What If Indonesia Never Had to Import Fuel Again? - Rachmat Kaimuddin

Yeah. To be honest, eh, welcome back to the What is Up Indonesia podcast with your host Ando Vida Lopez and me Abig Muria. And of course, as always, we always have a very special guest.

Good afternoon.

Good.

Yes.

True for a while, ya.

I was, 2021.

I think we is always the first podcast for many people. People, I don't know why. I don't know why we're the debut podcast apparently. Eh yes so let's talk from the very beginning right for a lot of the audience who are still quite unfamiliar with you. So you did electrical engineering at MIT and then you got MBA from Stanford, that's like an amazing track record for academic studies. Can you like talk to us a little bit about your experience? How did you end up there? How was it? LPDP?

Unfortunately not LPDP. Was it LPDP? No LPDP yet at the time.

Ya. So, ya. Thank you. For me, it's I would say maybe a dream come through, ya. Eh, if you ask my younger self, my 15 years old self, I probably wouldn't be able to believe you if you told me that I'm gonna go to study at MIT.

And Stanford. So, you know, I was born and raised in Makassar until junior high school. Basically my parents are civil servant and then who died and then I was raised by a single mother. So for me just being able to go to school and continue my education, go to college is already good enough. Never about oh I can I could go to MIT but luckily, you know, a lot of people maybe took pity on me. I got I won a scholarship, eh ada time, not LPDP, but not LPDP, no LPDP yet, ada time, em, and also from from someone and also as well as from my office for my master's degree, ya.

Eh, so yeah, I would say the experience I would say quite overwhelming. I come in I thought you know I'm if I get into MIT, I get into Stanford I must be very smart right I thought initially. But I walked out humbled. I would say it's when you get to see really really smart people, ya. Obviously I would maybe if you think about it right MIT and other good schools in the world what I believe is actually they learn very similar things, ya. So I remember I studied electrical engineering at MIT, my textbook is actually very similar to the textbook that my friends use in Singapore and in Bandung Institute of Technology.

Ya, the only difference is that the text is in English, the Bandung one is in Indonesian. But maybe the difference is we got to learn from the one who wrote the textbook, ya, for example, ya, and you got to learn from people who actually won Nobel prizes.

So the the knowledge is similar but the environment is quite different. So hm, eh for me that is overwhelming and of course I was the only Indonesian in my class.

Eh so that year I was the only Indonesian, same at Stanford I was the only Indonesian in my class. Give it it gives a little bit of pressure as well. You don't want to be the dumbest in your class right? And they will say oh you know who is the dumbest in our class an Indonesian. So you got you got to work very hard to ensure that at least not the bottom. You don't want to be that guy. I I do not want to be that guy. You don't want to be that guy. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. My definition of smart first, ya, is actually for me it's about people who know first because... sorry can you say that? People who know first. People who know first. Know first, can you please elaborate? So basically let's say you don't know and then you learn, then you know, then you become smart right?

Ya so well maybe but that is my own personal definition. What what I see to lebih interesting, ya. Eh, I would say having studied at MIT, having studied at Stanford and some other places, what I can see is this. What I can say is that God is actually quite fair in giving out brain power. Oke ya, you see very very smart people from wherever, ya, from China, from the United States, from African countries, from Indonesia you'll see a lot of people with with brain power. What I think distinguish really potentially successful people and therefore maybe smart, ya. He is the work ethics, their standard of excellence. I think I have to admit personally when I was much younger I know for example if I studied until let's say 8 pm, oke, and I will I will be able to ace the test, oke, and then I stop. But once you start seeing that other people actually want to learn more, want to know more and they actually can expand just beyond acing the test but actually shifting from test to willing willingness to learn, fulfilling their curiosity, trying to do new things I think that is the key difference on some of this very very top institution.

Oke, so maybe my where I am today eh is actually a function what I have done before. Right? So I told you my my my quick background ya. So my father is a civil servant was a civil servant before he passed away. So working for the government is kind of like a family trade.

Eh and then I got a scholarship not LPDP eh from Taruna Nusantara High School. This is in 94. And in Taruna Nusantara. So it was a military high school then. So military call it time. So I was the fifth batch we call it ya. So the fifth year eh when Taruna open. So I entered Taruna Nusantara in 94. Left my hometown and then during that time we always been eh educated that at some point you have to prepare yourself that you may be part of the eh the crew ya they call it mengawaki kehidupan bangsa.

No idea. I have no idea. So, so I know at some point I don't know when, but at some point I want to do something I know by joining government or whatever. It's very vague. Y eh in Taruna Nusantara unlike a lot of my friends, my talent lie in academics, not in you know eh more physical. So I ended up choosing the civilian route. A lot of my friends actually ended up becoming soldiers, right? Go join to military academy and and what not, right? So then eh I got an opportunity to study at MIT. So I went to MIT then I work in Boston for a year doing electrical engineering but it was not it was not an easy time in the United States at the time. So my first day of working is 911.

Second day. Second day. So yeah.

