By: Prabowo Subianto [excerpt from Book Military Leadership 1: Notes from the Experience of Retired Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto]
Doctor Ben Mboi, I met him when he had long retired. He retired as a military officer as well as the governor of East Nusa Tenggara. Within the TNI, he was known as a military doctor who was involved in the Red Beret troops (RPKAD) deployed in Merauke during the West Irian liberation operation. At that time, the company commander was Captain Benny Moerdani, who later became the Minister of Defense and the Army Chief of Staff in the 1980s. Mr. Ben Mboi was the doctor in Captain Benny Moerdani’s company who took part in the operations in Merauke.
In the several meetings I had with Mr. Ben Mboi, he shared some stories. Among them, he told a story about the time when they were boarding a Hercules aircraft to parachute into West Irian. At that time, the one releasing the parachute was the Commanding General of Mandala Command, Major General TNI Soeharto, who later became a general and eventually the President of the Republic of Indonesia. Mr. Ben Mboi recounted that the troops led by Captain Benny Moerdani, including Mr. Ben Mboi who was a First Lieutenant at the time, were lined up beside the Hercules aircraft with the engines already running. So under the roaring engine noise of the Hercules aircraft, Mr. Harto delivered a very brief speech.
According to Mr. Ben Mboi, here are Mr. Harto’s words: “In a moment, you all will depart to be dropped in the Merauke area for the operation to recapture West Irian. Two teams before you have been dropped several weeks ago and until now there has been no contact with them. There is a possibility that more than 50% of you will not return. I will give you three minutes. If there is any among you who is hesitant, who does not want to depart, please step out of the lineup.”
According to Mr. Ben Mboi, no one stepped out of the lineup. Mr. Harto looked at his watch and after three minutes, ordered all troops to board the aircraft. According to Mr. Ben Mboi, if Mr. Harto had given more than 5 minutes, perhaps many would have stepped out of the lineup.
That is a heroic but somewhat funny story. In one’s heart, Mr. Ben Mboi might be right, if people were given more time to think, they might have thought, “Oh no, I might not return and meet my family 50% of the time.” Perhaps that was the spirit of heroism at the time that swept across the entire Indonesian nation.
There is another interesting story he shared after retiring as governor. At that time, his subordinates and staff only realized that Mr. Ben Mboi did not have a home. So they started to raise funds and received support from the local government and some local entrepreneurs to build a house for Mr. Ben Mboi. In fact, Indonesia has many great soldiers who dedicate their entire careers to the country, and retire without a home. This means they did not engage in corruption or seek personal gain, but were not given adequate rewards. Because they were highly respected by their subordinates for years, these subordinates found a way to raise enough money to build a house for their commander after the commander retired.
One lesson I learned from Mr. Ben Mboi is when he said, “Prabowo, if you want to be a good leader, I can only recommend 2 things. First, love your people and second, use your common sense, you will not go wrong.”
That’s what I always remember. If you want to be a leader, you have to love the people, love your subordinates. Then you have to use common sense, no need to be too elaborate, if you use common sense, you will usually succeed. From there, I remember the Javanese proverb “Ojo Rumongso Iso, Nanging Iso Rumongso.” A leader should not feel capable, but should be able to feel the feelings, suffering, and needs of others. Those are very profound philosophical words for me. From Mr. