RIP: Gary Becker

I don't really recall it, maybe sometime in the late 1990s, that my co-barista here, AP, bragged about showed me a book he just read: The Economics of Life. It took me another few years to get my own copy while visiting another co-barista, Aco, in Urbana-Champaign, and that's my first introduction to the work of Gary Becker.

And, believe it or not, it was not a smooth sailing. Partly because I was still persuaded by some leftists ideals, partly because I was not familiar to the first world problems discussed in the book (such as baseball), and partly, probably the most important reason, because I still did not really get what economics is all about.

Until I read The Economic Approach to Human Behavior (1976).

Eleven pages Introduction of the book is really an eye-opener to me, who had been doing economics for some time without being fully aware of the methodological very basis of the discipline: maximizing behavior, market equilibrium, and stable preference.

Then I took a course on Economics of Non-Market Behavior taught by one of Becker's favorite students, Larry Iannaccone. There, I read lots of Becker's work and learned to develop intuitions to see any human behavior or social patterns using economic approach i.e price theory. For a class assignment, I remember trying to propose topic on why people believed in rainmaker (i.e shamanism) and a classmate pondered why many New Yorkers love dogs.

Reading Beckerian economics feels like that you're given a lightsaber to deal with various social issues. Not everybody on the other side will be happy with that, but it's a powerful tool nonetheless. It also helps you a lot to be a well-reasoned social commentator. Although not necessarily makes you the most popular person in a cocktail party, it helps you to actually take side on things (read: policy issues) consistently. Personally, it really provides me with a solid framework to discern seemingly messy and complex social issue and human behavior.

Now, to bring it closer to home, too often our economists and/or economic commentators in the country too easily depart from economic approach in their analysis -- if they ever held it once. It might just show a sign of intellectual laziness or simply ignorance for basic tenets of economics, namely basic price theory derived from three axioms above. But either way, it's a pity. What else we can expect most from a person trained in economics if not an economic analysis?

Instead, oftentimes what we see is an economic analysis that never was. Following Beckerian revolution (some say imperialism), it is inevitable that economist discusses social issues. But it is of little use if she/he does it without applying his/her economic approach and, god forbid, resorts to normative analysis. Becker himself, after laid down his economic approach, carried on to demonstrate how to do it on issues such as crime, addiction, fertility, discrimination, etc.

I often get impressions that these "economists", after presumably going through those curves and math in the classrooms, do not seem to get that "...economics is not a field of inquiry, but rather a method of analysis..". Their comments on various social issues reflect very little, if any, their educational background.

Even worse many of them trade their hard-earned economic tools and skills for populism.

This may indicate a deeper problem: our economics education failed to equip students with the lingua franca of the profession. No, it is not the math (although that is, too), but the language of basic price theory and the economics of incentives (Heckman, 2011). As a result, first, we can not communicate clearly with economists at the frontier of the field and/or follow large bodies of latest development in the profession. Second, in communicating with non-economist, we do not sound like an economist.

But anyway, RIP Prof. Becker. And thanks for the lightsaber.

RIP: Thee Kian Wie, True Scholar

Pak Thee Kian Wie was my role model for a good economist.

First of all, he published articles in international journals. A lot of articles. His primary expertise is in economic history and his PhD dissertation is on plantation in East Sumatra in the 1863-1942. He also wrote books on the making of Indonesian economy - from the colonial period to independence. A rare breed of economic historian in the economic profession, even rarer in Indonesia.

I read a lot of his works on industrialization and industrial policy in Indonesia. Pak Thee's personal access to the technocrats and at the same time his distance to power circle and bureaucracy makes his works not only instructive but also credible. Pak Thee, from his writings, was very aware of all political economy constraints and contestation at the time. He witnessed and reported the making of Indonesia miracle between 1970-1998 -- in increasing alarm in later years.

I actually wish that Pak Thee wrote more on how then up-to-date "(economic) ideas" were introduced and translated into Indonesian economic policymaking. Nevertheless, anyone wants to know how industrialization was planned and worked/did not work as intended in Indonesia shall read his papers and books.

Yet, one of his important work after the 1998 crisis is his essays on development, freedom, and New Order miracle (Pembangunan, Kebebasan, dan Mukjizat Orde Baru).

