Anies Baswedan’s Impressive Debut
M. Bakri Musa
October 24, 2023
Indonesia’s Presidential hopeful Anies Rasyid Baswedan’s speech on October 11, 2023 at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) was impressive. He epitomizes President Jokowi’s finest legacy of bringing many outstanding young talents into his administration. In the final analysis that is a leader’s greatest and most enduring legacy, not his long tenure or grandiose monuments.
Judging from his speech as well as past performances, Baswedan’s election would assure and indeed accelerate Indonesia’s current already impressive trajectory. That would be good not only for that country but also Malaysia and the region.
Thanks to modern technology I could participate in real time (at least virtually) in that as well as other presentations all over the world. In Malaysia, one series that attracts me is the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization’s World Professorial Lecture (ISTAC/WPL). My praise however, is not unalloyed. Of over two dozen lectures thus far I could recall archiving only a few.
One was the July 3, 2022 talk by Aria Nakissa. A Penn graduate, he obtained his Masters in Islamic Studies at IIUM and then went on to get his JD and PhD at Harvard. He presented his novel research on Islamic Studies utilizing cognitive science, “big data,” and non-traditional sources. The only other distinguished IIUM graduate who had entered my intellectual world was the late Singapore-born Pakistani Shahab Ahmad. A Princeton PhD and a Harvard faculty, he wrote the monumental What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic.
A few observations on Malaysian presentations. First, the long distracting introductions that are not respectful of listeners’ intelligence and precious time. Then there are the irritating technical snafus. Could the organizers not have their staff do a dry run and show the guests how the various gadgets work beforehand?
Fluffs as well as long preambles drown your central message, or worse. To wit, instead of saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, food is now served,” just seven crisp direct words, a Malaysian host starts by apologizing for the “humble” offerings while profusely thanking the guests for “honoring” the occasion and the chefs for their culinary extravaganza. Then the prolonged effusive salutations and equally-dragged out obligatory supplications. Meanwhile the food gets cold.
Baswedan’s lecture was the rare and refreshing exception. His few slides had a high data/byte ratio and were free from “chartjunk.” Uncluttered and thus informative! He must have read Edward Tufte’s The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.
The program, “The Malay World Civilization’s Future And Its Contribution To Global Discourse On Sustainable Development” lasted over 130 minutes! Baswedan however did not begin to speak till 50 minutes into the program, what with the many long introductory remarks. One speaker gushed with admiration and later broke into tears in his praise for the man. Precious time wasted. People came to hear the speaker, not the host, emcee, introducer, or assorted hangers-on.
Those other speakers added nothing. Not one speaker alluded as to why this man is creating such a buzz with his running for the presidency of Indonesia. Had Baswedan not mentioned that as Governor of Jakarta he successfully tackled that city’s notorious congested streets by improving its public transportation system, I too would not know of his remarkable accomplishment. He mentioned that not to show off, rather as an example of problem solving using our traditional mesyuarah (negotiations) and gotong royong (working together) approaches.
Reflecting the rigor of his American PhD training, Baswedan spent only 27 minutes for his formal presentation, leaving plenty of time for comments. I highlight this because Malays are easily mesmerized by long speeches that deliver nothing but bombastic words. The local social media was abuzz recently over a nonagenarian scholar who spoke for over two hours, and nobody could remember what he said.
A refreshing feature, because it is so rarely seen these days,) of Baswedan’s presentation was that he could compose his sentences in complete Malay (or Indonesia) without resorting to the irritating jumbling or rojak speech of Malay and English, even in mid-sentence.
The students’ questions were probing and insightful. One asked whether Baswedan’s Malay World was based on geography, culture and language, or genetics. He confessed his ignorance of genetics. Another, from a business major not surprisingly, asked about the possible impact of the proposed Kra Canal.
Baswedan’s simple response was, “Change is inevitable. As such we must be prepared for it.” He did not elaborate on how, but I could after listening to him. Emulate him! Get the best education, learn English (today’s universal language), and continue seeking knowledge. Then leverage our time-honored cultural traditions of mesyuarah and gotong royong to solve problems and get things done.
A senior faculty member hogged the Q&A session to boast of his papers on Biswedan’s illustrious grandfather. Had the moderator not prompted Biswedan, he would not have commented.
Biswedan’s topic interests me as I have just completed the draft of my next book, Malay Civilizational Encounters: From Pre-Islam Through Colonization And The Digital Age. I congratulate ISTAC/WPL for inviting him. Prime Minister Anwar would do well to have Biswedan address the Malaysian cabinet. If he could solve Jakarta’s horrific traffic mess, shaping up Anwar’s cabinet would be a walk in the park, or on today’s Jakarta streets. While he is at it, Anwar would also do well to ponder grooming his own Anies Biswedan. The greatest legacy for a leader is for him to endow the nation with an ever greater successor.
