Jakarta — It is not widely known that Indonesia’s future president for 2024-2029, Prabowo Subianto, had a significant role in the founding of SMA Taruna Nusantara, one of the country’s leading high schools today.
Dirgayuza Setiawan, the son of the late Dr. Boyke Setiawan, a close associate of Prabowo, recently shared the proposal for establishing SMA Taruna Nusantara, co-authored by Prabowo and his father in 1988. This proposal was kept in Dr. Boyke’s personal archives and was submitted to the Minister of Defense and Security (Menhankam) and the president at that time.
“Since SMA Taruna Nusantara is gaining attention, I want to share an interesting story. In February, Mr. @prabowo suddenly asked me to check my late father’s archives: ‘Yuza, please find my proposal to the President and Menhankam for the establishment of SMA TN. Your father kept it,'” wrote Dirgayuza on his Instagram story @dirgayuza on Tuesday, September 10.
“After searching through my father’s cabinet, I finally found the document he was looking for,” he continued.
Dirgayuza shared several photos of the proposal’s contents, including initial school sketches, the table of contents, the foreword, and a timeline for the school’s development from 1988 to 1990.
In the foreword of the proposal, Prabowo and his team explained that the establishment of SMA Taruna Nusantara was driven by a sense of responsibility to nation-building and contributing to Indonesia’s development after independence.
“The idea for this project came from a sincere desire to contribute to the nation’s progress. As we mark more years of independence, the challenges we face become greater and more challenging,” the foreword reads.
Education, particularly in science and technology, was highlighted as a key means to build the nation according to the proposal. Indonesia, with its rich resources and talented youth, should not squander its potential by not providing them with suitable education.
The proposal envisioned that SMA Taruna Nusantara would offer the necessary infrastructure and facilities for education, enabling the country’s best and brightest to cultivate their talents and skills for the nation’s future development.
“In an era of rapid global advancements in science and technology, as a free nation, we must not lag behind. With this determination, the Project Proposal for a Science-Focused High School was prepared,” wrote Prabowo and his team in the proposal’s foreword.
Dirgayuza also revealed that the initials “PS” and “BS” in the document referred to Prabowo Subianto and Boyke Setiawan, respectively.
Dirgayuza is known for editing several of Prabowo’s books, while his late father, Dr. Boyke Setiawan, was a retired TNI officer who served as the rector of UKRI, an educational institution he founded in 2017. Before that, Boyke was a trusted advisor to Prabowo, overseeing one of his sports and recreation businesses, the Polo Club. (RR)