Apparently influenced by Amartya Sen, Pak Thee re-evaluated Indonesian economic "miracle" and reflected that, if I don't misread his writing, while the economic progress was real, there should have been more attention and work (read: government policies) to deal with freedom, inequality, and injustice. Probably not a strong statement for those who want a clear-cut verdict on the regime, but Pak Thee clearly went through a deep thinking and contemplation, with a tingle of regrets, before coming to this conclusion.

But above all, Pak Thee was a wonderful person. Anyone who ever came across him can attest how humble he was, considering his high scholarly credential.

Pak Thee once told me that while he was visiting Sussex University, he often commuted to London to see art performances. "I bought kelas kambing (cheapest) ticket for the shows", he added. It turns out that living in a "relative poverty" -- late Professor Sadli's term to describe his choice for living as a researcher under government payroll -- did not prevent him to become a true cosmopolitan.

He also once let me know, without a slightest hint of irony, that his son (I did not know Marcel Thee and Sajama Cut at that time) is a musician and makes a lot more money than him.

We will sorely miss you, Pak Thee.

RIP: Hadi Soesastro (3)

I believe it was in 2002, in a discussion at the CSIS on, of all topics, Hayek, that I came to know Pak Hadi personally and I am grateful to have that opportunity for many reasons.

As a scholar and intellectual, no doubt he was among very few Indonesians that the world highly regards. The title of one of Asia's best minds is also of no exaggeration. In some international meetings and conferences I happened to join in, everybody seems to know Hadi Soesastro and want to talk to him.

He was also a very fine economist with a strong awareness for political constraints and context that made him an effective consensus maker. In particular, Pak Hadi was very well versed in trade and technology issues -- two hot topics in contemporary Indonesian economy; but he seemed to avoid (media) controversy and quietly worked in an unassuming way in trying to materialize the benefit of trade and technological progress to the country.

His passion to international cooperation also showed that he believed that the country can only move forward by getting along with the world's community -- a perspective that, alas, many of the country's leading figures tend to underestimate and dismiss, probably due to some inferiority complex. But he was no self-willed and this is why you might find him talking to the other discontented parties, sincerely listening to their concerns -- no matter how absurd they appeared to me.

Above all, Pak Hadi was a very good mentor and teacher. From friends at the CSIS, you would hear that Pak Hadi had put lots of confidence to his younger colleagues to present paper or attend prestigious meetings here or abroad. But his attention was not limited to his home-base. I am not working for the CSIS, but that was what he had done to me, too.

Pak Hadi sent me to one of the earliest conferences where I present paper -- the ASEAN Economist Forum. Probably little that Pak Hadi knew, I was nervous like hell. He also asked me to join the working group for manufacturing industry policy of the Indonesian Economist Association (ISEI). I still remember how I felt in awe sharing the same table with Thee Kian Wie and the likes prominent economists discussing (more accurately, listening to them talking about) what happened to our manufacturing industry.

For that, I sincerely thank Pak Hadi in believing in me as then a young economist to gain academic and policy-related experience. Those exposures mean a lot to me, Pak.

The last time I saw Pak Hadi was in the PECC meeting in DC in which he also asked me to join. Among other things, we talked about food. Pak Hadi knew good food and he suggested me to visit Central where the food is good and --this is important for student like me-- the price is affordable.

He was always modest. I was surprised to learn that Pak Hadi, after the meeting, continued his trip to New York City by taking Chinatown bus with his son late at night. The reason: for him it's comfortable enough and inexpensive. I am speechless. With his stature, taking Acela would not be too much, but his modesty was really admirable.

Last thing, I regret that I would not be able to fulfill my promise and take him to Ray's Hell Burger next time he visited DC, but I guess, Pak Hadi, you will always get the better burger up there. And the ice cream too.

So long, Pak Hadi. May you rest in peace.

RIP: Hadi Soesastro (2)

As a rejoinder to AP's obit, please allow me to copy-paste my twits from Twitter this morning.

1. 1. I took his class, "Technological Progress and Economic Development".
   2. He tought us how you could push the production possibility frontier by advancement in technology
   3. Yet you should not pursue technology without considering the entire economic development stage
   4. He was a great teacher. Soft spoken, fatherly. At times we held the class in CSIS Tn Abang. He made us feel at home
   5. With Mari Pangestu and others he brought CSIS up to international calibre. He was respected as one of the leading economists in Asia
   6. Hal Hill (ANU) dubbed him as 1 of 4 economists saving Indonesia in the aftermath of 97/98 crisis. Others: M Sadli, Thee K Wie, Boediono
   7. Seeing him with his mastery of the topic, we were all proud. Of him, and of the country.
   8. Last September we went to Tokyo. He briefed the audience on the current geopolitical landscape of Asia and the rising Indonesia's role
   9. In that Tokyo event he looked so healthy, after having the cancer for quite some time
   10. Last March he attended a China-Indonesia event in Beijing. To my regret, I couldn't join (was in Incheon). His condition dropped again
   11. After Beijing conference his condition continuously worsened. He had to cancel many trips and schedules. Yet, he's a man of commitment
   12. He texted me Apr14 "Maaf Sdr Aco, saya krng sehat, tdk bisa hadir dlm Sadli Lecture bsk". I always protested the prefix "Sdr" :)
   13. He also emailed us "Maaf, sy tdk bs selesaikan chapter saya untuk buku Pak Emil". We understand, Pak.
   14. Then came the coma. As I visited, he was all tied up to machines and cables. Brain hemorrhage. My heart ached, eyes teary.
   15. April29 last week was his 65th birthday. Now he's gone. Selamat jalan, Pak Hadi
   
   

RIP: Hadi Soesastro

This morning I was shock when my wife Juli found out in Facebook that Hadi Soesastro passed away. We've been anticipating this when we heard pak Hadi was admitted to Pondok Indah hospital in a deep comma following a brain hemorrhage. But still, it was a sad sad news.

My last communication with him was in April 15th. I asked him if he could write an introduction for my 'book.' He replied shortly, "Please send me your draft. I'll see what I can write." Two days later he was admitted to Medistra Hospital because his Hb dropped. He left Medistra a few days later, and he was OK. But then in April 24th I heard he fell into a comma and rushed to Pondok Indah. He stayed unconscious until his last day.

Pak Hadi has been battling against his prostate cancer for the last few years. He's been back and forth to Melbourne for his treatment. In an email he sent in December last year, he mentioned that the cancer has been expanded to his bone. A radical approach is needed to remove the cells. I sensed an admission that he's done almost everything, and whatever comes next would be beyond what human can do. But at the same time, it was a very positive and inspiring email. Yes, anybody who knows him would say that Hadi Soesastro is one of the most positive thinking person.

Everybody can tell how a great economist and researcher pak Hadi is. But to me and all CSIS current and former staffs, and I believe to many other people outside CSIS, our interaction with pak Hadi is much more than a professional one. He's been a big brother or father (grandfater for some) figure for many of us. He was a senior, a mentor. But he preferred to be considered as friend or colleague. In 2001, in a seminar at CSIS, I addressed pak Hadi as 'my boss' to Julia Suryakusuma. Pak Hadi corrected me. "Colleague," he said.

You can see him during a session break in may CSIS seminars, even the international ones, wandering around with a bell, urging people to start the session. Yes, him, the Executive Director. He is also a warm figure in the office, and outside. As an Executive Director, he regularly come upstairs to meet us, his junior staffs. Sometimes with an information about a scholarships, a seminar, or even just to say hi, chat with us, and even... gossiping. In many occasions during my study abroad, he'd invite us to visit his place. As usual, he's always been a nice and entertaining host. His oxtail soup in Canberra (around 1999-2000), or his mushroom and salad in NYC (New Year's Eve 2006) are some example.

In autumn 2005 pak Hadi and bu Janti visited Harvard. Juli and I visited them in the hotel at breakfast -- we planned to take them around Boston. Then we learned the couple's habit of 'stealing' bread rolls from the hotel. "What for?" we asked. "To feed the birds in the park," they answered. So then we went to Boston Common and feed the birds with the bread they brought from the hotel. After that we invited them to spend a night in our small apartment. Pak Hadi agreed, in one condition: it didn't create any hassles for us.

I can go over a very long list on his accomplishment, on his warmth and greatness as a person, and so on. But still that won't be enough to describe him. In short, in many ways Hadi Soesastro is a person you'd want to be like.

