Andi Hakim Nasution: The power of opportunity

Ravenska Wagey-Radjawane, Researcher, Kinetek Pharmaceuticals Inc., Vancouver, Canada

On March 30, Prof. Dr. Andi Hakim Nasution, also known as pak Andi would have turned 70 years old. However, on March 4, 2002 he passed away due to illness. His departure has marked a great loss for the scientific community in Indonesia.

I had the privilege of knowing him and, as a scientist, I'm grateful for the opportunity he gave me and thousands of other Indonesian students to become students at Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) through the special invitation program.

Twenty years ago, in 1982, I was a high school student in Ambon, Maluku. I was conducting a simple research project on the life cycle of a unique sea worm in Maluku, called laor. I decided to enter the National Youth Science Contest in Jakarta (LPIR). Surprisingly I was one of the 20 finalists. The event was an opportunity to meet some of the country's top scientists on the jury.

Most notable was the chair of the jury, the highly regarded scientist and IPB Rector, pak Andi. At that time, I only knew him from newspapers and TV and had great respect for his scientific ideas. In August 1982, I went to Jakarta to present my research to the jury. That was my first but certainly not last encounter with pak Andi. I was blessed to win the competition and was invited to attend IPB.

Upon finishing high school, I received an official invitation from IPB. I was extremely happy, but was astonished to read two familiar, handwritten German words Guten tag Elefant ("good afternoon elephant"). These words were the first two German words I learned in kindergarten when I was with my family in Germany.

On registration day at IPB, I was worried that I would have difficulties explaining the writing on the acceptance letter. Indeed the registrar officer questioned the letter's authencity. Suddenly, I heard a deep voice behind me saying "Guten tag Elefant".

I turned around and pak Andi stood there grinning. He then explained that he was the one who wrote those words, after learning something of my childhood from a family friend. In time, I learned that pak Andi was not only a prominent scientist but a caring person. He cared deeply about the progress of his students and continually motivated his students to achieve their goals. He would continue to inform me of the accomplishments of my former fellow competitors of the national youth science contest, even when I moved to Japan and Canada after graduation.

One of his major contributions to the education system in Indonesia was the Program Perintis II (PP II). This program invited top-ranking high school students from across Indonesia to attend IPB without having to enter the national entrance exams. Pak Andi also included finalists of the annual National Youth Science contest in the program.

As a high school graduate from Ambon, this invitation was a great opportunity to experience high-quality university education in Java. At that time, only a small percentage of students from my area were able to pass the national entrance exam to enter the top five universities in Java. This was clearly not because of the incapability of students from my area, but rather a reflection of the discrepancies in the facilities and quality of education among high schools from different regions of Indonesia.

I had been stunned as to why such a highly respected scientist at one of the best universities would express so much interest in inviting students from across Indonesia, including students from small towns like myself. He could easily have gathered the best candidates from the top high schools in Java to enter IPB. What motivated him to introduce the program?

The answer was clear in his speech entitled "Education for Everyone" when accepting the 2001 Southeast Asia Prize in Nan Sha, Guang Dong, in China, from the Fok Ying Tung Foundation.

The speech reflected his personal experience in becoming a scientist and the humble side of a great human being who cared significantly about the younger generation.

His starting statements were: "When I was 16, my father told me on his deathbed to transfer from a general high school to a vocational agricultural high school and forget about higher education. It came to me as a stroke of lightning because my first quarter grade report was the best in class.

"But I have two younger sisters and two younger brothers, who were aged five to 11. I threw away all my dreams of becoming a chemist to concentrate on my new activities including hoeing and plowing the muddy paddies. That I eventually became a university graduate was not solely because of my own efforts but because some people bothered to care and identify in me some hidden potential to proceed further than becoming an agricultural extension worker or a plantation supervisor."

He then cited a story of one of his professors at the School of Agriculture in Bogor. Apparently, the professor was initially only a greenhouse supervisor with very limited education who was given the opportunity by his superior to advance his knowledge through a scholarship at the university. He eventually became a mycologist of the tropics.

Again pak Andi acknowledged, "Without the observant eyes of a mentor, the potential competencies of my botany professor would have gone down the drain and been lost to humankind."

He further said, "In Indonesia, quality of education is very variable between provinces within the country and between districts in the provinces. Only kindhearted and understanding teachers could bail out prospective students from a very bleak future. I was bailed out from doing the routine of supervising rubber tapers or tea-leaf pickers by some understanding people, who dared to use their reputation to vouch for my adequacy and maturity to pursue an academic education and provide me with decent fellowships."

Then when he became a statistician and professor at IPB, pak Andi was assigned to join the new student recruitment committee. It is here that he detected prospective students who had a strong will to pursue higher education, but could not afford to take the entrance examination at IPB because of various obstacles such as distance and transportation.

This was the background of the innovative program of recruiting students with good grades from across the country.

Pak Andi was very proud to inform the audience at his acceptance speech that many of the students he had selected to attend IPB now had masters and doctoral degrees from research universities all over the world.

He then added, "Some have positions in the second and first echelons of the bureaucracy in Indonesia, but most importantly they originated from almost all ethnic groups in Indonesia, which is and still will be an important asset of nation building."

Finally, he quoted David N. Dinkins, the first African- American to become the Mayor of New York City, who had addressed a gathering of young science contestants in New York: "Remember, as you climb the ladder of success, to reach back and give a helping hand to those following."

Pak Andi's speech said it all. He was a scientist with fascinating intellectual capability and tremendous accomplishments, yet who was extremely humble and gave credit to others who provided him with the opportunity for his success.

Opportunity has a powerful impact yet an intimate touch in shaping ones life. His invitation to IPB was my ticket to obtain my undergraduate degree. My experience has taught me not to wait for opportunities to approach and greet us but to actively seek and grasp any opportunity that could advance our knowledge, skills and personality.