The inauguration of professors at the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Senate Hall on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, had an emotional story to tell. Prof. Wakhid Slamet Ciptono, M.B.A., M.P.M., Ph.D., could not hold back his tears in his inauguration speech. Wakhid reminisced about the happy moments he shared with his youngest daughter, who had recently passed away due to illness.
The daughter, Yurivani Amanda Bonita, is like a hero to Wakhid and his family. The reason is that the daughter strongly motivated Wakhid’s enthusiasm to achieve the highest academic title, that of a professor. “On Friday, 19 January 2024, Allah SWT called our daughter or sister, whom we love, Yurivani Amanda Bonita. Dik Nita is the ‘hero of the family’. Insha’Allah, Dik Nita will earn a glorious place in the heaven of Al-Jannah and become an angel in His heaven. Amen. Holding back his emotions, Wakhid explained, “It was because of the encouragement, support, and struggle of Dik Nita, Mas Ivan, and Mama that Papa was able to deliver his Professor Inauguration Speech at the U.G.M. Senate Hall today.”
Wakhid’s struggle to become a professor has been a complicated one. He failed to apply for a professorship twice, in 2012 and 2015. After that, he took a break until his daughter encouraged him to apply for a professorship again in 2020. His late daughter graduated from the Social Development and Welfare Study Program (PSdK) Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM in 2019, which is a strong incentive and great motivation for Wakhid to try again to become a professor. “I was one of those who were slow to reach the professorship, but thanks to Dik Nita’s encouragement, I continued to be enthusiastic,” said Wakhid.
Wakhid revealed that he was nicknamed “Injury Time Specialist” by his late daughter because he failed the college test twice and only succeeded in his third year. At that time, he failed twice to enter the Faculty of Medicine, and only in his third year was he successfully accepted to the Faculty of Economics, UGM, now FEB UGM. “So Dik Nita continued to encourage me to become a professor, and in the end, it worked out,” he recalls.
Wakhid completed his undergraduate studies at FEB UGM. He then completed his Master’s at the School of Business, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina, USA. He also completed his doctoral studies at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
At his inauguration, Wakhid delivered a speech entitled “Awareness of Management Practices: Optimizing the Economic Values of Happiness and Good Business. He explained that the world community, especially Indonesia, is waiting for a genuine contribution to raising awareness about management practices that make organizations successful and, more importantly, valuable. The values that make people just and civilized place people through their authenticity and identity. “The two key words of happiness and goodness about the economics of happiness and the business of goodness are human efforts to anticipate global phenomena such as the global boiling that is currently happening,” explained the man born in Semarang 63 years ago.
Furthermore, Wakhid, in principle, optimizes the economic values of happiness and good business to create a balance between learning the economics of happiness and good business innovation in a fully dexterous organization. Public and business organizations in Indonesia require a comprehensive organizational approach to establish an effective and efficient learning culture and innovation program. The learning culture supports the economics of happiness through Pancasila Economics, and the innovation program supports the implementation of good business through Red and White Management.
Pancasila economics represents a transformation of capitalism into a democratic economy in harmony with Indonesian culture, which necessitates the mediating role of social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship is the primary activity of conscious business practices for large, medium, small, and micro businesses (MSMEs) in Indonesia. In this way, it is hoped that the Indonesian people will be able to achieve a successful and valuable Golden Indonesia 2045. For this reason, business organizations and governments must understand that education for welfare/prosperity, goodness, and family happiness is a critical factor for the success of Golden Indonesia 2045.
Wakhid is a lecturer and researcher at FEB UGM, focusing on studying Pancasila Economics, also known as People’s Economics, and Red and White Management to optimize the economic values of happiness and good business. In the future, he will continue to actively research these areas. In addition to research, he has encouraged several MSMEs in D.I.Y. to implement people’s economic values, such as the culture of cooperation and the activation of cooperatives as pillars of the nation’s economy.
Having reached the professor position at an old age, Wakhid encouraged his colleagues to apply for promotion on time. Especially if all the requirements are met, he hopes to contribute more to society by achieving a professorship. “Just apply right away if you meet the requirements. If you apply and are rejected, never give up because the real failure is when you give up. While there is still a chance, even if it is only the size of a needle’s eye, keep trying,” he said.
Reportage: Kurnia Ekaptiningrum
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