One last thing. In 2006 when our daughter Rara just joined our family, he presented a Teddy Bear. We named him 'Teddy Hadi' or 'Hadi Bear' (now I wonder why it was not 'Teddy Soesastro'). Someday Rara will learn that it was a precious gift from a great person.

RIP: JD Salinger

I read Catcher in the Rye rather too late. Of all places, it was Fopp records store in Sidney Street, Cambridge, England, that I bought that small red book from. And for the rest of that night, I feverishly followed Holden Caulfield's life, ignoring even the charm of English pub in that alluring ancient college town.

Since then, cliche as it may sound, Catcher in the Rye set my standard and becomes the best book I've ever read. I even always had it on my desk back in Salemba, along with Che Guevara poster. I recall Aco, then my office roommate, in the midst of a deadline for a research report on rice liberalization, grudged as he had to try really hard not to reread that book upon seeing it between my messy piles of stuff.

I am never sure why I really like Holden Caulfield, but maybe somehow I can relate what he felt to be a young man in an uncertain world where (almost) everything seem very wrong. A rite of passage before you end up living as economist, barista, et cetera, and see some things not that wrong after all, and now you remember that time with smile or grin.

Today the man who introduced us to the life and angst of Holden Caulfield passed away. Salute and rest in peace, JD Salinger.

So Long, Gus Dur

Like many of my peers, I first learn about Gus Dur from his writings in Tempo and then from writings about him in the same magazine (where else?). It was in the mid 80s – I was in high school- that I realized that Gus Dur was not “just” a columnist but also a leader of the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, the NU. There were a number of articles in Tempo at that time that dwelled on NU’s decision to adopt Pancasila as the azas tunggal and to return to their 1926 khittah, and what those would mean for the coming election.

For someone like me, who spent most of my childhood in Jakarta, who had no deep roots in either NU or Muhammadiyah, and at that time was attending a catholic high school¹, it pained me a lot to have to learn about the word "khittah" just to get through an edition of Tempo. But I remember buried in the dull and tedious discussions about party politics and NU internal politics, was Gus Dur’s argument about Islam being compatible with pluralism.² Being in confined comfort of a school where religious and racial tensions were non-existent, I thought his argument was compelling if not relevant.

During my college years when, to my shock, I found college to be much more heterogenous than high school (duh!) Gus Dur’s views suddenly became more relevant to me. Dynamics between majority and minority as well as racial and ethnic differences became more apparent in college. I started to consciously seek what he and other “public intellectuals” had to say about the issue. When tensions between racial or religious groups became highly charged, I learned that Gus Dur often was the figure who helped resolve these tensions. During these years there were very high profile cases such as where he defended the right of Arswendo for free speech in the Monitor case, very much a lonely figure. But it was the little skirmishes, the low profile battles that he fought, that impressed me more. Our campus in Salemba was very close to LBH Jakarta where Gus Dur sometimes came to give a talk. I remember attending a talk he was giving there on the marriage rights of a couple who were Confucians. Their marriage had been presented before a court because of legal and administrative issue and Gus Dur was an expert witness of some sorts, in favor of the couple. I never knew who the couple were but during the talk Gus Dur was defending their case like they were his own relatives. There were many low profile events similar to that, and I tried to attend some that didn’t require much effort on my part. It helped a lot that Gus Dur had such an acute sense of humor, and one did not need to be a student activist steeped in rethorics to be able to digest and enjoy his talks. I was never an activist and never saw myself as one anyway, so I only read from the printed press the more vocal (and more political) views that he made as the chairman of Forum Demokrasi. Our Salemba campus was also close enough to STF Driyarkara where Gus Dur was often invited for discussions - and almost always came late. It was always worth skipping a few neoliberal (ha!) economic classes for those events.

Then 1998 happened. During the tumultuous years, I was away. Like many others, I was somewhat surprised by the turns of events that resulted in Gus Dur being elected the president. But I remember being very proud to have a man of such conviction becoming the leader of our nation.

As I read through his obituaries in recent days, while trying to recollect what I learned from the man, it strikes me how often people use the word “erratic” (=highly inconsistent), to describe his short presidency and even his personality. This is perhaps the biggest irony, since of all the public figures who were his contemporaries, no one is as consistent in sticking to his principles on humanity, pluralism and democracy as Gus Dur.

