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Indonesia bids farewell to its dear ‘Mr. Crack’
An aerospace engineer who studied in Aachen, Germany, Habibie became an internationally acclaimed technocrat for his inventions, including a theorem in crack propagation for airplanes, for which he earned the moniker “Mr. Crack” from his international colleagues.
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Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, who dies at the age of 83, is taken to his final resting place at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta, on Thursday where he is buried next to his wife Ainun. (TJP/Seto Wardhana)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo along with other country leaders and thousands of citizens attended on Thursday the funeral of former president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, who is remembered as a “genius” and “selfless” leader who broke the shackles that had chained the country during Soeharto’s authoritarian rule.
Habibie, who died at the age of 83 a day earlier, was taken from his home in Patra Kuningan, South Jakarta, to his final resting place at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta, after midday where he was buried next to his wife Ainun.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were also present with Habibie’s two sons, Ilham Akbar Habibie and Thareq Kemal Habibie at the funeral.
“Rest well, Mr. Crack. Rest in peace, Indonesia’s technology pioneer. We will always remember your teachings. Ever since he was young, everything Habibie did contributed to Indonesia. From his time as aerospace manufacturer PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara’s [IPTN] chief executive officer, as research and technology minister, to his tenure as president” said Jokowi during his speech at Kalibata.
An aerospace engineer who studied in Aachen, Germany, Habibie became an internationally acclaimed technocrat for his inventions, including a theorem in crack propagation for airplanes, for which he earned the moniker “Mr. Crack” from his international colleagues.
He was appointed vice president director at Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, an airplane manufacturer in Hamburg, before former president Soeharto, who had been really fond of his intelligence, called him home in 1974 to develop industrialization in the country.
Habibie continued to serve as research and technology minister for two decades before he was appointed vice president and later became president when Soeharto stepped down in 1998.
