Ibrahim Arief in Tears as He Recalls Talk with Nadiem About Indonesia's Education and Declining Facebook Offer

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - A former Technology Consultant, and also a defendant in separate cases, Ibrahim Arief wept as he recalled why he chose to work in Indonesia to assist former Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Nadiem Makarim.

Seated on the witness stand, Ibrahim, known as Ibam, was asked to recount how he first met Nadiem in 2019.

At that time, Ibrahim had already accepted a role at Facebook’s London office. On 16 December 2019, Nadiem and Ibrahim met for the first time.

Both were prominent names in the startup world. Nadiem at Gojek and Ibrahim as a senior figure at Bukalapak.

In that meeting, Nadiem and Ibrahim discussed their visions for developing technology to advance education.

Before meeting Nadiem, Ibrahim admitted he had not imagined a way to contribute to the country using his skills.

As he replayed memories of the encounter and his dialogue with Nadiem, his voice trembled.

“And, that is a vision I feel is far rarer to be able to build technology to contribute my expertise directly to the country,” Ibam said, tearful.

“But if I can help the government directly, I will be able to help hundreds of millions of Indonesians. With that consideration, the fact is clear in front of my eyes,” he continued.

With a still tremulous voice, Ibam recounted the incident when he was a fresh student at ITB.

“At ITB, when I started, orientation weeks, we upperclassmen always stressed that we all owe the country a debt. We all, we all have a debt to the country,” Ibam said.

“And yes, I gave up the comfort of moving to England. I gave up a very large salary. What I earned was far lower than what I earned at Facebook or at my previous Indonesian companies,” he said.