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21st Century Leadership

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[dropcap] C [/dropcap]ongratulations to Pak Joko Widodo (53), newly installed as President of Indonesia!

 

I first went to Indonesia in 1998 a few days after Suharto, dictator for 31 years, was deposed. The city of Jakarta was in shambles as many were killed in the confrontation between the military and the civilians who wanted democratic change.

Since then, four presidents have sought to bring prosperity and change to the nation with varying degrees of success. These well meaning leaders have all helped the established interests of those who have profited from political connections and corruption. Their interests have mostly ignored the poor and have severely limited the development of the nation.

In the meantime, a man coming from among the common people was emerging as a leader interested in efficiency, honesty and real change for the nation.

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The first day of a new Indonesia

Enter Jokowi, a man of unparalleled contrasts. A furniture salesman who was impressed with the social justice he saw in Europe and wanted the same for his people. He decided to enter politics without the support of any of the existing political parties and became the mayor of his hometown Solo in Central Java. After a very successful tenure, he decided to run for leadership of the capital city Jakarta.

He surprised everyone by choosing as his running mate Ahok, a Chinese Christian. He won the elections and their leadership has positively changed Jakarta in unprecedented ways.

Today (yesterday in Indonesia) starts a new day for the nation. Jokowi faces significant economic, social and political challenges but he faces them with the calm assurance that as long as people understand the issues they will work with him to improve the lives of 260 million Indonesians.

He has offered to set up a one-stop shop for investors to speed up business permits within six months, gradually cut fuel subsidies within three years, move tax collection online and prioritize maritime logistics and mass public transportation.

Internet for the Village

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As President elect Joko Widodo awaits his inauguration next October 20 he has been laying out the ground rules for his administration. In his usual style, he is talking to the common people in the villages, street markets, sports halls as well as diplomatic representatives and visiting business leaders.

Jokowi and Mark FB

Jokowi took Mark to Tanah Abang a traditional market. There, he got him pair of pants.

Yesterday, Mark Zukerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook was in Jakarta for the Internet Developers Summit.

Indonesians are hooked on Facebook. There are 69 million Facebook users out of a population of 251 million (estimate 2014). Making the country the fourth largest FB user in the world, 1 in 4 locals are FB active!

Jokowi, as the new President is affectionally known, wants to empower all Indonesians through education and sustainable business practices and he is convinced that the Internet plays a key role in that process.

Zukerberg’s initiative internet.org has been specifically designed to make that possible. He describes it as a global partnership dedicated to making affordable internet access available to the two-thirds of the world not yet connected by making information available to more people everywhere and by providing more affordable devices, Mark’s initiative is at the forefront of empowering the people in the village at every level.