Habibie Criticizes Jokowi: Esemka's Blankness Could Be A National Car

The Mayor of Solo, Jokowi posed in front of his official car, the Esemka Rajawali R2 car. (ANTARA/Dhoni Setiawan)

JAKARTA - The story of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) supporting Sukiyat and his son from SMK Solo has made Esemka's car famous everywhere. The mayor of Solo in the 2005-2012 era was fully supported by many parties. In fact, Esemka's car is predicted to have great prospects for becoming a national car.

This narrative was immediately denied by Bacharuddin Jusuf (BJ) Habibie. The former President of Indonesia considers Esemka's car to be just a joke. He did not see its manufacture done professionally. There is also no chance Esemka can compete.

The national car project is not new. Indonesia's desire to have a car industry made by the nation's children has emerged from the Old Order. However, the project was only taken seriously in the New Order (Orba) era.

Habibie, who was Minister of Research and Technology (Menristek) in the New Order era, initiated the presence of a national car in 1993. Maleo, his name. The construction of Maleo, which took the name of a rare bird on Sulawesi Island, was not easy.

Habibie cannot work alone. He invited national and international companies to collaborate. Habibie involved about dozens of domestic engineers in car construction. The role of car construction is also divided.

Some make designs, some make engine components, some assemble. Habibie hopes that the collaboration can present European-style sedans with local components reaching 80 percent. The father of Indonesian technology tries to predict that Maleo's car will sell well.

Habibie will sell 1,300 cc powered cars at prices below the European car market. As a result, a prototype Maleo car was successfully made in 1994. Habibie plans to introduce Maleo to the public in 1995.

The plan was also followed by Maleo's mass marketing dream in 1998. Maleo's car was predicted by the Indonesian people as the work of the nation's children. However, the world of politics is not easy to guess. Suharto and the New Order were not interested in Maleo, whose local components reached 80 percent. Maleo's project became stalled.

The Smiling General justru immediately chose Timor's car belonging to his son's company, Tommy Suharto. The car is like a change of clothes from a South Korean car company, Kia (Kia Sephia). The use of local components is questioned because Indonesia only gets to assemble Timor cars.

A design team from IPTN (now: PT Dirgantara Indonesia) in collaboration with a Melbourne-based design company was tasked with creating Maleo and bringing it from the image board to the production plant. Habibie had planned the launch of Maleo in August 1995.

The launch was carried out as part of Indonesia's 50th anniversary. However, Maleo never appeared in public after Suharto mistakenly decided to end the project and transfer the national car project to his own son, Tommy Suharto," said Sulfikar Amir in the book The Technological State in Indonesia (2012).

Maleo's failure to pave in Indonesia is a valuable lesson for Habibie. He became skeptical of all kinds of plans that smelled of national car projects in the future. Mainly, when Jokowi and Esemka's car appeared.

The story begins with the full support of the Mayor of Solo to the owner of the Kiat Motor repair shop, Sukiyat, who was accompanied by a SMK child, who succeeded in making a car. The car was immediately given the name Esemka. Jokowi really appreciated Sukiyat's steps.

Jokowi immediately made the Esemka Rajawail R2 as the official vehicle for the Mayor of Solo in 2012. Andil Jokowi made him get a lot of camera attention. As a result, Jokowi's popularity is not only known in Solo, but throughout the country.

The mass media began to connect Esemka's presence as optimism for the resurgence of national cars. Jokowi also received support from various parties. People who want to buy Esemka if mass-produced appear.

However, not Habibie. He was skeptical of Esemka's presence and national car dreams. Habibie assessed that Esemka's nonsense could compete if Esemka was only built by Sukiyat and his students. There is no research either.

The code is clearly unprofessional. Habibie just gave an example of making Maleo alone with local components reaching 80 percent need the help of about tens of engineers. Take for example for car design only Habibie to partner with an Australian company.

The process is clearly old and not instant. Habibie considers Esemka's car to be nothing more than a mere political domain. He considers Esemka's presence has something to do with a political image. Even so, he still gave advice to Jokowi and Sukiyat.

Both are directed to build a motorbike, there is no need for a car. More motorbikes are needed for all Indonesian people. Habibie's criticism has been proven lately. Esemka has never really paved it in Indonesia. However, Esemka is known to have succeeded in becoming Jokowi's political vehicle.

"Esemka's car is just a dolanan, its manufacture is unprofessional. The age of children who have just graduated from junior high school (SMP) is about to become a nurse, yes, there must be no experience. To be able to enter the automotive industry and compete with big companies, it takes a long time."

"In my opinion, there is a political interest behind all of this. Therefore, I suggest the media stop raising this topic, think it's quiet. Indonesia is the largest society that uses motorbikes on earth. Why don't we just develop that, provide the budget, do thorough research, I think it's more rational," Habibie said as quoted by Sampas.com, March 7, 2013.