What would we like to say about State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan? What he is doing always attracts attention and applause from most people. He was recently furious due to being trapped in a long traffic jam when he supposed to be attending a meeting with Garuda Indonesia in Senayan. Upon learning that two of a total of four of the Senayan toll booths were empty he exited his car and threw out chairs from inside the booths, saying, “This chair is useless!”He then opened the un-operated gates and let about 100 queuing cars pass without paying. Dahlan was furious because he had reminded the management of PT Jasa Marga, the toll operator, to pay attention to congestion at toll gates several times.
The news quickly spread through the social media websites and BlackBerry messenger, with everyone giving him two thumbs up. The Internet saw thousands of comments on the articles about Dahlan’s actions, and praised him as a hero. A hero, after all, is one who dares to take a position. I feel that Dahlan was representing those who grumbled about the bad traffic despite paying the toll fee. But the praise for Dahlan was not just about the traffic issue. We see him as a public figure who can feel our heart beats as citizens.
It’s not exaggerating if people make him an idol these days and expect him to bring a lot of changes to our country. He is what he is, always being direct and spontaneous. He knows problems and he solves them right away. He is not just about the theory, or about making commands from his desk, but he is down to earth. He thinks about complicated problems but he simplifies the solution. He acts quickly and leads by example. In short, wherever he is assigned, he becomes a panacea.
If we read his CEO notes when he was the PLN president director (the notes are collected in the book Dua Tangis Dan Ribuan Tawa), we can see how he has made a breakthrough to solve the myriad problems of the PLN with his smart thinking. His leadership style has become an inspiration not only for PLN staff but also for leaders outside the PLN. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a great decision when he assigned Dahlan to manage 126 state-owned enterprises in 2011 because PLN was too small for his vast talents.
We have seen Dahlan’s humbleness, far from feudalistic style that is usually attached to high-profile government officials. When he came to Bogor Presidential Palace to attend Cabinet meeting on Dec. 23, 2011, he traveled on the low-price and hustle-bustle KRL (electric-powered train) together with ordinary people. He then bought soto ayam (chicken aromatic soup) in a warung (food stall) inside the train station after he arrived there. He looked to be enjoying having a chat with people despite being an important man. When he realized that he had a meeting, and his official car was not around, he took an ojek (motorcycle taxi) to the palace.Was he pretending to be pro-people and seek popularity by doing such thing? Nonsense! He is already popular. Now some people are starting to mention his name as a presidential hopeful. I think it would be stupid to ignore his name for the 2014 contest, but would he be the same Dahlan Iskan if he successfully attained that position of power?
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Serpong, 25 Mar 2012
Titus J.
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