Thank you, Gus Dur, and so long.


¹ Like many of my peers in high school, I was interested in the 1987 election primarily because election campaigns were fun (Truck convoys! Free t-shirts! Free concerts!). Incidentally, most students in my school were PDI fans, at least outwardly. Gugun Gondrong was the only student coming to school donning a non-PDI attributes (he wore green PPP headband while riding his motorbike across the schoolyard, but that is another story).
² I’ll leave it for historians to debate how much of Gus Dur’s NU maneuvers were driven by political pragmatism, appeasement, or NU internal politics.
³ As a student studying economics in Salemba, I was perhaps already predisposed against IPTN and everything that had to do with it (funny how an undergraduate thinks). It was not surprising that when ForDem was formed partly as a reaction to the establishment of ICMI, my preference was clear.

RIP: Gus Dur

We were deeply saddened to hear KH Abdurrahman ‘Gus Dur’ Wahid has passed away.

Gus Dur became the fourth president of Indonesia in 1999. At that time, I was in Canberra, Aco in Champaign, Ujang in East Lansing, Sjamsu on the way to Washington, DC from Ithaca, and Rizal in Kukusan Beji, Depok. It was a funny process. There was yet to be a direct presidential election. The president was elected by the MPR which consists of 500 elected DPR members, and another 195 non-elected members.

Megawati’s PDIP was the winner of the election. That made her the strongest candidate to become the president. But there was a strong resentment against having a female president, mainly from the Islamic parties. Some last minute maneuvers inside the MPR, known as ‘Poros Tengah’ initiated by Amien Rais (then MPR Chairman) broke the deadlock by installing Gus Dur as the president and gave Megawati the VP chair.

Gus Dur was a great pluralist, humanist, pro-democratic, moderate Muslim leader. Unfortunately, he was not a good president. Worse, he was an erratic president. Of course, he had great agenda. Some of which he could achieve – like bringing down the discriminative barriers against ethnic Chinese, pushing forward pluralism ideas, eliminating SIUPP and removing 'culture' from the Ministry of Education and Culture. But his erratic style made it hard for almost everyone to understand what he was doing, let alone to execute his other agendas. Soon the supports for him waned.

His most famous catchphrase was “Gitu aja kok repot?” In some ways, this proved to be an optimal strategy to deal with criticisms and dirty politicking. The problem was he used this strategy too much, even for things that needed his serious attention. Our senior colleague Hadi Soesastro once told a story when he, Prof. Emil Salim and some other senior economists gave an economic briefing, Gus Dur literally fell asleep. After someone woke him up, he just said, “Right, you take care of the economy…”

His presidency reached the anticlimax in July 2001 when the same MPR which elected him less than two years earlier agreed to impeach him following the infamous ‘Buloggate’ and ‘Bruneigate’ scandals. The same MPR which rejected Megawati then elected her to be the fifth president.

Nevertheless, no one can disagree that he was a great person. One of the best Indonesians we’ve ever had. And we will surely miss him. So long, Gus… Have a nice rest, now you no longer have to be repot…

RIP: Rose Director Friedman

I was reading The Great Contraction, 1929-1933, by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz when Kate emailed and asked me to write a short obituary for Rose Director Friedman.

Rose was the half of the Friedmans, with whom Milton Friedman shared and voiced opinion on issues unrelated to price theory and monetary economics (Overtveldt, 2007). The two were the strong supporters for voucher system in education; voluntary army; profit under fair competition as firm's social responsibility; and negative income tax (or direct transfer for the poor). In short, individual freedom.

May she rest in peace.

Rendra and The Students

There is something between Rendra and the university students.

In my undergraduate days, I learnt development economics from Todaro's Economic Development and Rendra's Potret Pembangunan Dalam Puisi. Todaro's provided me with methodology and numbers in analyzing development; but it was from Rendra's that I learnt how poverty, unemployment, inequality, and corrupt institutions really mean to people's life.

And the power of hope. Sajak Joki Tobing Untuk Widuri, for example.

But I had to wait until one cold raining evening of another long day in 1998 in Depok to see before my eyes the most subversive poet that Indonesia has ever had read his poems.

