Biography of Joko Widodo – Joko Widodo or what we usually know as Jokowi is one of the Presidents of Indonesia. President Joko Widodo became the seventh President of Indonesia. The name of the seventh President of Indonesia is widely known by the people of Indonesia.
However, not everyone knows about the biography of this seventh Indonesian President. Did you know that President Jokowi is a furniture entrepreneur from Solo? How was Jokowi’s political career? Check out reviews about Joko Widodo or Jokowi starting from his childhood to achievements and unique facts that were pinned on Jokowi.
Jokowi Comes From a Simple Family
Joko Widodo was born at Minulyo Hospital on June 21, 1961, he had a father named Noto Mihardjo and a mother named Sujiatmi. Jokowi is the first or eldest child and has three younger sisters, namely Iit Sriyantini, Ida Yati and Titik Relawati.
Jokowi’s father worked as a seller of wood and bamboo around the banks of the Karanganyar river, Solo, so it can be said that Jokowi’s life was far from luxurious.
The Jokowi family can be said to be an underprivileged family, especially in meeting their needs, such as having difficulty paying school fees, difficulty finding food, and several other difficulties.
To help ease the burden on his family, Jokowi helps his father who works as a carpenter, sometimes even after school, he helps his father to collect payments from customers who have bought wood and helps load the wood that has been purchased by his customers onto pedicabs or carts.
Jokowi married Ibu Iriana in 1986. From this marriage Jokowi gave birth to three children consisting of two sons and one daughter. The first child was named Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the second child was named Kahiyang Ayu, and the third child was named Kaesang Pangarep.
Currently, Jokowi has four grandchildren, two from his first child and two from his second child. The marriage between Gibran Rakabuming Raka and Selvi Ananda gave one grandson named Jan Ethes Srinarendra and one granddaughter named La Lembah Mana.
Meanwhile, the marriage between Kahiyang Ayu and Bobby Nasution gave one granddaughter named Sedah Mirah Nasution and one grandson named Al Nahyan Nasution.
Jokowi’s Childhood
As a child, Jokowi spent a lot of time in the Karanganyar river. Lots of activities carried out by Jokowi either alone or with his friends.
Activities undertaken, such as bathing in the river, looking for duck eggs, fishing, playing, and many more. Even though he likes to play or do activities with his friends, he does not forget his obligation, namely studying. Jokowi is very good at managing his time, when to play and when to study.
Jokowi’s activities when he was small were not only about playing and studying, but he also did recitation activities. Jokowi did not only study, play and recite the Koran, but he also helped his father sell wood or helped his mother take care of the house and his younger siblings.
Jokowi’s childhood can be said to be quite difficult and hard. This was because Jokowi’s family had moved from house to house due to evictions several times, so he and his family temporarily stayed at a friend’s house in the Gondang area.
Jokowi believes that unpleasant childhood experiences are not a form of suffering. This is because, he feels that all the unpleasant things in the past are God’s way of building and shaping his character in the future.
Jokowi Education
Jokowi’s education started from 111 Tirtoyoso Public Elementary School. This school is also known as an educational institution aimed at the lower middle class society. This school is located in the Banjarsari area, Solo.
Since attending elementary school, Jokowi has started to actively help ease the living expenses of his family by earning his own pocket money. The things he does are being a porter, selling, and umbrella taxis.
Surakarta 1 State Junior High School became the secondary educational institution chosen by Jokowi after completing his primary education at Tirtoyoso 03 Public Elementary School. This school is located on Jalan MT Haryono 4, Surakarta.
After graduating from secondary education at Surakarta 1 State Junior High School, Jokowi wanted to continue his senior secondary education at Surakarta 1 State Senior High School, but after making maximum efforts, Jokowi failed to enter Surakarta 1 State Senior High School and chose to continue his education at State Senior High School 6 Surakarta.
After completing his senior secondary education, Jokowi continued his education at Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta. When studying at Gadjah Mada University, Jokowi chose the forestry faculty with a major in wood technology. On campus, he learned more about wood, from wood utilization, wood structures to wood technology.
