National Family Day Initiated By President Soeharto On June 29, 1993

President Suharto and Mrs. Tien Suharto with Tommy Suharto (far left) and his younger brother, Mamiek Suharto when photographed in December 1967. (Twitter@potretlawas/Life/Larry Burrows)

JAKARTA - The rate of increase in population growth is not always considered a success. Many children, many fortunes are not entirely true. President Suharto believed that. Otherwise, the planned development will have no impact. Therefore, the birth rate should be kept to a minimum. The Family Planning Program (KB) was also made into the New Order's teachings. This strategy succeeded in suppressing the rate of population growth. As a celebration, Suharto initiated the National Family Day, June 29, 1993.

The focus of the government at the beginning of Indonesia's independence was to build a new country. All forms of economic and political issues are of utmost importance. Other matters, including population growth, have not become the main focus of the government. Even the number one person in Indonesia believes that all Indonesians can live in peace and quiet.

Bung Karno continued to cultivate this optimism. However, that doesn't mean Bung Karno doesn't care. He still supports the agenda to reduce the birth rate. His support was seen when Doctor Julie Sulianti Saroso started campaigning for the Family Planning program in 1957. Even if not massively.

The government's high attention to the family planning program was only seen when Suharto came to power to replace Bung Karno. He takes the family planning program seriously. Holding the birth rate is considered an emergency problem. This is because population growth is actually faster than the government's ability to sustain development programs.

Poster for National Family Day which falls on June 29 every year. (Special)

Moreover, if the birth rate is not suppressed, all forms of development plans carried out by the government in the name of the people's welfare will be useless. Suharto then openly supported the family planning program. Therefore, the New Order government was prepared to help, support and protect the family planning program in Indonesia in 1968.

“In order to further strengthen the implementation of family planning, in 1970 the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) was established. At the end of Pelita V (1993) the population growth rate was successfully suppressed to 1.66 percent, and the crude death rate had decreased to 7.9 per 1000 population. The family planning program has an impact on reducing the crude birth rate from 44.0 births per 1000 population in 1971 to 24.5 births per 1000 population in 1993.

“The success of the population and family planning programs in Indonesia is internationally recognized and once again won an award from the United Nations in the form of The United Nations Population Award in 1989 which was directly accepted by Suharto. International aid is pouring in, flowing far and wide,” said Web Warrouw as written by Sugiono MP in the book Selamat Jalan Pak Harto (2008).

National Family Day

The success of the family planning program made Suharto not only flooded with praise, but also flooded with criticism. The owner of the government was accused of being unsuccessful. This is because a lot of data is far from the reality on the ground. Moreover, around Suharto, many state officials act as long as you are happy (ABS).

Suharto also considered it quiet. This is because the United Nations, which is an association of countries in the world, has legitimized its success. These traces of success made Suharto promote other programs, namely building a healthy, happy, and prosperous family.

As a result, The Smiling General launched the National Family Day in Lampung in 1993. This program was created because Suharto saw that every family in Indonesia had been able to build their own family in a sustainable way.

Suharto hailed National Family Day as a means of renewing his resolve. A determination to build their respective families into healthy and prosperous families. After all, the family is the smallest unit of society.

President Soeharto and sungkem to Mrs. Soemohardjo who is the mother of Mrs. Tien Suharto. (National Library)

Therefore, when everyone succeeds in nurturing his family, it will create a prosperous society. The Indonesian nation will also become a strong and prosperous nation.

Determination of June 29, 1993 is no less special. It was noted that the Dutch handed over Indonesian sovereignty in their entirety on June 22, 1949. A week later, the freedom fighters who took up arms began to return to their respective families on June 29, 1949. The momentum of their return was used as an important date, National Family Day.

"The implementation of this family-based development finally received Suharto's support by launching the commemoration of National Family Day on May 29, 1993. This was inseparable from the rise of the Family Planning Program in 1980 which brought Suharto as a president and received an award from the United Nations in 1989."

"However, in its growth and development, entering the 1990s, the issue of human rights began to emerge with the emergence of Law No. 39 of 1999," concluded Ardian Fahri in the book Reflections on Thoughts of Figures in Developing Indonesia (2022).