He was still officially banned from the University, a state university as it is, because he was considered enemy of the state --so much for the power of poetry and the irony of dictatorship guarded by thousands of soldiers and terror. But somehow friends at KMUI were able to smuggle him in to stage before hundreds of students on one of Suharto last days.

There, Rendra read his own Sajak Kenalan Lamamu. It was astounding beyond words. Magical. And on those days, bloody relevant --as if it confirmed that what we did those days were indeed worth doing.

I thank Rendra for that. Hat off.

RIP - Samuel Huntington

I didn't realize that Prof. Samuel Huntington passed away on Christmas Eve until I read The Economist's recent Lexington column. He died at 81 in his house in Martha's Vineyard (surely a nice place to 'rest').

It was a bit ironic that the news of his death was overshadowed by two international events that are related to his works on conflicts among religions: Christmas and New Year holidays, and the Israel attack on Gaza. The first was an example than on some things, contrary to his thesis, globalization has brought down cultural differences across the world. The holidays were originally Christian's holidays, but now it has been secular holidays, celebrated or enjoyed by most people in the world. The second somehow shows that his thesis might still hold.

Prof. Huntington is both a respected and controversial intellectual of modern days. His name is almost synonymous to the phrase "clash of civilization", a theory he published in the early 1990s, just when many people in the world celebrated the end of cold-war. The theory received mixed responses. It received a lot of praises, as well as criticisms (was he correct in defining civilizations?), or denial (he sounds right, but isn't it too pessimistic?). But even those who disagreed strongly with him must admit the logical clarity of his thesis. He is an intellectual whose arguments always make people to think and rethink. His arguments always had strong building blocks, and his opponents could not avoid being dragged into his logic first before shooting the counter arguments.

People tend to label him "western-chauvinist." This temptation was inevitable. In one article, he wrote that "the west is unique, and the western values are not universal" (hence there can be no such thing as westernization). In his more recent book, his criticism to the Hispanic immigrants earned him "anti-pluralism", even "racist", tag. Such labels are unproductive, for sure. Many people would think that he is a hardcore (neo-) conservartive, while in truth he is a lifelong Democrat.

I admit I can't say much about him or his work. His classes at Harvard have always been oversubscribed (and I had to allocate my credit for other courseworks). The only chance I got to formally learn about him is in this class. But one big question from his works that have always been intriguing for me is '(how) does culture matter?' I touched this issue in a discussion here and here. Of course, he thought that culture matters, and it matters a lot. He once argued that the wave of democratization in the late 20th century "might have more to do with the Second Vatican Council, rather than the spread of free-market ideology."

May you rest in peace, Professor Huntington. Unfortunately, your pessimistic view over the world peace still holds.

Note: in a 2003 article, Ron Inglehart and Pippa Norris wrote:

Samuel Huntington was only partially right. The cultural fault line that divides the West and the Muslim world is not about democracy but sex. [Based on the World Values Survey data], Muslims and their Western counterparts want democracy, yet they are worlds apart when it comes to attitudes toward divorce, abortion, gender equality, and gay rights-which may not bode well for democray's future in the Middle East.

Goodbye, Sjahrir (3)

Bang Ciil was passionate in everything he did: whether talking about poverty or debating the merits of a decadently delicious Sop Kambing (for some time a staple on his birthdays). In fact, one of the little lessons that I learned from him while I was his TA was that there's nothing wrong about discussing poverty over a good meal in a fancy restaurant.

Yes, it is always critical that we possess the hard facts and go beyond the soulless data to learn about poverty. It is also always essential that we are aware of the political economy of policies, historical contexts and institutions. But at the end it should not matter whether you're discussing poverty and do the analysis inside a hot tin shack under a city overpass or while sitting on a plush sofa in a lobby of a luxurious hotel. Of course it should not. In fact you'd want to have a cool head and let your analytical thoughts and economic intuitions run their course and if that means you need climate-controlled office space, so what?

