Syahrir

Sjahrir (24 February 1945 – 28 July 2008) was a prominent Indonesian political economist. He was officially appointed by President of the Republic of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as Economic Adviser in the Council of Presidential Advisers on 11 April 2007. As a student activist, he was once sentenced to jail during the Malari demonstration in 1974. Biography He was born in Kudus, Central Java, during the Japanese rule of Indonesia on 24 February 1945. Syahrir (nicknamed: Ciil or Ci'il) was born as the only child to the Ma’amoen Al Rasyid and Roesma Malik couple, both from the village of Koto Gedang in West Sumatra. His father was a high-ranking government official in Central Java during the Dutch colonial time, while his mother was an official at the Inspectorate of Women Education, Department of Education.(Mangiang et al. 1995) Sjahrir received his early childhood education in a public school in Jakarta; he also spent a year in the Dalton School Elementary School, Amsterdam. He continued his study at a Catholic high school, Canisius College in Jakarta. It was there that he discovered his love for economics. From Canisius College, he was enrolled at the University of Indonesia, where he studied economics. During his study in the university, he became active in the Djakarta Students Association (Ikatan Mahasiswa Djakarta or IMADA), a student union. His involvement at IMADA made him appointed as the head of United Actions of Indonesian Students (Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Indonesia or KAMI). Sjahrir was active in KAMI until 1969. Meanwhile, his activities in intra university organization made him appointed as a General Secretary of Students Senate, Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia.