Mudalovers must be familiar with the figure of BJ Habibie. Many have written biographies of BJ Habibie and even filmed his life story. He is an extraordinary inspirational figure for the Indonesian people.
BJ Habibie’s profile
Name: Prof. Dr.-Ing. H. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie
Popular Call: BJ Habibie
Wife: Hasri Ainun Besari
Place, Date, Birth: Pare-pare, 25 June 1936
Presidential Term: 21 May 1998 Until 20 October 1999
Education History: SMAK Dago, Bandung, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), RWTH Aachen
Names of children: Ilham Akbar, Thareq Kemal
His full name is Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie. He was born in Pare-Pare City, South Sulawesi, on June 25 1936. Before becoming an influential person for the Indonesian nation, BJ Habibie studied at SMAK Dago, Bandung, in 1954 and continued to college at the Institute of Technology. Bandung (ITB).
Because of his cleverness and intelligence, BJ Habibie finally continued his studies in Germany with his other friends. Unlike his friends who used scholarships to study in Germany, BJ Habibie used funds from his mother, RA Tuti Marini Puspowardojo.
His decision to study in Germany was due to Bung Karno’s advice about the importance of mastering national technology, namely maritime technology and aerospace technology when Indonesia was still developing at that time.
BJ Habibie finally chose the Aeronautical Engineering major, specializing in Aircraft Construction at the Rhein Westfalen Aachen Technische Hochschule, Germany in 1955.
From here BJ Habibie learned to master technology and became an aircraft expert who first created an aircraft in Indonesia. So it is not surprising that he is called the father of Indonesian technology because of his extraordinary work.
There are many lessons we can take from the life story or biography of BJ Habibie. Even though BJ Habibie’s presidential term was very short, he was one of the nation’s figures who brought national spirit and change to the Indonesian nation intellectually.
So that Mudalovers can learn lessons and be inspired by his life story, let’s get to know BJ Habibie from his short biography below.
BJ Habibie’s Childhood
BJ Habibie’s childhood was in Pare-pare, South Sulawesi with his father and mother and seven siblings. Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie is BJ Habibie’s father who is an agricultural expert from Gorontalo and his mother is RA Tuti Marini Puspowardojo who is an eye specialist from Yogyakarta.
Of eight children, BJ Habibie was the fourth child to grow up in a religious family. BJ Habibie’s childhood was very familiar with his father’s reading of the Koran which made him calm. That is why at the age of 3 years, BJ Habibie was already fluent in reading the Koran. BJ Habibie has been known as an intelligent child since his childhood.
BJ Habibie was abandoned by his father who died when he was very young, namely 14 years. From there the mother had to fight alone to continue living together with her eight children. Since his father left, BJ Habibie’s family finally moved to Bandung.
BJ Habibie’s Education Period
Because he is known as an intellectual, it would be incomplete if you did not know BJ Habibie’s educational background. Because BJ Habibie has grown into an intelligent child since childhood, he is also an intelligent student at school.
SMAK Dago Bandung is the school where BJ Habibie received his education until he continued on to college at ITB, which at that time was still called the University of Indonesia Bandung. BJ Habibie only studied for a year at ITB then continued his studies in Germany for 10 years.
When Habibie was still an ITB student, President Soekarno’s government was aggressively funding the nation’s children to study and study abroad. Of the hundreds of students who received scholarships and went to Germany, BJ Habibie was in the second group who went to Germany without a scholarship from the state in 1955.
It was his mother who paid for BJ Habibie to study at the Aeronautical Engineering Department specializing in Aircraft Construction at the Rhein Westfalen Aachen Technische Hochschule, Germany.
Gaining knowledge abroad was not short and easy. For many years BJ Habibie studied at RWTH Aachen while working practically. The motivation he initially brought to study in Germany was that BJ Habibie was interested in building commercial aircraft according to Soekarno’s ideas.
Finally, the PT PAL company emerged, namely IPTN at that time. Apart from that, BJ Habibie’s biggest motivation for success also came from his mother, who had struggled to pay for his education and life abroad, which was not cheap.
In 1960 BJ Habibie successfully completed his studies for his Ing Diploma at the Technische Hochschule with a perfect distinction or Cum Laude with an average score of 9.5. This engineer’s degree allowed him to work at the Talbot Firm, the Railway Industry in Germany.
The company really needed a Wagon to transport light goods in large quantities. BJ Habibie also made the construction tools needed for the German Railway Industry wagon by making airplane wings. The method also produced results and really helped the company’s needs.
BJ Habibie’s biography regarding his educational history continues because he continued his doctoral degree in Germany, namely Technische Hochschule Die Fakultät de Fuer Maschinenwesen Aachen.
While studying for his doctorate, in 1962 BJ Habibie finally married Hasri Ainun and brought him to Germany. His life is said to be very simple and difficult because he has to save money and work late at night.
Even though BJ Habibie also had to continue studying and completing his coursework. Ainun, his wife, also lives simply to save money by queuing to wash clothes in public places.
BJ Habibie’s efforts and hard work finally yielded results where he graduated with an Ingenieur Doctorate degree at the Technische Hochschule Die Fakultät de Fuer Maschinenwesen with the title of Cum Laude or Very Perfect with an average score of 10. The figure of BJ Habibie is indeed a very genius expert.
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BJ Habibie, Nicknamed the Father of Indonesian Technology
Another interesting story from BJ Habibie’s biography is his genius in discovering the Crack theory ( crack propagation theory) which was eventually named the Habibie Factor formula. The Habibie Factor Formula is a formula used to calculate the atomic fracture of an airplane.
With proper calculations, the aircraft material can be stronger and more precise. This theory created by BJ Habibie was very important because at that time there were still many plane crashes caused by structural failure.
This formula is what gives BJ Habibie the nickname Mr Crack. Because of his genius, BJ Habibie also received the title of Honorary Professor or Professor from ITB and the high award of Ganesha Praja Manggala.
Apart from coming from within the country, recognition from international institutions, such as Gesellschaft Luft und Raumfahrt (aeronautical institute in Germany), The Royal Aeronautical Society London England, The Academie Nationale de l’Air et de l’Espace France , The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences Sweden, and The US Academy of Engineering, United States .
BJ Habibie even received prestigious awards that were almost equivalent to the Nobel Prize, namely the Edward Warner Award and the Von Karman Award. This revolutionary figure was admired by many people, even when BJ Habibie visited Germany he never escaped the news.
Before taking part in the world of politics, BJ Habibie was first known as a genius aircraft technology expert in Indonesia. In 1973 Soeharto sent Ibnu Sutowo to go to Germany and meet BJ Habibie so that he could have a career in his homeland. So a year after Ibnu Sutowo’s arrival, BJ Habibie returned to Indonesia and started his career at the Nurtanio Aircraft Industry Institute (LIPNUR) as a leader.
In 1976 this company changed to Nurtanio Aircraft Industry (IPTN) until in 2000 it changed again to PT Dirgantara Indonesia. In 1978, Soeharto also appointed BJ Habibie to serve as Minister of State for Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia and he held this position for 20 years. Referring to the book Indonesia’s Industrial Transformation in 1997, BJ Habibie used a unique approach when creating the aircraft industry in Indonesia.
IPTN under the control of BJ Habibie succeeded in developing the technology for a number of aircraft, namely the CN235, N250 and N2130. BJ Habibie’s most legendary work is N250 or also known as Gatotkaca, which was first broadcast in 1995.
Gatotkaca is the only turboprop aircraft that uses fly by wire technology created by BJ Habibie. Because of his extraordinary work for Indonesian technology, not long after he died, Jokowi stated that BJ Habibie was the father of Indonesian technology and a revolutionary statesman.
BJ Habibie’s Political Career
BJ Habibie’s political career began when he returned to Indonesia in 1974 on Suharto’s orders. Starting in 1978 BJ Habibie was appointed Minister of Research and Technology for 10 decades until March 1998 during the reign of President Soeharto. Apart from that, he also led a state-owned strategic industrial company for 10 years.
Starting in 1998, precisely on March 14, BJ Habibie was appointed as the 7th Vice President accompanying Suharto in the VII Development Cabinet until May 21 1998 when Soeharto stepped down from his presidential position. Habibie’s work as vice president was quite short, which you can read in the book The Nation’s Leader Series – BJ Habibie, the Last Vice President of the New Order.
After Suharto’s resignation, BJ Habibie was appointed as the 3rd President of Indonesia at the age of 62 with a short term of office, namely 1 May 1998 to 20 October 1999.
