Andi Hakim Nasution: The power of opportunity

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.