Knowing Who Nadiem Makarim Really Is

Nadiem Makarim is the youngest minister of education and culture in Indonesian history, as well as a figure who abolished the National Examination (UN) system

JAKARTA - Nadiem Makarim is the youngest minister in Indonesian history. As Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia for the Forward Indonesia Cabinet for the period 2019-2024, Nadiem Makarim is the minister of education and culture who is the first to abolish the National Examination (UN) system in the world of Indonesian education. The former CEO of Gojek, who put forward the concept of "Independent Learning", relied on competency tests that were no longer represented by the concept of merely memorizing which he considered conservative. But how human resources for future generations are filled by those who are able to understand the context and understand what is being learned.

Who is Nadiem Makarim

Nadiem Makarim is the third child of the couple Nono Anwar Makarim and Atika Algadri. As the third child of a combination of Minang and Arabic, Nadiem Makarim was born in Singapore on April 4, 1984. His father came from Pekalongan while his mother was Pasuruan.

Nadiem's ​​father, Nono Anwar Makarim is a well-known lawyer in Indonesia, who was also an activist in his youth. Meanwhile, Nadiem's ​​mother, Atika Algadri is the son of Hamid Algadri, one of Indonesia's independence activists. Nadiem also has a brother who works as a famous film script writer, Rayya Makarim.

Grandfather Nadiem Makarim's involvement was recorded as a pioneering fighter for Indonesian independence who contributed to the Linggarjati negotiations, the Renville negotiations, the Round Table Conference, and one of the members of parliament during the early days of the Republic of Indonesia.

Even though Nadiem Makarim was not born in Indonesia, his sense of nationalism does not mean that he is diminishing. What his parents taught was how the sense of nationalism was realized through Gojek, the first decacorn company from Indonesia that brought the name Nadiem and Indonesia to soar in the international arena. Today, Nadiem Makarim is the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia for the period 2019-2024.

"I was educated from a young age to come back and contribute to my homeland, even though I spent my whole life abroad. My parents were very nationalist," he said straightforwardly.

Nadiem underwent elementary and junior high school in Indonesia, then moved to Singapore while undergoing high school (SMA). After graduating, he attended Brown University, one of the Ivy League campuses in the United States. Nadiem successfully completed the undergraduate level majoring in International Relations with a Bachelor of Arts (BA). In that era he was also involved in student exchanges at the London School of Economics and Political Science in England.

After focusing on starting his own business through Gojek, Nadiem married Franka Franklin in 2014. This woman who graduated from universities in three countries has a different religious belief than Nadiem. But love is not the same, love knows no difference. The two of them choose to live with their respective beliefs and walk in harmony, until they are blessed with a daughter named Solara Franklin Makarim.

Nadiem Makarim's career

Nadiem Makarim's first career in 2006 was as a management consultant at Mckinsey & Company. One of the multinational level management consulting firms based in the capital city, Jakarta. Feeling the importance of education, he again decided to continue it at Harvard University, England. The university which was once the place where his father had studied as a young man. After he earned his Master of Business of Administration (MBA) degree, Nadiem Makarim returned to Indonesia.

Then he continued his career at Zalora Indonesia co-founder and Managing Editor. After leaving Zalora, Nadiem joined the startup company Kartuku. As a non-cash payment service provider company in Indonesia, which later will be acquired by him as a business unit to strengthen the Gopay line from Gojek. During his role at Kartuku, Nadiem Makarim was the Chief Innovation Officer (CIO).

After feeling sure that his destiny depends on how he will decide in life, Nadiem finally ventured out of working at someone else's company and started to start Gojek in 2011.

"I don't feel comfortable working in other people's companies. I want to control my own destiny," said Nadiem when asked why he founded Gojek.

Gojek which elevates Indonesia's image

With Nadiem's ​​belief in peeking at the potential of the world of technology in the future, plus his problem of often using motorcycle taxis when he was in office, Nadiem founded Gojek in 2011. Starting with an unused car garage in Jalan Kerinci, South Jakarta. He will run his business in the next three years until 2014 with his own capital because no investors have yet looked at his business.

Through his difficult experience of finding motorcycle taxi drivers with clear rates, Nadiem finally founded Gojek. An online company that facilitates motorcycle taxi drivers to potential passengers via a smartphone application. In the early days of Gojek, the ordering system still used the call center concept as an intermediary between Gojek drivers and potential customers.

The opportunity started to come in 2014, when Nadiem received an investment fund from the Northstar Group, an investment company from Singapore. Followed by Redmart Limited and Zimplistic Pte Ltd. who also injected funds into Nadiem Makarim's business, Gojek Indonesia.

It was not until the following year in 2015 that Gojek became viral among Indonesians after the application for the Gojek mobile platform was released. Enthusiasm is getting bigger, how can problems between ojek drivers and prospective passengers be resolved through certainty of information in terms of costs and who the driver is. Automatically, the role of Nadiem Makarim has finally lifted the image of an ojek driver who is no longer what it used to be.

The splash of investment again followed the Nadiem business, through the big name Softbank and Google interested in putting money into Gojek Indonesia. Nadiem then expanded its business segmentation which is no longer just a transportation service, it has expanded to delivery services through Go-Send, food delivery services through Go-Pay, and life necessities services through Go-Life. Unfortunately, the last name had to be closed when the Corona pandemic outbreak hit Indonesia.

Gojek is the first decacorn startup in Indonesia with a valuation of more than 10 billion US dollars. Conquering one's own country was followed by expansion to neighboring countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand to Vietnam.