Yet at that time it sounded so politically incorrect, almost blasphemous - especially when you were a scrawny undergraduate TA who were now and then still infatuated with left rethorics - despite your "neoliberal" Salemba training. But that was Bang Ciil in nutshell the way I remember him: always passionate, often emotional, but never let his logic be clouded. And then there's that challenge-the-conventional-wisdom, provocative streak (most times also thought-provoking, but often simply provocative), perhaps a remnant of his student years. Bang Ciil was, in more ways than one, Cafe Salembaish. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that Cafe Salemba, in many ways, Bang Ciilish.

*Ujang was a scrawny undergraduate TA of Sjahrir for the FEUI course "Perekonomian Indonesia" in 1994/95. Ira and Aco were the other two TAs.

Goodbye, Sjahrir (2)

Never forgot his trademark remarks during the "Perekonomian Indonesia" class, "So what are you student doing? You are clearly not studying, but you are not protesting either..." It was in 1997. A year after the 27 July riot, and a year before the 1998 movement. (Aco and Ujang were his TAs when I took that class).

Then, in 2003, I attended his birthday ceremony in which he officially declared his presidential campaign. In his speech, Rocky Gerung announced that "next year, we will be celebrating Ciil's birthday in the Merdeka Palace backyard." The campaign turned disastrous, nevertheless. His party finished second from the bottom, with only 0.3% votes gathered (to which I contributed one vote). And Sjahrir never even mentioned in the presidential election.

Yes, in politics, Sjahrir is unfortunate, said Rosihan Anwar. But he's still a big man -- both literally, as well as metaphorically. May you rest in peace, Bang.

Goodbye, Sjahrir

It was one of those long days in May 1998. That day, UI students from Depok went down to Salemba campus for a rally demanding Soeharto to step down. And that very day also turned violent as riots broke around Jakarta.

Salemba was quiet. Most of students had been evacuated through small alleys behind Cikini market to the train station, back to Depok. The remaining students, including I, had been tired, confused, and desperate while looking at Jakarta on fire. Salemba was tightly guarded.

Then at around 6 pm, an old man with an old Vespa came. I never knew how he managed to get into the campus. The Vespa was barely able to carry those white boxes. He was looking for "mahasiswa UI". When he found out that we were the students, he handed us those boxes. Lunch boxes. Suddenly we realized we hadn't had ate anything for the whole day.

And the Vespa man said to us, "It's from Sjahrir."

I always remember that line. Thanks Bang Ciil, thanks a lot. May you rest in peace.

RIP: Bill Saragih

It was in an 1997 --or 1996-- afternoon. I was one of the foot soldiers of the Jazz Goes To Campus organizing committee. Padang Wicaksono, then one of the generals responsible for the rundown of the event, knowing that I had nothing to do in campus lobby A, asked me to join him to see some performers to request them to play with economical pay under low student's organization budget.

So off we went. And the first jazz player on the list to meet was Bill Saragih. We're warmly received in his suburban house in South Jakarta and this guy, I must say, was such a cool and cheerful person. With his thick North Sumatra accent he entertained us with stories about jazz and the youngsters (Hey, we were very young back then). Oom Bill was glad that some students, like FEUI, still care to organize a jazz festival. It was the time when alternative-grunge-rock bands as well as boy bands were at their peak of popularity.

When we eventually shyly raised the honorarium issue, he told us not to worry. And on the D day, Bill Saragih fulfilled his promise, kicked the JGTC off, masterfully played his flute and saxophone along with his nephews, chatted, and joked with the audience despite the scorching Depok afternoon sun.

That man, the great entertainer with his distinctive throaty voice, now passed away. To pay respect, the Cafe plays What a Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong

So long, Bill.

RIP: Suharto

My feeling at the first time I heard about his sickness, death, and towards all the media coverages, is at best indifferent. Personally, I am tired of following the controversies surrounding his case since he stepped down in 1998. And I felt that this nation has missed the opportunity bring a closure to his case.

I was born when he was already the president. And he is the only president I knew until 1998. In my last days of the college years, I joined the movement calling him to step down. But when he did step down at May 21st that year, somehow I did not feel joy or relief. A bit, yes, but not as much as I thought when I decided to join the movement a few months earlier. I felt his stepping down -- the way he stepped down -- was an anticlimax for the movement.

And yes, ten years after, it was not wrong after all to consider the 1998 movement as an anticlimax. The failure to bring the criminal and civil charge against Suharto to and end was only reflecting the bigger picture of the reformasi movement. Worse, some fellow students who called for a change even swallowed their words and became the politicians they used to criticize.