Eh, so typically you got a you got a visa eh you got a student visa so you can work for one year right opt. Ya. So after one year my OPT expired and I got a sponsorship to get my working visa H1B right but because of 911 I had to change my visa in Jakarta I couldn't just stay in the US or just went to Canada for example I have to go back to Jakarta to to get the H1B visa.

And this is a story not that many people I actually at that time I was I was asked I remember I was asked to fill a form with roughly four question. Oke. So the first question is do you are you a male between 16 to 60? 16 to 60. So yes. Yes. Oke. Second thing is have you had military training? Oke. Semarono Nusantara. Ya. Technically yes. Technically yes. Yes. Right. Right. The third is do you know electronics? Oh my god. This is so I an electrical engineer from MIT. MIT. Check cck check. Very specific. Do you know chemistry? Oke. By the way, oh. the team leader of the Indonesian Chemistry Olympiad in 97. Oh my god. This question is highly personalized. So ya maybe I become you know eh it looks like I'm the perfect profile for certain for certain individuals in 91.

Long story short my visa took a long time. Right. Why? Of course. I mean, nobody could get at that could and then my name is Muhammad Rahmat Kaimudin, right? Just to complete the whole equation and the US was not taking any chances back then. Back then. Yeah. So anyway, I thought oke I as what happen right so I decided maybe it's I just should work in Jakarta. What should I do? Right. I a semiconductor engineer. He there is no semiconductor industry in Jakarta or in Indonesia. There is no there is no design houses. So ok what should one do if all you know is how to do analytics, how to count if you will. He and my friend told me, 'Hey, you know there's this job called management consultant.' So what they what they do is you analyze companies. Do they need people who know who who get my skill set? He eh yeah ya I think you'll be okay. So I applied I got a job as a management consultant. This is where I shift from engineering into more like business management right and then work there for few years. Then the next step is that I had to get my MBA. So they send me to do my MBA. And then eh during my MBA time I got to learn investment. So he eh there is this way. So I got to meet Warren Buffet you know like this looks like a cool guy. What?

We met Warren Buffet at the time. So we went to Omaha to listen to his speech and I have a picture with him actually. So it's very very nice guy. Saya tu when I'm old, I want to be like this guy. Second wealthiest man in the world in the world ada time I believe but very humble you know willing to take picture of all this students. So say ok investing. Cool. Is there any investment company in Jakarta? Turns out there is one. Actually there's a few at that time. So I got to meet this guy who asked me to join the east company. His name is Tom Lembong.

So, oh wow. So, Pak Tom eh asked me to join his company. I told him, 'Pak, you know, I get this scholarship so I have to pay back my I have to serve for couple years.' No, no, no. You will pay for you if you join us right away. So Tom actually his company pays for the for my scholarship for my MBA.

So anyway, I join Pak Tom for a few years working in private equity. So Indonesian company and then work for another PE firm afterwards eh so small firm in Jakarta but is regional fund. Then in 2014 I got a call from someone who basically give me sponsorship who give me scholarship for my undergrad. Hm. So he at the time when you know someone pay for your school, you wrote a letter, right? Thank you, Pak. You know I finish my school if you need me, you call me. Right. And then he called in 2014. Oh. Ya. So he called in 2014. So I work for his company for five and a half years until I got an opportunity to join Bukalapak in 2020. Ya. So asim like you know eh I got this opportunity to be a CEO of a unicorn in Indonesia. Only five unicorns at that time, right? I would love to take this opportunity. So then we part ways. So I work for two years in Bukalapak. Eh actually I thought I will stay in Bukalapak for longer than that. Hmm. But after IPO, I got my 15 minutes of fame. Ya, my name is newspaper. It was the largest IPO at the time in Indonesia. It still is until now. And there is another guy who work for the government. Eh, he basically eh and he knows so that I joined 2022. So 10 years before that in 2012 I helped him IPO his company so I work in his company for about four months as an advisor. So he got to know me we got to know each other and Pak Rut remember that he I'm from Taruna Nusantara and you know we have this aspiration to work for the government. So he called and said look Rahmat I read in newspaper seems like you know you finish your job with bukalapak you know you already this this company what is your excuse not not to join the government what's your excuse now now yeah I was thinking about it and was like I actually have no no excuse. He I said, 'Oke, Pak. I'll join you when.' I said, ey annual eh until rops ya. Annual meaning. No, no, no, no. Join Asad. So, that's why I I join in January 2022. So, this is the story until I join the government.

So I join initially as an advisor and then special staff and then afterwards there is an empty an opening of a deputy he which you know foron one jobon 1 you actually have to come you have to bid do the biding process.

So I entered that biding process and get selected as deputy of infrastructure and transportation in Marves.

Ya. Maybe just to close until where I am. So in the new government eh you know Marvest get banded new infrastructure and regional development coordinating ministry is created and my portfolio actually move.

To the this ministry. He and interestingly the minister is AHY he who is my high school classmate and barak meet actually in Taruna Nusantara. So everything is actually full circle.