Remembering Christianto Wibisono, Adam Malik's Assistant Who Becomes The Lobbyist For Indonesian Interests In Washington

Christianto Wibisono. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has just been abandoned by a reliable business analyst along with the sad news from Christianto Wibisono. The senior figure who played an important role in the founding of Tempo media has passed away before the Khalik on Thursday, July 22 yesterday.

For some ordinary people, the figure of Christianto Wibisono may be quite ordinary. However, for true bureaucrats and businessmen, Christianto is not a random person.

The man who was born with the name Oey Kian Kok in Semarang, April 10, 1045 was the founder of the Indonesian Business Data Center (PDBI) four decades ago.

Long before that, he started his career in 1966 as a writer for the US daily while still a student.

Five years later, Christianto then took the initiative to form a more professional media entity with the name Ekspres. He founded the weekly newspaper with veteran press figure Gunawan Muhammad. It was from that Express that later became the forerunner of Tempo, which is present today.

His passion for writing brought Christianto back to the campus environment. In 1974 he then decided to continue his education to the undergraduate level at the University of Indonesia with a concentration at the Faculty of Political Science. Four years later his education was completed.

Like a tit for tat, in 1978 he was entrusted with the mandate as a special assistant to Vice President Adam Malik for north-south affairs. Christianto's expertise in the dynamics of global politics, especially the west, made the government at that time need its energy to make a number of diplomatic agendas successful.

Indeed, in the mid 70's the stigma of north-south was quite thick because it described the composition of developed countries in the north and developing countries in the southern hemisphere.

Furthermore, Christianto's assistant vice presidential position was also aimed at assisting Adam Malik, who at that time was trusted by German Chancellor Willy Brandt to become a member of the North-South Dialogue.

Continuing into the 90s, Christianto is said to be one of the parties 'affected' by the regime change in this country, precisely when the 1998 reforms took place.

At that time, the house of his daughter Jasmine Wibisono in Pantai Indah Kapuk was the one that was damaged by the mob. Due to this incident, he and his family decided to move from the country.

Furthermore, Christianto reportedly settled in the United States (US). In this phase, his diplomatic spirit has not faded.

Christianto was even mentioned as an important influential person in smoothing Indonesia's interests over the US. In his daily life, he monitors the global diplomacy arena in the United States Congress. The label as a lobbyist for Indonesian interests in Washington DC finally could not be separated from him at that time.

Entering the post-reform era, it was reported that this journalist wanted to be hired as an assistant to President Abdurrahman Wahid as a minister in his cabinet. However, this was not done.

Christianto's experience and network are still needed by the state several years ago. During the first administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Christianto was assigned to join the National Economic Committee team for the 2007-2010 period, which was directly under the leadership of the head of state.

Through a wealth of experience and contributions to the nation, his departure is definitely a deep loss. Goodbye Mr. Christianto Wibisono.