When BJ Habibie served as president, on August 30 1999 Indonesia lost East Timor from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia and became a separate country. However, BJ Habibie succeeded in resolving the problem peacefully by holding an opinion poll for the people of East Timor to choose independence or remaining part of Indonesia. This decision was controversial among Indonesian experts and politicians.
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President BJ Habibie’s term of office
Even though his tenure as President of the Republic of Indonesia was short, his work cannot be underestimated. After the fall of Soeharto, Indonesia experienced an economic crisis and riots occurred everywhere.
It could be said that he inherited his position when conditions in Indonesia were chaotic and worrying, where many regions and regions wanted to break away from Indonesia. In the Reformation Era with instability and disintegration after the May 1998 riots in several regions in Indonesia, BJ Habibie had to oversee all the chaos.
BJ Habibie was ready to form a new cabinet with important roles to restore support from international monetary funds and the donor country community to restore the Indonesian economy at that time. BJ Habibie also freed several Suharto era political prisoners and reduced controls on freedom of expression and organizational activities.
That’s what makes this figure special, he continues to strive to rebuild the Indonesian nation for the better. Several forms of policies and decisions made by BJ Habibie are very valuable for the Indonesian nation, namely the Law on Regional Autonomy, the Anti-Monopoly Law (Fair Competition Law), and freeing its people to participate in many political parties.
BJ Habibie also succeeded in increasing the dollar exchange rate to the Indonesian rupiah from 10 thousand rupiah to 15 thousand rupiah during the economic crisis before 1998. Apart from that, he also succeeded in completing the liquidation of banks which were having problems at that time due to the chaotic economic conditions in Indonesia.
In 1999 BJ Habibie was forced to resign because his accountability was not accepted at the MPR general session regarding the separation of East Timor from the Republic of Indonesia. KH Abdurrahman Wahid finally succeeded him as the 4th President of the Republic of Indonesia.
BJ Habibie became an ordinary citizen and returned to live in Germany, although he occasionally visited Indonesia.
However, since the SBY administration, BJ Habibie has been active again in Indonesia as an advisor to the democratic process in Indonesia in the organization he created, namely the Habibie Center. Apart from that, BJ Habibie is also Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Golkar Party.
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BJ Habibie’s Love Story
Discussing BJ Habibie’s biography cannot be separated from his very touching love story with his wife. BJ Habibie once revealed that Mrs. Ainun was his eyes through which he could see life.
Mudalovers can also find the complete story of Hasri Ainus Habibie as an irreplaceable figure in BJ Habibie’s life in the book BJ Habibie-Bahan Habibie’s Soul.
Mrs. Ainun was a source of love for BJ Habibie’s life when it was difficult and until BJ Habibie was well established. 48 The age of marriage until BJ Habibie’s mother Ainun died, they were always together. Mrs. Ainun always faithfully accompanied BJ Habibie and accompanied him patiently and lovingly.
On May 22 2010, BJ Habibie lost Hasri Ainun, his beloved wife, who died of ovarian cancer. BJ Habibie never previously knew that his wife was suffering from ovarian cancer because Mrs. Ainun never complained to him once.
BJ Habibie only found out 3 days before Ainun’s mother left, that’s when he felt hurt. BJ Habibie also wrote a book entitled Habibie & Ainun, 323 pages thick, as a form of his love for his late wife.
This book was then adapted to the big screen with the same film title as the book title. The biographical film BJ Habibie was broadcast in Indonesia in December 2012 with the story of his visionary figure and his romantic love story with Mrs. Ainun.
The film was directed by Hanung Bramantyo and Faozan Rizal and starred by Reza Rahardian and Bunga Citra Lestari which successfully attracted the attention of the Indonesian people as many as 4.5 million viewers. The following are recommendations for books in the Mudabicara collection that Mudalovers can read about the extraordinary romance of BJ Habibie and Ibu Ainun.
So, that’s the biography of BJ Habibie that Mudalovers can know to emulate BJ Habibie’s inspiring stories. His passing on September 11 2019 made many Indonesians lose his extraordinary figure.
BJ Habibie is a figure who contributed to the history of the Indonesian nation. That is why there are many things that can be learned from his genius ideas and stories of struggle. Mudalovers friends can visit the Mudabicara website at Mudabicara.com to see a collection of articles about various figures. Have a good study.