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Tough Ahok shows softer side to high-school students
Narcissism at work: Jakarta Governor Basuki âAhokâ Tjahaja Purnama poses for a selfie with high-school students visiting his office on Thursday
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span class="inline inline-center">Narcissism at work: Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama poses for a selfie with high-school students visiting his office on Thursday. Warta Kota/Henry Lopulalan
To the public, Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama has a tough image, often reprimanding his officials in front of the cameras.
But during a dialogue on leadership and Jakarta's development with 120 students from Tangerang-based Catholic senior high school SMA Santa Laurensia at City Hall on Thursday, Ahok showed his relaxed and funny side.
The room filled with laughter as Ahok responded to curious students with some comedic answers.
'Are you not disturbed by the presence of a rival governor?' a student asked him, refering to cleric Fahrurrozy Ishaq, who was 'inaugurated' by the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) as its version of Jakarta governor.
Ahok replied that he did not feel disturbed but added: 'It would be disturbing if there was [also] a rival wife of the governor.'
Another student asked whether he was afraid of those who disliked his tough policies and harsh comments.
'You are very brave. Aren't your family members worried [about your safety]?' asked one student.
Ahok laughed and said it was a risk that he and his family had to take as it came with the job.
He told the students about when he was threatened by thugs during the administration's Pluit Dam development project.
Under the administration of former governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Ahok, the city evicted thousands of squatters in Pluit, North Jakarta, to develop the area.
'I received information that over 1,000 thugs from Pluit would attack me and my family at my home [...]. My second child asked me, 'what if we die?' If I die, I ask that my body be buried in East Belitung. That way, East Belitung will have a tourist site because people will want to visit Ahok's grave,' Ahok joked to laughter from the student audience.
Ultimately, the attack never happened.
Ahok has three children, 16-year-old Nicholas Sean Purnama, 15-year-old Nathania Purnama and 7-year-old Daud Albeenner.
After sharing a light moment with the students, Ahok touched a more serious note and asked them to be disciplined and grow up to be good people.
'I want the young generation to be good people and be politicians so that Indonesians can be lead by good leaders. I also hope that the young generation will be disciplined in everything it does, whether its studying, exercising or eating,' Ahok said.
