Farid, a surgeon who cares about HIV/AIDS

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The fact that he has been involved in the campaign against HIV/AIDS in the country for nearly four years, demonstrates Farid Wadjdi Husain's commitment to fighting the epidemic here.

By his own account, he knew very little about the epidemic until he worked for the office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare.

Farid was a surgeon and lecturer at the Hasanuddin University (Unhas) in Makassar, South Sulawesi until Dec. 21, 2001, when then Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla -- now the vice president -- appointed him to a post within the ministry.

In 2002, he was appointed deputy minister in charge of health and environmental affairs -- a position that later made him the secretary of the National AIDS Commission (KPA). Under the Presidential Decree No. 36/1994, the deputy of health and environmental affairs at the office of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare ex-officio acts as the secretary of the AIDS commission.

He says he is satisfied with what he accomplished over at the commission.

"Thank God, the trust of foreign donors in our efforts to fight the epidemic has grown stronger," he told The Jakarta Post at his office in Central Jakarta, saying donations from overseas had been increasing.

The first move taken by Farid after being appointed as the secretary of the commission was to invite some prominent doctors, including Nafsiah Mboy and Suharto, to join his team.

His experience as a doctor had taught him a precious lesson: "Be meticulous".

As a doctor, he always seeks to listen to various complaints from his patients and carefully analyze them before offering a solution.

And, that is what he did at the KPA.

He invited colleagues to discuss and plan actions to develop the agency.

Gradually, he learned that many people do not fully understand the various aspects of HIV/AIDS.

While the HIV/AIDS activists often campaign for the use of condoms to reduce the transmission of HIV, religious leaders perceive it another way.

The religious leaders often see the campaign to give out more condoms as a tacit way of condoning "sinful free sex".

Farid's response to that is, "condoms protect people from AIDS, but do not protect them from sin."

He said many people still lack an understanding or have a wrong the perception about HIV/AIDS. Once they understand the issue, they will realize that there is no need to stigmatize or discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS.

Born in Soppeng, South Sulawesi on March 9, 1950, Farid said he was known as a naughty kid during childhood and adolescence. Brawls during the period left him with scars, which remain visible on his head today.

His toughness, though, apparently impressed Jusuf Kalla that the latter called him up to work at the ministry.

Besides working for the ministry and the KPA, Farid is also an executive member of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) as well as one of the Indonesian delegates in talks with the leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Finland recently.

His main task has been to build trust among the GAM leaders toward the government of Indonesia. For that purpose, he spent time together with the rebel leaders.

Dealing with conflicting areas is not a new thing for Farid. In 2002, he was assigned to monitor the peace talks in Malino, South Sulawesi, for the conflicting Muslim and Christian groups.

Farid was among the key figures that helped facilitate the conflicting groups to come and to sit together for peace talks.

His staff members at the KPA office see Farid as a figure with high discipline. He usually arrives at the office at 7 a.m. sharp, an hour earlier than his staff members.

He said that his father was a man who taught him to always give full commitment to any activity.

"I have been taught by my father to be fully committed to whatever I'm involved in. Never waver, never be half-hearted," he said.

His late father, Husain, was a teacher at an elementary school in Makassar, and was awarded by the government for his contribution to education development in 1974.

"I learned discipline and honesty from my father, while my mother always prayed for my success," said Farid.

According to Farid, about 60 percent of public servants in South Sulawesi were taught by his father in primary school. Some of his former pupils became very successful, including military expert Salim Said.

Farid has always made a point of sparing time for his family. He used to drive his children to school in order to get a chance to have heart-to-heart discussions with them.

However, his tight schedule has given him less time to mingle with his family. He rarely swims or plays football these days, which are just two of his hobbies. For physical exercise, he now mostly walks around his housing complex for state officials in Slipi, West Jakarta.

Married to a Javanese woman, Ratna Soedarman Farid, they have four children. Fahriansjah Farid, 24, Fahrulsjah Farid, 23, Fadliansjah Farid, 18, and Faradillah Farid, 16.

Despite his various activities, however, Farid still feels that he has not given enough to the country.

"I will continue to work for the country. Time is not an obstacle," he said.