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Hip-hop Agus no mainstream banker
Bust a move: Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Agus Martowardojo dons a hip-hop outfit during a BI event in Jakarta on Friday, before returning to a more familiar look
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Bust a move: Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Agus Martowardojo dons a hip-hop outfit during a BI event in Jakarta on Friday, before returning to a more familiar look.(Courtesy of Agus Martowardojo) (BI) governor Agus Martowardojo dons a hip-hop outfit during a BI event in Jakarta on Friday, before returning to a more familiar look.(Courtesy of Agus Martowardojo)
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span class="caption">Bust a move: Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Agus Martowardojo dons a hip-hop outfit during a BI event in Jakarta on Friday, before returning to a more familiar look.(Courtesy of Agus Martowardojo)
Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Agus Martowardojo has just shown that he may be the world's coolest central banker.
Leading an institution whose employees are known to be serious thinkers, Agus jumped on stage at BI headquarters on Friday donning a hip-hop outfit as he participated in the opening of annual Bank Indonesia Week of Sports and Arts (Porsebi), in celebration of the country's upcoming Independence Day.
On social media, pictures of him wearing chrome shades, a hipster jacket and baggy trousers went viral.
One of his arms was sporting temporary tattoos and from his neck hung shining bling in the form of the iconic '$' symbol.
BI officials attending the event said that his entrance to the stage was accompanied with lively hip-hop music.
At the end of the show, he changed from his hip-hop outfit into a long-sleeved batik shirt ' more in line with the central bank's mission to encourage Indonesians, some of whom are accustomed to using US dollars in many local transactions, to shift to using Indonesia's currency.
'A failed rapper I was,' Agus joked on Saturday in response to his hip-hop style that went viral.
In public and government meetings, Agus, the former finance minister and CEO of Bank Mandiri, is known for his fondness for formal attire including shirt and tie.
The Porsebi event on Friday was not the first time that Agus has made his employees smile by playing his role wholeheartedly. Recently, the central bank governor came out bare-chested in traditional Papuan dress at one of BI's events.
Agus was apparently so immersed in his role that he successfully convinced some of his employees that he might actually be serious about shifting his career direction toward becoming a Grammy-winning rapper.
'We all burst out laughing to see our governor [dressing up] like that,' said Ratih Megaswari Miraza, an employee at BI's logistics division, who considers the governor a hard-working leader at the central bank.
