JAKARTA - Who would have thought, the former Chairman of PSSI who is now the Chairman of the House of Regional Representatives (DPD) RI, AA La Nyalla Mahmud Mattalitti had felt the bitterness of life as a lower class in his youth. The Bugis man had a taste of the journey in the dark alley.
The man born in Jakarta, May 10, 1959, grew up in Surabaya. It's near the black world. La Nyalla came out of that so-called black world when he was 40 years old.
"People stamp me as a person who lives in the black world. Let it be, it's for their visible vision. But I preached there. I make an impact, and I give color. But let people judge what," La Nyalla said, as quoted from Era.id, Sunday, April 11.
"After quitting, I preached in a different way. As a businessman, I preach with the wealth that God has entrusted to me," he said.
In addition to being known as an official and politician, La Nyalla is indeed a successful businessman now. He is also known to have a collection of heirloom objects, keris which he interprets as the philosophy of life. "At least, that's the way my life is going," he said softly.
Slowly from the bottom
In his youth, La Nyalla used to work as freelance. He was once a city transport driver to Wononokromo-Jembatan Merah, Surabaya. He also once drove an L-300 minibus to Surabaya-Malang.
La Nyalla had a career in alternative medicine as a disease therapist. The patients are diverse, ranging from street vendors to academics, such as lecturers. La Nyalla stopped practicing because he was called a shaman.
"Life is not like a straight line on the map. There is no life without twists and downs. Because humans are always faced with many challenges. Anywhere and anytime," he said.
La Nyalla was born into a Bugis family. His grandfather Mattalitti was a Bugis-Makassar merchant known in Surabaya. His father, Mahmud Mattalitti, lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Airlangga University (Unair), Surabaya.
La Nyalla once worked as Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Law at Unair. But he refused to be named using the family's big name in his life.
In adulthood, La Nyalla chose to live in the Sunan Giri Tomb complex, Gresik. There he gathered many lower-class citizens. Some of them are even known as thugs.
The thugs were invited by La Nyalla to draw closer to Allah SWT. That process has led La Nyalla to have thousands of loyal followers to this day.
"If you look at me as it is now, it's because of my unanimous determination. Work earnestly, but still tawakal (trust) to God," said La Nyalla who is also a construction entrepreneur.
Starting point as an entrepreneur
La Nyalla's starting point as an entrepreneur began when he created a trade show titled Creativity of Young Indonesians (KAMI) in Surabaya, in 1989. Reckless, the exhibition sponsored by PT. Maspion made La Nyala bankrupt, rather than a success.
He was briefly in debt. In fact, the owner of a construction company, PT. Airlanggatama Nusantarasakti had wanted to give up as an entrepreneur.
However, La Nyalla who had served as chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) chose to rise. He again lobbied PT. Maspion to sponsor the next exhibition.
Then the exhibition with a new name, Surabaya Expo was successful. The activity that took place since 1990 was fluttering and became an annual agenda in the city of Surabaya until 2001. It was from this point that La Nyalla was known to many businessmen and government officials.
"From that life story, I learned about the meaning of hard work and dare to answer challenges. But again, must remain humble and tawakal (trust in God). If I had thrown the towel, I wouldn't have been like now," he said.
Deviation of East Java Kadin Grant Funds
La Nyalla is now a businessman as well as an official. He is also active in various organizations. In addition to serving as Chairman of the East Java Chamber of Commerce, La Nyalla also held the role of Chairman of mpw Pemuda Pancasila of East Java.
In various other organizations, La Nyalla has also been appointed as Chairman of the Regional Executive Council (DPD) Combined National Construction Entrepreneurs (Gepeknas) East Java, active in KONI East Java, involved in various socio-religious foundations, including establishing the La Nyalla Academia Foundation.
From many of the organizational positions, his role in East Java Kadin was in the spotlight. He was briefly linked to the legal case of irregularities in East Java Kadin grant funds from the East Java Provincial Government in 2012-2014.
La Nyalla was even assigned a suspect. He was detained for seven months by the Prosecutor's Office in March 2016 and tried in the Central Jakarta District Court.
However, in the lengthy trial, none of the 24 witnesses presented by the prosecutor explained La Nyalla's involvement directly in the corruption of grant funds received. The panel of judges sentenced La Nyalla to a purely free verdict.
Not convicted of a crime as prosecutors allege, La Nyalla was released on December 27, 2016. Then, on July 18, 2017, the application for cassation by the prosecutor was rejected by the Supreme Court (MA).
In the early morning, October 2, 2019, AA La Nyalla Mahmud Mattalitti was legally appointed as Chairman of DPD RI by the Chairman of the Supreme Court of The Republic of Indonesia who was then held by M. Hatta Ali, La Nyalla's own uncle.
*Read more information about NATIONAL ISSUE or read other interesting writings from Ramdan Febrian.
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