Southeast #3: Jokowi’s blue-eyed boy under siege
What Nadiem Makarim’s corruption case truly exposes.
I owe readers Part 2 of Saturday’s NIE, which will be out tomorrow. But, ICYMI, here’s Part 1:
For today’s Southeast, I debated between Indonesia and Thailand but settled on the former.
I’ll close this edition with a look at Temasek’s leadership shuffle. There’s been plenty of commentary, but I’ll cut through the noise and flag what actually matters especially for private equity and venture capital.
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Nadiem Makarim is in the crosshairs. Some are defending him, claiming him to be a victim of the country’s dog-eat-dog political landscape due to his penchant for reformist politics.
Others are saying there’s merit to the charges levelled against the wunderkind of Jokowi’s Cabinet.
Nadiem is famously known as the co-founder of Gojek and Indonesia’s former education, culture, research and technology minister (2019-2024).
He is under investigation in a major corruption case tied to a Chromebook procurement programme during his time in office.
His arrest and charge has sent shockwaves through Indonesia’s business community.
Sources in Jakarta and observers closely watching the fiasco unfold tell me that it’s quite surprising for a few reasons.