Christianto Wibisono (10 April 1945 – 22 July 2021), also known as Oey Kian Kok () was a prominent

Chinese Indonesian Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...

business analyst A business analyst (BA) is a person who processes, interprets and documents business processes, products, services and software through analysis of data. The role of a business analyst is to ensure business efficiency increases through their know ...

in Indonesia. His father was Oey Koan Gwee (Huang Guan-guo) and his mother was Lo Tjoan Nio (Luo Zhuan-niang).

Early life

Wibisono was born in Jakarta,

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and grew up in

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

. He moved to Jakarta to pursue his degree in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

and

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the o ...

(Fakultas Hukum dan Ilmu Pengetahuan Kemasyarakatan) from the

University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the ...

in 1964. On campus, he was active as an editor and writer of numerous publications from 1966 to 1970. In 1971, he was the co-founder of Tempo weekly magazine but quit the new magazine in 1973. He continued his study in social sciences (FISIP) at the University of Indonesia in 1974 and got his degree in 1978. As an activist in 1978, he strongly opposed the government ban on

press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

Career

Wibisono's critical analyses of geopolitics and macroeconomics have continuously played an effective role in ensuring national interest representation through policies enforced by Indonesian decision-makers. A natural-born author, Christianto co-founded TEMPO, a magazine considered the equivalent of "Time" in 1970, immediately following his graduation from the Graduate School of Political Science at the University of Indonesia. From 1978 to 1983 he was appointed the Special Aide to the former

Vice President of Indonesia The vice president of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Wakil Presiden Republik Indonesia) is second-highest officer in the executive branch of the Indonesian government, after the president, and ranks first in the presidential line of suc ...

Adam Malik Adam Malik Batubara (22 July 1917 – 5 September 1984), or more commonly referred to simply as Adam Malik, was an Indonesian politician, diplomat, and journalist, who served as the 3rd Vice President of Indonesia from 1978 until 1983, under P ...

. In 1980 he established the Indonesian Business Data Center, a leading

business consultant A business consultant (from Latin ''consultare'', "to discuss") is a professional who provides professional or expert advice or service in a particular area such as security (electronic or physical), management, accountancy, law, human resources, m ...

and data mining firm, while consistently presenting sharp political and economic insights and analysis through his columns on many of Indonesia's most reputable media such as

Kompas ''Kompas'' () is an Indonesian national newspaper from Jakarta which was founded on 28 June 1965. The paper is published by PT Kompas Media Nusantara, which is a part of Kompas Gramedia Group. Its head office is located at the Kompas Multim ...

and Suara Pembaruan among others. Christian to is also the author of some of Indonesia's most controversial books, namely "The Imaginary Interview with Bung Karno" which unveiled the scenes of Indonesia's political regime in power throughout the nation's first and second presidential transition. In 1998, Christianto and his family relocated to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, U.S.A, where he continuously monitored the development of Indonesia and regional

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, and bridged the gap between the regions and

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

. During his stay in the US, he managed to gain an offer by former Indonesian president

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; born Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil; 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), though more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the 4th president of Indonesia, from ...

; for a top cabinet position of Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs in June 2001, which he then declined. Today, the wealth of his expertise and globalized perspective is accumulated in the establishment o
Global Nexus Institute
a national think tank dedicated to materializing the goal of positioning Indonesia as the world's potential leading economy in the present global shift of power from the West to the East.

Death

Wibisono died in Jakarta on 22 July 2021, due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia The COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). It was confirmed to have spread to Indonesia on 2 March 2020, after ...

Notes

External links

Christianto Wibisono profile
at Gramedia.com

at Business Week

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wibisono, Christianto 1945 births 2021 deaths Indonesian people of Chinese descent Indonesian expatriates in the United States Indonesian writers Indonesian activists People from Semarang Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia