I met him when we were teaching at the University of Indonesia in the early 1960s, he at the School of Economics and me at the School of Law. He was tasked with the administration of his school while I was the executive secretary of the Law School. We occasionally sat together at university meetings.

He was known as a bright, original thinker and scholar, straightforward and honest, but also tough. While his colleagues like Widjojo Nitisastro, Emil Salim and Ali Wardhana went to the University of California, Berkeley on Ford Foundation scholarships, Daoed went to Paris to study at Sorbonne University where he earned two PhD degrees, one in public finance and the other in strategy.

As a scholar at the Sorbonne, Daoed was not only well-respected, but was also attentive of developments in Indonesia through his activities with the Indonesian Students Organization (Persatuan Pelajar Indonesia/PPI). Then, the group was dominated by the East European wing, which was led by left-leaning students.

Only after 1967, when Soeharto became the acting president, could PPI Western Europe take over the leadership with the late Hadi Soesastro of the West Germany branch becoming PPI president. Then, Daoed was active in Paris, Biantoro Wanandi in Switzerland, Soetarto Hardjosoeseno in the Netherlands and Soerjanto Poespowardojo in Belgium.

Also in 1967, Sofjan Wanandi, as the leader of the Indonesian Student Movement Association (KAMI) Greater Jakarta, was sent by Gen. Ali Murtopo to cooperate with the Indonesian students to, among other things, fight the leftist students’ efforts to oppose Soeharto’s leadership in Indonesia and to help prepare the first visit of the then-president to Western Europe in 1968.

Collaboration between the two activist groups in Jakarta and Western Europe that shared a common goal was born. Based on their experiences, the two groups came together in 1971 to establish the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), with Daoed as the inaugural head until he was appointed Minister of Education and Culture in 1978.

As a minister, Daoed was well known as a conceptual thinker with the right ideas and a thorough knowledge of his field. He said that education was the most important factor to modernize a society and a prerequisite to enrich and cultivate our culture and values. Unfortunately, he was misunderstood by some Muslim scholars and educators when he introduced a new concept that religious studies should include aspects of interfaith harmony and cooperation.

Daoed himself was a devout person, observing Islam obediently both in private and in public. But he was also a rational man, thanks in part to his French education, and saw religion as a sacred and critical part of every individual, but also dependent on a rational outlook of life.

The second misunderstanding came from students, who in their euphoria after helping oust thenpresident Sukarno in a coalition with the military in 1967, tended to neglect their studies. Many of them became “eternal students,” preventing new students from entering universities. Indonesia lost the higher learning competition to students of many ASEAN countries, including Vietnam.

Daoed placed a time limit on university students who wanted to earn their bachelor’s degrees. However, they saw it as a curtailment of their activities, especially in politics, which was not how Daoed saw it. He also stressed that students should be more disciplined in order to transform them into better engineers, lawyers, doctors, economists and scientists.

After his five-year stint as minister, Daoed returned to the CSIS where he belonged and became a “guru” to many scholars there. He tried hard to instill a sense of strategy in their views and outlook. As a good guru, he contributed a lot to our young generation.

Amid his busy agenda, he painted, sketched, wrote books and penned articles for the media. His last book, Rekam Jejak

Anak Tiga Zaman (Traces of the Child of Three Generations), was launched at the CSIS on Oct. 26, 2017, three months before he passed away. The book depicted Daoed as a sensitive person, full of idealism and courage to implement his ideas in any circumstances. He had lived his life in the most refined and balanced way. He undoubtedly was a nationalist, a patriot and a good Muslim.

Mas Daoed, the CSIS in particular and the nation and the society at large have benefitted from your ideas and your endless pursuit for a just, democratic, plural and modern Indonesia. Thank you so much.

May Mbak Soel (Soelastri), his wife of 60 years, find strength and courage after losing her beloved partner. God had blessed Mas Daoed with a full life and he spent every day of his 91-plus years to do his share in His design for Indonesia. To Yanti, his only child, and Bambang Pharmasetiawan, her husband, their children and granddaughter, we at the CSIS have one message: We are one family. Rest assured that we will always be with you all.

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