Bankers recruited in new PBSI board of directors
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The new executive board of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) was divulged here on Friday, which exposed the organization's allegiance to several prominent bankers and businesspeople.
PBSI chairman Chairul Tanjung decided to do away with the executive director post and introduce new posts such as legal directorate, regional development directorate, sport expansion directorate and athlete certification directorate.
The elimination of the executive chief post could mean that Chairul is seeking greater access in day-to-day activities, assisted by the four deputies.
"We are supposed to be a 'flat' organization. The chairman is assisted by deputies who should optimize their functions properly as advocated in the job description," Chairul told reporters.
Chairul, who was elected earlier this month, also looks to be seeking out links to a wider business as evidenced by his recruitment of a few names heretofore only familiar to the business community.
DE Setiyoso, Arwin Rasyid and Peter B. Stock, the three presidents of BCA, Danamon and Niaga Bank, are among the 83- strong PBSI board members.
Also included in the lineup are TP Rachmat, the president of PT Astra Internasional, Eva Rianti Hutapea, the CEO of Indofood Sukses Makmur, and Rachman Kustomi, a top official of Tugu Insurance.
"I warn against being suspicious about their presence in the organization. Instead, we have to thank them for their availability amid their hectic business schedules," Chairul, himself the president commissioner of Mega Bank, said about the banking and commercial recruits.
Chairul added that he had been involved in a series of important talks over the appointment of his aides with a number of people from badminton circles as well as those regarded as possessing a commitment to badminton development.
"I want to instill their views and get acquainted with people with a variety of characteristics. I don't want subjectivity in our decision-making.
"For sure, not only have I tried to accommodate other views but I have also determined that it is vital that the right person must be in the right place, and these things were taken into account," he said in reference to the large number of businessmen on the board.
In the non-functional ranks, he has named Taufik Kiemas, husband of President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, as two of the nine members of the Honorary Council.
The inception of a regional development board testifies to Chairul's outward vision that he is pursuing in order to make the regional areas the base of national badminton development.
"This is what I pledged at the convention, that I would seek to prioritize the development at the regional level," he said.
To back up his mission, Chairul has brought in as few provincial chapter officials as possible, "so that they can focus on their respective regions."
As part of his regional improvement policy, Chairul is set to provide the provincial chapters of badminton organizations with long-term financial support.