Passing the Torch - A Meeting with Vice President of World Bank (Sri Mulyani)

Dear readers,

I was visiting Washington DC from April 13 to 16. During my visit, I had a great surprise by meeting Indonesia's ex-Minister of Finance, Ibu Sri Mulyani.

I have a dream to be Indonesia's Minister of Finance one day. And Ibu Sri Mulyani is the one who made me have the willingness to be like her. She is such an amazing lady - became the best South East Asian Minister of Finance a couple times. Due to her great job during her term, Indonesia could avoid huge financial crisis in 2008. Also her amazing work made her nominated as World Bank president. Right now she is the vice president of the world bank. She is such an exemplar for me and meeting her once made me more motivated to pursue my dream. Here are several conversation between me and her today (April 14, 2013).

 T = Timmy - SM = Ibu Sri Mulyani

T     : (I introduced myself and told her that I am from Kediri)
SM  : You know what, my father was also from Kediri. He was an orphan since he was 12 years old, and he is such a great father.

T      : (I told her that I am her huge fans and also I would like to be Indonesia's Minister of Finance one day)
SM   : Haha, I think that your dream is a little too small "only" to be Indonesia's Minister of Finance. I think you should made your dream bigger. Maybe become the president of the World Bank. Or at least you should say you will be better Minister of Finance than I was! (smiling)

T      : (I only could smile and praying in my heart that her wish will become true) Amen amen, Ibu. I actually was at science stream in my high school, but I wanted to affect more people by studying Finance for my undergraduate degree.
SM   : Wow, I guess you are on the right track right now. I was also a science major back then and then I continued my undergraduate majoring in Economics. That is why I said that you should be a better Minister of Finance than I was! I had my undergraduate "only" in University of Indonesia (p.s University of Indonesia is the best university in Indonesia) then continued my master and doctorate at University of Illinois. And you have already started your undergraduate in the U.S! Also you dare saying to me that you want to be Minister of Finance!

(the conversation finally ended)

SM    : Please do not waste your time when you are in the US. You have better opportunity than I did. I wanted to go overseas when I was senior high school, but I could not because my parents did not have the money. You have so much better opportunity than me. You should live up your dream! I put a lot of pressure to you, didn't I? (laughing)
T        : It was such an honor to meet you, Ibu. Please pray for me, I will surely keep doing my best. :)



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That was a summary of my conversation with her. I adore her a lot and she believe that I should do better than her. After going out of her house, I could only slap my own face to make sure it was not a dream. Here is my picture with her.

Indonesia's ex and future Minister of Finance - A moment of passing the torch for me

 
She also left me with some last message: "Never become full of yourself, because there are many people out there that way smarter than you! Keep your heads down and work really hard!"

This was such a moment for me. Also I hope reading this will be an inspiration for you all!

Please leave some comments below.

See you soon on the next post!