Minister Bahlil, Nurturing Intellectual Tradition and Activism at 50
The launch of 10 books by Minister Bahlil, coinciding with his 50th birthday on 7 August 2026, received widespread public appreciation. Alongside the praise, there was also mockery from netizens regarding the 10 works by the minister from Eastern Indonesia. I note that the mockery revolves around envy and spite, which persist regardless of what Minister Bahlil does. Life is like philosophical logic; the law of bipolarity exists wherever you are. Like and dislike is sunatullah.
From a speech excerpt I obtained, Minister Bahlil recounted an interesting phase when he first became a minister. What was it? Minister Bahlil was apparently subjected to a ‘hazing’ like a new university student. The 7th President, Jokowi, was uncompromising; Bahlil had to be able to ban or stop coal exports. An order that could not be refused by a ‘junior’, even though it was confusing. Understandably, the order had no legal basis and was not within the authority of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) he had just taken over. Banning coal exports was the domain of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM).
As with any hazing, Bahlil executed the order with cunning and intelligence. The former public minivan driver consulted with the Minister of State Secretary, Pratiknyo, and several other ministers before he executed the 7th President’s order in an extraordinary way. What was Bahlil’s execution at that time? He gathered all mining entrepreneurs and other related ecosystems, and then a trial phase called hazing was successfully carried out. There were no more coal exports from the moment Bahlil first led the Investment Coordinating Board, despite the lack of a legal umbrella and taking over the authority of the ESDM ministry. Do not view this in a negative light, but see the portrait of Bahlil as a loyal, dedicated, and fully responsible individual.
Did this ability suddenly appear? Thirty years ago, Bahlil, with a thin physique and having once suffered from hunger oedema, was also hazed by a muscular senior when he first migrated from Fak Fak city to the capital, Jayapura. That hazing was rougher and carried the threat of being beaten if he did not comply. The good story is that even under threat from seniors, Bahlil was able to meet their demands immediately. From that story, it is true what people say, that history repeats itself. The ability to answer the hazing of the past apparently recurred when this phenomenal Bahlil set foot as a great figure from Eastern Indonesia.
What is the connection between the above story and intellectual tradition? The village boy from a humble family was first hazed by seniors in HMI, an organisation that later brought Bahlil to combine courage and intellectual values into a more directed breath of change. From the HMI organisation, which Bahlil knew long before he attended university, his modest childhood dreams grew. As a child, Bahlil only had simple aspirations, far from today’s reality. Today, Bahlil is a minister and the general chairman of the Golkar Party. A spectacular achievement for a village boy like him. Back then, Bahlil only wanted to be a soldier. Even that dream of becoming a soldier was picked up at a bus terminal, not in school. By becoming a soldier, he could exact ‘positive revenge’ for the violence committed against him by soldiers. All these amusing confessions also illustrate that becoming a minister, as he is today, never crossed his mind. Not even a thought.
Entering HMI, Bahlil was like entering an extraordinary migration room. The village boy was polished by HMI’s material and culture, which is full of activism and intellectuality. I am reminded of the words of the late Cak Nur, a prominent Muslim intellectual and the founder of HMI’s Basic Values (NDP), who said that by entering HMI, you are connected to a strong national and international network. HMI alumni are known to be inclusive, modernist, and global thinkers. What about Bahlil? Upon entering HMI, the stereotype of a village boy, unsophisticated and backward, which was attached to the minister, slowly disappeared. The young Bahlil enjoyed upgrading himself in various HMI training sessions, from basic to advanced levels. The result? Thirty years later, he has transformed into one of the country’s important figures.
With teary eyes, Bahlil launched 10 books on his 50th birthday. A spectacular achievement from the hard work of a former HMI activist who is now a minister and the general chairman of Golkar. Bahlil remembered how his father was so anxious about his son’s future that he held a rattan cane with a mix of emotion and love. Bahlil might have seen the rattan as painful punishment, but for his father, it was a whip to ensure his son did not waste time uselessly in daily life. From his father’s rattan, Bahlil transformed into a child who was ‘one minute’ with God. Hard work, ups and downs, and being underestimated did not make Bahlil retreat. When all was passed sweetly and successfully as it is now, Bahlil remembered the wisdom of his father’s rattan. At this point, Bahlil felt like crying mixed with happiness because of the memory of his father, who did not live to witness his success. Therefore, his 10 books at this historic moment of his 50th birthday were specifically dedicated by Bahlil to his father, who passed away long ago. Hopefully, this gift of 10 books from Bahlil as a living son reaches his father like an unceasing flow of prayers in the hereafter. According to religion, a child’s prayer for their deceased parents is like an unbroken charitable deed. May the late father of Bahlil, who did not get to see his son’s success, always be ‘flooded’ with prayers from his successful children without pause. Aamin.