Asia Foundation: Fifty years in the life of an institution

Wimar Witoelar, Jakarta

Fifty years ago he was nine going on ten, growing up in Jakarta. It was hot and humid as it is now, without air conditioning, but also without traffic congestion except on bad days in Jakarta Kota. Freedom was in the air even for this boy. Newspapers spread diverse viewpoints, cinemas played foreign movies and the radio incessantly played fifties songs that were not oldies then.

The boy did not understand much politics. He did know President Sukarno, everybody's hero. He heard people making speeches and arguing passionately. He saw posters with symbols that he learned represented political parties preparing for elections. The boy never found out who won the elections. Sukarno stayed on as a president.

Four years later, newspaper stories and pictures turned hard. The 14-year-old boy turned his attention to soccer. But the politics were serious; stadium tickets printed slogans like Bubarkan Konstituante! Kembali ke UUD 45! ("Abolish the Parliament! Return to the Constitution of 1945!") Eventually they did go back to the 1945 constitution, whatever that meant. Anyway, Sukarno became a dictator. By the time our boy entered the Bandung Institute of Technology in 1963, Indonesia had become a place of negatives. No western movies, and no western music. No tight jeans and no upturned James Dean collars. Newspapers closed down and political leaders shut their months. Communists and Nationalists competed for attention and the Army seemed to be everywhere.

In September 1965 the sky fell down on Indonesia. Coup d'etat and countercoup were announced on the radio. The young student listened in fascination. Inspired by Maj. Gen. Soeharto, he became a student leader demanding democracy. But after Sukarno fell, Soeharto and the army started to devour all political space. Years of politics followed, and student activists hung around campus.

In his seventh year at ITB, our student was invited to the United States. The tour opened up tantalizing vistas of academic freedom and endless freedom. He also met a girl on the tour, a medical graduate from Thailand, and they promised to spend the rest of their life together. They both knew the student was committed to Indonesia, but felt they should have a stay in America. Where else to prepare for life than in America, the land of opportunity?

In reckless disregard of conventions, he went to companies and institutions and presented his case for a scholarship to the United States. Foundation after foundation was visited; they asked him to come back after he obtained his Sarjana degree. It became a chicken and egg situation, for he needed to break away from Indonesia to get a degree.

Finally he meets a gentle supportive man named John Sutter. He represented the Asia Foundation that had started in Indonesia in 1955, at the time this story started. The student managed to attract John Sutter's trust to the point where the Asia Foundation was willing to give him a chance. It was difficult because the foundation did not actually focus on this kind of individual support, concentrating instead on the supply of books to universities and other places.

However, they would consider a scholarship only under certain conditions, most importantly, taking academic tests such as the TOEFL, SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and GRE (Graduate Record Examination). The student loved taking these kinds of tests, knowing he would do well. And he did.

To make a long story short, The Asia Foundation finally provided a scholarship covering full tuition and books. The grant did not cover living expenses, but it allowed part-time employment subject to Foundation approval. A minimum grade requirement had to be met.

Everything was easy after that. The student married the doctor, and they both went to the George Washington University in Washington DC. The student got A grades, in sharp contrast to his mediocre grades in Indonesia. John Sutter had moved back to Foundation headquarters in San Francisco. He contacted the student from time to time and approved extension after extension.

By 1975 the dropout from ITB had completed three degrees, two at the graduate level. He was able to expand his field from Electrical Engineering and Systems Analysis to an MBA in Finance and Investment. His wife ended her stay as Chief Resident in Neurology at the GWU Hospital.

The experience in Washington sharpened his ideals. His success in getting the trust of the Asia Foundation assured him that even for an engineering student, a passion for politics and society were not a waste of time. The academic degree gave him legitimacy and knowledge.

But the real benefit of his American experience was to round out concepts of democracy and public empowerment. The oppression of the Soeharto years firmed up his belief in free expression, and he developed simple concepts of freedom. His values were not appreciated in the political space provided for university lecturers, so he moved to the private sector.

While political tension and corruption built up, civil society was consolidating itself under the surface. By coincidence, our student found himself hosting a television talk show. The show got a cult audience and the grantee turned into a media personality. He was even recruited to be a presidential spokesperson.

He met the current representative of the Asia Foundation, Douglas Ramage, on many occasions. As they talked about old times, the Asia Foundation grantee was asked to host the awards ceremony at the 50th anniversary of the TAF. It was a wonderful sensation read citations to the heroes of democratic development, education reform, economic freedom, legal reform, media reform and women's rights.

The boy of 1955 marveled at the changes that have occurred in 50 years, but also the constancy. Civil society heroes are now respected and given public awards. He is happy to share the 50 years of the foundation, very proud to write this article. The nation has worked its way to a vibrant hope for a peaceful, prosperous and open society. Change is happening because common goals have been shared for 50 years.

The writer is founder of InterMatrix Communications and is a 1971-1975 student grantee of The Asia Foundation.