Science

6/recent/ticker-posts

B. J. Habibie

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie  pronunciation  (born 25 June 1936) is a former politician of the State of Indonesia. His presidency (1998–1999) was the third, and the shortest, after independence.

Early life

Habibie was born in Parepare, South Sulawesi Province to Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie and R. A. Tuti Marini Puspowardojo. His father was an agriculturist from Gorontalo of Bugis descent and his mother was a Javanese noblewoman from Yogyakarta. His parents met while studying in Bogor. When he was 14 years old, Habibie's father died.

Studies and career in Germany

Following his father's death, Habibie continued his studies in Jakarta and then in 1955 moved to Germany.[1]In 1960, Habibie received a degree in engineering in Germany, giving him the title Diplom-Ingenieur. He remained in Germany as a research assistant under Hans Ebner at the Lehrstuhl und Institut für Leichtbau, RWTH Aachen to conduct research for his doctoral degree.[2]In 1962, Habibie returned to Indonesia for three months on sick leave. During this time, he was reacquainted with Hasri Ainun, the daughter of R. Mohamad Besari. Habibie had known Hasri Ainun in childhood, junior high school and in senior high school at SMA-Kristen, Bandung. The two married on 12 May 1962, returning to Germany shortly afterwards.[3] Habibie and his wife settled in Aachen for a short period before moving to Oberforstbach. In May 1963 they had a son, Ilham Akbar Habibie.
 
When Habibie's minimum wage salary forced him into part-time work, he found employment with the automotive marque Talbot, where he became an advisor. Habibie worked on two projects which received funding from Deutsche Bundesbahn. Due to his work with Makosh, the head of train constructions offered his position to Habibie upon retirement three years later, but Habibie refused.[4][clarification needed]In 1965, Habibie delivered his thesis in aerospace engineering and received the grade of "very good" for his dissertation, giving him the title Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften. During the same year, he accepted Hans Ebner's offer to continue his research on Thermoelastisitas and work toward his Habilitation, but he declined the offer to join RWTH as a professor per se. His thesis about light construction for supersonic or hypersonic states also attracted offers of employment from companies such as Boeing and Airbus, which Habibie again declined.[5]
 
Habibie did accept a position with Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm in Hamburg. There, he developed theories on thermodynamics, construction, and aerodynamics known as the Habibie Factor, Habibie Theorem, and Habibie Method, respectively.[citation needed]. He worked for Messerschmit on the development of the Airbus A-300B aircraft. In 1974, he was promoted to vice president of the company.[6]Habibie's time in Europe may have contributed to his interest in Leica cameras.

Career in Indonesia

In 1974, Suharto recruited Habibie to return to Indonesia as part of Suharto's drive to industrialize and develop the country. Habibie initially served as a special assistant to Ibnu Sutowo, the CEO of state oil company Pertamina. Two years later, in 1976, Habibie was made Chief Executive Officer of the new state-owned enterprise Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN).[6] (In 1985, PT. Nurtanio changed its name to Indonesian Aviation Industry and is now known as Indonesian Aerospace Inc. (Dirgantara)). In 1978, he was appointed as Minister of Resesarch and Technology. He continued to play an important role in IPTN other "strategic" industries in this post.[6] By the 1980s, IPTN had grown considerably, specializing in the manufacture of helicopters and small passenger planes; by 1991, Habibie oversaw ten state-owned industries including ship- and train-building, steel, arms, communications, and energy.[6] A 1993 estimate determined that the estimates used nearly $2 billion a year in state funding, although the government's opaque accounting practices meant that the size of the industries was not completely known.[7]
 
Habibie became a pilot, assisted in his training by A.B. Wolff, former chief of staff of the Dutch Air Force. In 1995, he flew an N-250 (dubbed Gatotkoco) commuter plane. In developing Indonesia's aviation industry, he adopted an approach called "Begin at the End and End at the Beginning".[8] In this method, elements such as basic research became the last things upon which to focus, whilst actual manufacturing of the planes was placed as the first objective. Under Habibie's leadership, IPTN became a manufacturer of aircraft including Puma helicopters and CASA planes. It pioneered a small passenger airplane, the N-250 Gatokaca, in 1995, but the project was a commercial failure.[9]

Member of Golkar

In Suharto's regime, as was expected of senior government executives, Habibie became a member of the Golkar organisation. From 1993–1999, he was a daily coordinator for the chairman of the executive board.

Vice presidency

In January 1998, after accepting nomination for a 7th term as President, Suharto announced the selection criteria for the nomination of a vice president. Suharto did not mention Habibie by name, but his suggestion that the next vice president should have a mastery of science and technology made it obvious he had Habibie in mind.[10]In that year, in the midst of the Asian Financial Crisis, this suggestion was received badly, causing the rupiah to fall. Despite this and protests (the former minister Emil Salim tried to nominate himself as vice president), Habibie was elected vice president in March 1998.

Presidency  

East Timor

Habibie opposed East Timorese Independence but did consider giving East Timor special autonomy.[11]In late 1998, John Howard, then Prime Minister of Australia advised Indonesia of a change in Australian foreign policy, to whit Australia would advocate a referendum in East Timor on independence within a decade. Other international pressure also mounted on Indonesia to allow self-determination for the province. Wishing to avoid the impression that Indonesia ruled East Timor as a colony, Habibie surprised some by announcing that a referendum, offering a choice between special autonomy and independence, would be held in East Timor. ABRI opposed this decision.
 
On 30 August 1999, the referendum was held and the East Timorese people overwhelmingly chose Independence in mostly free and fair elections. However, the retreat of Indonesian troops from East Timor created the 1999 East Timorese crisis where many were killed. Although Habibie favored the quick deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to halt violence, the military opposed this plan. On September 10, General Wiranto allegedly threatened to stage a military coup if Habibie allowed in peacekeeping forces, causing Habibie to back down.[12] Habibie also publicly ordered security personnel to stop violence in the territory, but his orders went largely unheeded.

Suharto's corruption charge

The MPR Special Session in November 1998 declared that an investigation should be made into corruption in Indonesia, focussing particularly on Suharto. Habibie formed a special commission on corruption which, to the Reformasi, represented a gesture of good faith. The noted lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution was invited to chair the investigation. The broad scope of the terms of reference Nasution suggested was unacceptable to Habibie, who then appointed Attorney General and loyalist, Andi Muhammad Ghalib. On 9 December 1998, Suharto was questioned for three hours by Ghalib. The Habibie government declared that Suharto had gained his wealth through corruption. A tape of a telephone conversation between Habibie and Ghalib was made public. It raised concerns about the veracity of the investigation by suggesting that the interrogation of Suharto was intended only for public appearances.[13]
 
Under Habibie, the Indonesian government also began investigating and prosecuting Suharto's youngest son, Tommy Suharto. Tommy was charged by Ghalib in December 1998 in conjunction with the Goro scandal, where the government, under pressure from Tommy, allegedly gave him a desirable parcel and below-market loan for the construction of a Goro supermarket. However, Tommy was found innocent in the case after several key witnesses, including one of Habibie's aides - Rahardi Ramelan - changed their testimony and declared that the deal did not cause losses to the state.[14]
Enhanced by Zemanta

Post a Comment

0 Comments