JAKARTA - Senior Economist of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Didik J Rachbini remembers the role of the late Kwik Kian Gie as a great economist who dared to check and balance the government for the sake of a better national economy.
Didik said that the deceased was a figure who dared to voice the truth and correct the policies of the New Order government at that time through various criticisms in the mass media.
"He is an intellectual figure who dares to voice the truth, even if that means he must be at odds with power," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 29.
Didik said Kwik Kian Gie was very vocal and influential as an intellectual economist in the 1980s with sharp, independent, and critical thinking both during the New Order era and even continuing during the Reformation era.
According to him, Kwik Kian Gie was a differentiator in the midst of the increasing number of educated groups in the economic and political fields in the 1990s.
"However, they all gathered in the New Order government. However, not for Kwik Kian Gie, he remained outside of carrying out the role of checks and balances formally to criticize economic policies," added Didik.
SEE ALSO:
Didik dan Kwik pernah tergabung dalam Kelompok Ekonomi 30 yang sering menyumbangkan pemikiran dan memberikan kritik bagi pembangunan ekonomi nasional pada era Orde Baru, bersama ekonom lainnya, termasuk Sjahrir, Rizal Ramli, Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Hendra Esmara, Nuriman Hasibuan, dan Rijanto.
Kwik, yang merupakan alumnus Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool, atau yang sekarang bernama Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Belanda, pernah menjabat sebagai Menteri Koordinator Bidang Ekonomi, Keuangan, dan Industri 1999-2000 di bawah Presiden Abdurrahman Wahid serta Kepala Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional pada 2001-2004 di era Presiden Megawati Soekarnoputri.
SEE ALSO:
Didik and Kwik had joined the 30 Economic Group which often contributed ideas and gave criticism for national economic development in the New Order era, along with other economists, including Sjahrir, Rizal Ramli, Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Hendra Esmara, Nuriman Hasibuan, and Rijanto.
Kwik, who is an alumnus of Nederlandse Economicsche Hogeschool, or now Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands, served as Coordinating Minister for Economics, Finance and Industry 1999-2000 under President Abdurrahman Wahid and Head of the National Development Planning Agency in 2001-2004 in the era of President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
