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National scene: Jokowi supporter named director general
JAKARTA: Historian and social activist Hilmar Farid has been sworn in as the new culture director general at the Culture and Education Ministry on Thursday
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AKARTA: Historian and social activist Hilmar Farid has been sworn in as the new culture director general at the Culture and Education Ministry on Thursday.
Replacing Kacung Marijan, Hilmar is the first non-civil servant to be appointed a director general at a ministry.
Speaking after his inauguration, Hilmar defended his appointment saying that he was not selected because of his close connections to President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo.
Hilmar said he applied for the job like everybody else. 'Minister Anies explained that this was an open recruitment process and applicants were judged based on their performance,' Hilmar said as quoted by tempo.co.
Hilmar is known to be an ardent supporter of Jokowi and campaigned for the then Jakarta governor in 2014's presidential election.
Hilmar, the son of translator Agus Setiadi, was born in Bonn, Germany, on March 8, 1968. He received his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Indonesia in 1993.
Two years after graduating, Hilmar taught at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) for four years. In 1994, he, along with artists, researchers and activists, established the Culture Working Network. Hilmar also established the Indonesian Institute of Social History (ISSI) in 2002.