But I am not saying that the country isn't progressing. After all, I still chose today than the yesterday. We enjoy more personal freedom and many more. On the other hand, credit should be given to where it deserves. Suharto brought many improvements in the country's economy. Under his reign, poverty declined significantly, health and education has improved compared to the situation he inherited in the late 1960s.

I don't want to be trapped in any sides of overpraising or overloathing him. I believe the government should continue the civil charge against his foundations, as a symbol that this nation is moving forward. Suharto has died without being proven innocent or being prosecuted. But we should continue finalizing the human rights abuse cases happened during his reign. Including, among other things, the kidnappings of prodemocratic activists and student shootings in 1998-99.

Good bye, old man. We should let you rest in peace now. But the country should move on in dealing with the dark past you inherited.

Goodbye Pak Sadli (2)

Like AP, I remember Pak Sadli, despite his Mafia Berkeley label, as a friendly and approachable person. He was also one among very few seniors who were very active in intellectual events of the day and kept updating his knowledge on current issues.

Several years ago, when I managed to have my first op-ed published in The Jakarta Post, Dede Basri told me that Pak Sadli liked my writing --presumably he asked Dede who I am, since I put LPEM as my home institution. I was surprised. Perhaps more than Pak Sadli realized, that kind of compliment to the first-timer is actually very encouraging.

The second encounter with Pak Sadli was in an economic conference in Batam. There was a rather chaotic hotel arrangement, so I, the Sadlis, and Joao Saldanha of East Timor were stranded in the lobby. We chatted about various things. He told us, among others, that he had asked Widjojo to write his experience in managing the economy. It seems to me that Pak Sadli did care about the transfer of knowledge to the younger generation of economists in the country.

He also told us that he wanted to see the Barelang Bridge, also known as Jembatan Habibie. Recalling the old debate on Habibienomics vs Widjojonomics, I can't help but grin.

Most importantly, Pak Sadli had great contribution in fighting the public economic illiteracy. If you read his writings in the media, you can see that while being aware of the political economy at play, far from being die-hard ideological as he was at times sympathetic to the opposite view, he stayed with economic theories or intuition in his analysis. For sure, he was not just another economic populist observer.

His death is a great loss. May he rest in peace.

Good bye, Pak Sadli

Pak Sadli and I are three generations apart. I am unlucky to never had him as a lecturer, mentor or a colleague when he was still active. So, there are not so many personal memories about him. But most friends would agree that he is a great man.

Among the not-so-many things I remember about him was at his early 80s, he still drives his own car. I heard that his friends and family had to forbid him to drive. Other things I can recall, whenever I bumped into him several times, in seminars or other occasions, he was always friendly, informal, and approachable.

Five years ago I was asked to contribute to a fetschrift for his 80th birthday. Here's the opening I wrote for the article (I won't translate it to English, so sorry for the non-Indonesian speakers):

Satu momen yang saya ingat mengenai Pak Sadli adalah acara peluncuran buku kumpulan tulisan beliau berjudul Landscape Ekonomi Politik dalam Krisis dan Transisi, tahun 2001 di CSIS. Dalam sesi komentar dari forum, Dr. Mayling Oey-Gardiner mengajukan pertanyaan yang ia sebut sebagai ‘titipan sponsor’. “Pak Sadli,” katanya, “dari hampir enam ratus halaman buku ini, adakah sekali saja anda menyebut kata ‘gender’?” Melihat siapa yang duduk di dekat Bu Mayling, barulah saya menyadari siapa yang disebut sebagai ‘sponsor’ tersebut. Ia tak lain adalah Dr. Saparinah Sadli. Istri Pak Sadli yang juga pengajar dan tokoh senior Studi Perempuan di UI. Secara berseloroh, Pak Sadli menjawab bahwa memang ia tidak pernah menulis tentang gender atas dasar ‘pembagian kerja’ dengan sang istri. Tetapi satu bulan setelah itu, di sebuah harian ibukota muncul artikel Pak Sadli mengenai gender dalam ekonomi.

That shows, not only Pak Sadli can teach or write. He can also 'listen.' May you rest in peace, Pak.