habibie biography

1. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (born 25 June 1936), also known B. J. Habibie, is a former politician
of the State of Indonesia. His presidency (1998–1999) was the third and that of the shortest
duration after independence.
Early life
Habibie was born in Parepare, South Sulawesi Province to Abdul Jalil Habibie and R. A. Tuti
Marini Puspowardojo. His father was an agriculturist from Gorontalo and his mother was a
Javanese noblewoman from Yogyakarta. His parents met while studying in Bogor. When he was
14 years old, Habibie's father died.
Studies and career in Germany
Following his father's death, Habibie continued his studies in Jakarta and then in 1955 moved to
Germany.[1]
In 1960, Habibie received a degree in engineering in Germany, giving him the title Diplom-
Ingenieur. He remained in Germany as a research assistant under Hans Ebner at the Lehrstuhl
und Institut für Leichtbau, RWTH Aachen to conduct research for his doctoral degree.[2]
In 1962, Habibie returned to Indonesia for three months on sick leave. During this time, he was
reacquainted with Hasri Ainun, the daughter of R. Mohamad Besari. Habibie had known Hasri
Ainun in childhood, junior high school and in senior high school at SMA-Kristen, Bandung. The
two married on 12 May 1962, returning to Germany shortly afterwards.[3] Habibie and his wife
settled in Aachen for a short period before moving to Oberforstbach. In May 1963 they had a
son, Ilham Akbar Habibie.
When Habibie's minimum wage salary forced him into part-time work, he found employment
with the automotive marque Talbot, where he became an adviser. Habibie worked on two
projects which received funding from Deutsche Bundesbahn.
Due to his work with Makosh, the head of train constructions offered his position to Habibie
upon retirement three years later, but Habibie refused.[4][clarification needed]
In 1965, Habibie delivered his thesis in aerospace engineering and received the grade of "very
good" for his dissertation, giving him the title Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften. During the
same year, he accepted Hans Ebner's offer to continue his research on Thermoelastisitas and
work toward his Habilitation]], but he declined the offer to join RWTH as a professor per se. His
thesis about light construction for supersonic or hypersonic states also attracted offers of
employment from companies such as Boeing and Airbus, which Habibie again declined.[5]

2. Habibie did accept a position with Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm in Hamburg. There, he
developed theories on thermodynamics, construction, and aerodynamics known as the Habibie
Factor, Habibie Theorem, and Habibie Method, respectively.[citation needed]
Habibie's time in Europe may have contributed to his interest in Leica cameras.
Career in Indonesia
On his return to Indonesia in 1974, Habibie was made Chief Executive Officer of the new state-
owned enterprise Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN). (In 1985, PT. Nurtanio changed
its name to Indonesian Aviation Industry and is now known as Indonesian Aerospace Inc.
(Dirgantara)). By the 1980s, IPTN had grown considerably, specializing in the manufacture of
helicopters and small passenger planes.
Habibie became a pilot, assisted in his training by A.B. Wolff, former chief of staff of the Dutch
Air Force. In 1995, he flew an N-250 (dubbed Gatotkoco) commuter plane.
In developing Indonesia's aviation industry, he adopted an approach called "Begin at the End
and End at the Beginning".[6] In this method, elements such as basic research became the last
things upon which to focus, whilst actual manufacturing of the planes was placed as the first
objective.
Member of Golkar
In Suharto's regime, as was expected of senior government executives, Habibie became a
member of the Golkar organisation. From 1993–199, he was a daily coordinator for the
chairman of the executive board.
Vice presidency
In January 1998, after accepting nomination for a 7th term as President, Suharto announced
the selection criteria for the nomination of a vice president. Suharto did not mention Habibie by
name, but his suggestion that the next vice president should have a mastery of science and
technology made it obvious he had Habibie in mind.[7]
In that year, in the midst of the Asian Financial Crisis, this suggestion was received badly,
causing the rupiah to fall. Despite this and protests (the former minister Emil Salim tried to
nominate himself as vice president), Habibie was elected vice president in March 1998.

3. Rise to office
Habibie takes the presidential oath of office on 21 May 1998.
By May 1998, problems including poverty had caused such discontent that Suharto's
government fell into crisis. On 13 May, the shooting of four students at Trisakti University in
Jakart, caused extreme anger, which in turn led to widespread riots and lootings. There were
now explicit calls for Suharto to step down as president of Indonesia.
Suharto responded by saying on 19 May 1998 that if he stepped down, the vice president
would become president, and in a not too subtle jab at Habibie he added he was not sure
whether the vice president could solve the problems facing the country.[8]
After learning of Suharto's comments from television reports, Habibie discounted his mentor
and became increasingly sympathetic to those who wanted Suharto to step down. While
careful not to oppose him directly or support those who did, he left the president in little doubt
that he saw himself as Suharto's legitimate successor.
Suharto, faced with dwindling civilian and military support, even among loyalists like Wiranto
and Ginandjar Kartasasmita, resigned late on the evening of 20 May 1998.[9]
The next morning, on 21 May 1998, Suharto publicly announced his resignation and Habibie
was immediately sworn in as president. There were mixed reactions to Habibie's elevation to
the presidency. Hard-line reformists saw him as an extension of Suharto's regime while
moderate reformists saw him as leading a transitional government.
With the release of Suharto's 2006 book, Detik-Detik Yang Menentukan: Jalan Panjang
Indonesia Menuju Demokrasi (Decisive Moments: Indonesia's Long Road Towards Democracy),
there is speculation that Suharto had wanted Habibie to resign along with him. [10]
In Javanese style, Suharto had subtly hinted at this intention. Habibie, despite being of Javanese
descent, neither took the hint nor acquiesced. Because his intentions had been ignored,
Suharto showed nothing but contempt for Habibie and never spoke to his former colleague
again.
Cabinet
Habibie's cabinet, which was called the Development Reform Cabinet, employed many of those
present in Suharto's last cabinet.[11] However, to show his reformist intentions, Habibie
included the United Development Party (PPP) member Hamzah Haz.