What was achieved by Nadiem Makarim with 20 Gojek drivers in 2010, as of 2019 the number has multiplied with 2 million drivers spread throughout Indonesia, not only in the capital. Followed by Gojek application users who reach hundreds of millions and 3 million subscribers every day. The Gojek expansion is targeting 5 Southeast Asian countries with a distribution in 207 city points. No wonder the status of Decacorn is carried by Gojek, the company made by Nadiem Makarim was transformed into a business with a company value or valuation of up to 140 trillion rupiah.

Even though it was accompanied by various large demonstrations related to the issue of the online transportation company system that collided with other conservative fleets, plus the tariff rules between passengers which were deemed insufficient for Gojek drivers, it did not diminish the name Gojek in the community and was still their choice.

Gradually, Nadiem Makarim's role as a businessman began to appear close to palace circles, especially RI-1. Several times Nadiem had the courage to invite the head of state to an official Gojek event. In launching the Gojek expansion to Vietnam under the Go-Viet label, Jokowi was even present immediately accompanied by several assistant ministers. Back in 2015, Nadiem also accompanied Jokowi first when he visited Silicon Valley in the United States in October. Nadiem's ​​reason for accompanying Jokowi and other top startup leaders such as BukaLapak, Tokopedia, is to promote Indonesia's name to global investors in Silicon Valley.

His choice to accept President Jokowi's offer to enter the Indonesia Maju cabinet eventually made Nadiem Makarim have to choose. In October 2019 Nadiem Makarim officially no longer served as CEO of Gojek and chose to focus fully on contributing as Minister of Education and Culture. However, Nadiem Makarim still has a share portion of around 4.81 percent.

"As of today, (I) have absolutely no position or authority, or any power in Gojek," said Nadiem who is also one of the founders of Gojek, Monday (21/10).

Examining the Minister of Education and Culture, Nadiem Makarim

As the youngest minister in the history of the cabinet of the Republic of Indonesia government. Nadiem Makarim, who was inaugurated in October 2019, immediately jolted the public at the start of his leadership by eliminating the National Examination (UN) system which tends to be discriminatory in the world of national education. The euphoria of the Gojek drivers, who used to be Nadiem's ​​subordinates, also hope that there will be a law that protects their profession in their daily lives.

Due to the priority focus of President Jokowi's second season which emphasizes the quality of Indonesia's human resources, the young name Nadiem Makarim is considered to bring fresh air, the need for revolutionary change.

Talking about his achievements so far as Minister of Education and Culture, Nadiem felt it was unethical to talk about it in the midst of a pandemic situation like this, he said via a video conference on July 3, 2020. However, various polemics were also followed as a result of changes initiated by Nadiem Makarim.

Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud) Nadiem Anwar Makarim set four main educational policy programs "Free Learning". The program includes the National Standard School Examination (USBN), National Examination (UN), Learning Implementation Plan (RPP), and Zoning New Student Admissions Regulations (PPDB). "The four main educational policy programs will be the direction of learning in the future that focuses on the direction of the President and Vice President in improving the quality of human resources," said the Minister of Education and Culture at the launch of the Four Principles of Education Policy "Free Learning", in Jakarta, Wednesday ( 11/12).

The elimination of the National Examination is considered not to represent how human competence faces the future. It is replaced by a competency assessment, which is no longer just memorized, but understood and understandable by students, so the youngest minister hoped. The ability to measure themselves according to what portions are in the international view.

"We might not be able to improve ourselves, if we don't have a mirror to compare ourselves with other countries."

Nadiem Makarim, Minister of Education and Culture

Nadiem Makarim Interesting Facts

Nono Makarim and Hotman Paris Hutapea. Nadiem's ​​father turned out to have been the boss of the flamboyant lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea. It is known that Hotman Paris had forged knowledge when pioneering the beginning of his career.

Once considered insane. The assumption that comes out of Driver 001, Mulyono. A base motorcycle taxi driver who became Gojek's partner for the first time. Nadiem's ​​belief is very strong and concentrated that one day Gojek was popular and big, making Mulyono think Nadiem was a madman.

Franka Franklin who graduated from three countries. The female figure who is edited by Nadiem Makarim is a university graduate in three countries, namely at Hogeschool Rotterdam, the Netherlands, majoring in International Business and Development, pursuing the fashion marketing field at the Raffles Design Institute Singapore and Northumbria University, England. Similar to Nadiem, Franka initially worked in a foreign country, until when he felt called to contribute back to Indonesia in 2010 as a Strategic Communication Specialist in the Indonesian Teaching social education movement.

Closing of Go-Life. Gojek had to make a bitter decision when he laid off his 430 employees. In addition, Gojek also stopped several services.

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Profile of Nadiem Makarim

Full Name: Nadiem Makarim, BA, MBA

Place and Date of Birth Singapore, July 4, 1984

Islam

Profession of Entrepreneur

Titles / Degrees Bachelor of Arts (BA) Master Business of Administration (MBA)

Parents Nono Anwar MakarimAtika Algadri

Couple Franka Franklin Makarim

SonSolara Franklin Makarim

Assets Rp 1,225,006,640,485. (LHKPN / 2019)

Education Harvard University, United States Brown University, United StatesSMA, SingaporeSMP, JakartaSD, Jakarta

Career Journey Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, Cabinet of Indonesia Maju, 2019-2024 CEO / Founder Gojek, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2011-2019 Chief Innovation Officer Kartuku, Jakarta, Indonesia Co-founder / Managing Editor, Zalora, Jakarta, Indonesia Management Consultant, McKinsey & Company, Jakarta , Indonesia