese society was still quite steeped in mysticism, even while aspring to, and indeed widely practicing, the values of ‘modernity’. The Javanese tradition, very much integrated with the modern state with its neo-feudal, anti-democratic orientation, had come back to haunt its incumbent ruler at the funeral of a would-be ruler of more authentic, traditional attributes. A traditional feudal king was being compared favourably with the modern republic president, whose kingly qualities seem wanting. It was surely an uncomfortable day for Suharto, ignored as he was by the mourning masses, as they reached out to touch the sacred objects in the hope of capturing even the smallest fraction of a share of their inherent, protective or fortune-enhancing, charismatic power by that contagion