4. East Timor
Habibie opposed East Timorese Independence but did consider giving East Timor special
autonomy.[12]
In late 1998, John Howard, then Prime Minister of Australia advised Indonesia of a change in
Australian foreign policy, to whit Australia would advocate a referendum in East Timor on
independence within a decade. Wishing to avoid the impression that Indonesia ruled East Timor
as a colony, Habibie surprised some by announcing that a referendum, offering a choice
between special autonomy and independence, would be held in East Timor. ABRI opposed this
decision.
On 30 August 1999, the referendum was held and the East Timorese people overwhelmingly
chose Independence. However, the retreat of Indonesian troops from East Timor created the
1999 East Timorese crisis where many were killed.
Suharto's corruption charge
The MPR Special Session in November 1998 declared that an investigation should be made into
corruption in Indonesia, focussing particularly on Suharto.
Habibie formed a special commission on corruption which, to the Reformasi, represented a
gesture of good faith. The noted lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution was invited to chair the
investigation. The broad scope of the terms of reference Nasution suggested was unacceptable
to Habibie, who then appointed Attorney General and loyalist, Andi Muhammad Ghalib.
On 9 December 1998, Suharto was questioned for three hours by Ghalib. The Habibie
government declared that Suharto had gained his wealth through corruption.
A tape of a telephone conversation between Habibie and Ghalib was made public. It raised
concerns about the veracity of the investigation.[13]
The economy
Habibie's government stabilized the economy in the face of the Asian financial crisis and the
chaos of the last few months of Suharto's presidency.[14]
Social issues
Habibie's government began to make concilliatory gestures towards Chinese Indonesians who,
because of their elite status, were targeted in the riots of 1998. In September 1998, Habibie

5. issued a 'Presidential Instruction' forbidding use of the terms pribumi and non-pribumi to
differentiate indigenous and non-indigenous Indonesians.[15]
In May 1999, Habibie issued a further instruction directing that a display of an ID card would
suffice as proof of Indonesian citenzenship, whereas previously, displaying a 'Letter of Evidence
of Republic of Indonesia Citizenship' (SBKRI) was required. Although the Chinese Indonesian
community was not mentioned specifically, it is clear these policies were targeted towards
Chinese Indonesians who, in the Suharto years, were referred to as non-Pribumi and had to
display the SBKRI to prove their Indonesian citizenship.
Education
When Habibie was State Minister for Research and Technology, he created the OFP (Overseas
Fellowship Program), SMDP (Science and Manpower Development Program) and STAID
(Science and Technology for Industrial Development). These three programs were to provide
scholarships to thousands of students to continue their study for master’s and doctorate
program in the United States, Europe, Japan, and other countries.
End of presidency
Although he had been viewed as leading a transitional government, Habibie seemed
determined to continue as president. In May 1999, Golkar announced that Habibie would be
their presidential candidate.
At the 1999 MPR General Session in October, Habibie delivered an accountability speech which
was a report of what he had achieved during his presidency. Once this was completed, MPR
members began voting to decide if they would accept or reject his speech. During this process,
pro-reform members of Golkar broke with the ranks and voted against him, and his
accountability speech was rejected by 355 votes to 322. Seeing that it would be inappropriate
to press his candidacy for the presidency after having his accountability speech rejected,
Habibie withdrew his nomination.
Post-presidency
Since relinquishing the presidency, he has spent more time in Germany than in Indonesia,
however he has during Susilo Bambang Yudoyono's presidency been active both as a
presidential adviser and through The Habibie Centre to ensure democratisation in Indonesia.
In September 2006, he released a book called Detik-Detik Yang Menentukan: Jalan Panjang
Indonesia Menuju Demokrasi (Decisive Moments: Indonesia's Long Road Towards Democracy).
The book recalled the events of May 1998 which led to his rise to the Presidency. In the book,

6. he controversially accuses Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, Suharto's son-in-law (at that
time) and the Kostrad Commander, of planning a coup d'état against him in May 1998.
Family
Habibie was married to Hasri Ainun Besari, a medical doctor, from 12 May 1962 until her death
on 22 May 2010. The couple had two sons, Ilham Akbar Habibie and Thareq Kemal Habibie. B. J.
Habibie's brother, Junus Effendi Habibie, was Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands. [16][17]