Habibie heads poll on technology wizards

YOGYAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie came first in a poll on the country's most popular figure -- among students asked to name the foremost figure in the technology world. This was a result of an annual survey by Gadjah Mada University's Bulaksumur publication, which asked students to name people they thought most popular in 10 fields.

Apart from technology the other fields were religion, politics, the military, the arts, education, law, the student movement, and the mass media and the economy.

Students were told to name the first person that came to mind when asked about a particular field.

"So the survey cannot describe a respondent's perception or loyalty toward a chosen public figure," Nursini Yuliastuti, the head of the publication's research department, said Thursday.

Habibie was three times minister of research and technology in former president Soeharto's Cabinets and is most known for his role in developing the aircraft industry.

The respondents were 526 students from the university's 18 schools.

The figures most often mentioned for religion, politics, the military and the arts were respectively Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of largest Moslem organization Nahdlatul Ulama; Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party; Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto; and writer Emha Ainun Nadjib.

For education, the most popular figure was Gadjah Mada University rector and noted political expert Ichlasul Amal; for law, lawyer and rights campaigner Adnan Buyung Nasution; for the student movement, former abductee and chairman of Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy (SMID) Andi Arief; and most students named Goenawan Mohamad, chief editor of Tempo, for the mass media. Goenawan is a recipient of this year's International Press Freedom award from the Committee of the Protection of Journalists.

For the economy, most named former finance minister and founder of the Indonesian Transparency Society, Mar'ie Muhammad.

Separately on Saturday the university is to present the Hamengkubuwono IX Award to former minister of religious affairs, Mukti Ali, who served from 1970 to 1978.

Now a professor at Yogyakarta's Islamic Studies Institute, he was named the recipient of the award "for his contributions to humanity," UGM rector Ichlasul said. The award is named after the late sultan and former vice president. (44)