Jokowi took the field of study in wood technology because he was very close to the world of “timber” since he was a child. Jokowi graduated from Gajah Mada University in 1985 with the thesis title “Study of Consumption Patterns of Plywood in End Use in Surakarta Municipality”.
Apart from being listed as a student, Jokowi is also listed as a member of “Mapala Silvagama”. “Mapala Silvagama” is a semi-autonomous organization located at Gadjah Mada University.
Jokowi Was Once a Furniture Entrepreneur
After graduating from university, Jokowi worked for a State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN), namely PT Kertas Kraft Aceh and was given an assignment in the Merkusii Pine Forest area in Gayo Highlands, Central Aceh. However, Jokowi worked at PT Kertas Kraft Aceh for not so long and decided to return to his hometown.
Arriving at his hometown, Jokowi had the desire or determination to do business in the timber sector. This business in the wood sector started with his uncle’s company, which was named CV Roda Jati.
Until 1988, he ventured to set up his own timber business. The business name Jokowi gave for his timber business was CV Rakabu, the name was taken from his first son named Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Jokowi started his business with debt capital. To get business capital, Jokowi guarantees the land title belonging to his parents to the bank so that he can get a loan from the bank.
The choices and decisions made by Jokowi can be said to be quite bold because if the timber business fails then the certificate cannot be returned. However, because of Jokowi’s persistence, hard work, and sense of optimism, his business has been successful and has survived to this day.
After obtaining venture capital, Jokowi started his furniture business by renting a fairly simple place, namely a place made of woven bamboo. When he just started his business, Jokowi was assisted by three workers processing wood, making construction and painting furniture.
Jokowi’s strong determination made him work harder and work from morning to morning. In other words, the time Jokowi spends at work exceeds working hours in general.
Sometimes, he would sleep in the factory just to finish his work. With his hard work, Jokowi’s furniture began to show quite advanced results or progress in his furniture business. The progress made in Jokowi’s furniture business came after three years of struggling and working hard to develop this furniture business.
When he first started his career as a furniture exporter, Jokowi began to actively participate in furniture exhibitions held from Singapore, the Middle East, Europe, to America. The first exhibition attended by Jokowi was an exhibition held in Jakarta.
Jokowi’s Political Career
Jokowi’s experience in a political career can be said to be very different from his career in the world of furniture business. Jokowi already has experience in the furniture business for 23 years. Meanwhile, in the world of politics, Jokowi can be said to have not had much experience.
Jokowi’s early political career began in 1998 by following the world of practical politics and the party he chose was the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) led by Megawati Soekarnoputri. This party became Jokowi’s political vehicle, from becoming Mayor of Solo to becoming President of the Republic of Indonesia.
1. Become Mayor of Solo
In 2005 the Regional Head Election (Pilkada) for Mayor of Solo was held. Jokowi became a candidate for Mayor of Solo with partner FX Hadi Rudyatmo. The two candidates are endorsed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
From that election, Joko Widodo and FX Hadi Rudyatmo won 36.62% of the votes and won the Pilkada.
In his leadership, Jokowi was able to make the city of Solo neater, even the city of Solo became one of the study materials at domestic and foreign universities.
Not only that, during his leadership, Jokowi also introduced the Batik Solo Trans bus and made the city of Solo the host for several international events.
On April 26, 2010, Joko Widodo and FX Hadi Rudyatmo became the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Solo as the incumbent candidates. At that time, the votes obtained by Joko Widodo and FX Hadi Rudyatmo could be said to be quite surprising because they received 90.09% of the votes.
The votes they got almost broke the MURI record. In the MURI record, the pair Herman Sutrisno and Akhmad Dimyati, as Mayor of Banjar, won the most votes, where they are also the incumbent pair and the votes obtained were 92.19% in 2008.
2. Become the Governor of DKI Jakarta
After successfully becoming Mayor of Solo, Jokowi continued his political career by running for Governor of DKI Jakarta. Jokowi was initially hesitant to contest the gubernatorial election, but he was convinced by the leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), namely Megawati Soekarnoputri.
At that time, Jokowi needed 9 more seats to become a candidate for Governor of DKI Jakarta so the leader of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) conducted political lobbying with the PDI-P party. After conducting political lobbying, the Gerindra party presented a candidate for Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, namely Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
At that time, more precisely in 2012, the couple Joko Widodo and Basuki Tjahaja Purnama were the underdog. This is because they have to face the incumbent candidates, namely Fauzi Bowo and Nachrowi Ramli.
However, in the end the pair Joko Widodo and Basuki Tjahaja Purnama managed to defeat the pair Fauzi Bowo and Nachrowi Ramli and become Governor and Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta.
As for several policies carried out by Jokowi when leading Jakarta, such as the row village, the Jakarta Healthy Card (KJS), the Jakarta Smart Card (KJP).
3. Become the President of the Republic of Indonesia
After several years as the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Jokowi was trusted by his party to continue his political career as a candidate for President of the Republic of Indonesia. 2014 was the year of the General Election (Election) of the President of the Republic of Indonesia. That year, Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla became the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2014 election.
After the vote counting process was completed, it was stated that the Jokowi pair received 53.15% of the vote. As for several policies made by Joko Widodo when he was President, such as the Healthy Indonesia Card (KIS), the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP), and others.
In the next general election, Jokowi ran for the incumbent with a different pair, namely KH. Ma’ruf Amin. In this election, Joko Widodo competed with Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno and Joko Widodo’s pair won this election by getting a vote of 55.50%.
Jokowi’s Unique Awards and Facts
Jokowi’s outreach skills in getting support from the community earned him an award as Marketer of The Year 2012 held by the Markplus Conference 2013, Marketing: Info Innovation and Technology.
As many people already know, Jokowi’s real name is Joko Widodo. However, do you know that the nickname Jokowi was originally given to Joko Widodo?
When he was a furniture export entrepreneur, Joko Widodo had a client or customer who liked to buy his furniture, named Michl Romaknan from France.
Long story short, this customer from France found it difficult to distinguish the name Joko Widodo from the name Joko-Joko who work in the same profession, namely as a furniture exporter.
Michl looked for a way to distinguish Joko Widodo’s name from other Joko-Joko and Michl gave him the name “Jokowi” so he could distinguish it from other Joko-Joko names.
Until now, the name Jokowi is better known by the public than the name Joko Widodo. This is because the name Jokowi has its own uniqueness and is easier for many people to hear and remember.
Conclusion
Jokowi always tries to provide a sense of security and comfort to his younger siblings so that he becomes a role model for his three younger sisters. The sense of security and comfort is shown by being kind and protective of their younger siblings.
Not only that, Joko Widodo or Jokowi is also very happy to help his mother to care for and look after his younger siblings, such as taking them to school, helping with homework, and so on.
The furniture business owned by Jokowi can be said to be a business that is not obtained easily and requires hard work to build a more advanced business.
Ups and downs in building this business are usually passed. It can be said that the key to developing a business in a more advanced direction requires courage and enthusiasm to get back up when you have to fall many times.
Jokowi started his political career in 1998 and chose PDI-P as his political vehicle. So that in 2005-2010 he succeeded in becoming the Mayor of Solo, then continued his political career to become the Governor of DKI Jakarta in 2012 and in 2014 until now he has become the President of the Republic of Indonesia.
This book is a sketch of the woman who accompanied Jokowi, when he was still a fetus in the womb until now he is the governor of DKI Jakarta. Hopefully, the values of simplicity, honesty and not being greedy will inspire more families in Indonesia so that in the future there will be new leaders who are honest and can be proud of.
sinaumedia.com
This book provides empirical information and analysis related to family background and struggles, as well as Jokowi’s development as a child up to the time he entered college. More than just a story about Jokowi, the analysis in this book is placed within the framework of the struggle of an ordinary Javanese family in vertical mobility in the social, economic and political arenas, amidst an elitist and hierarchical social structure.
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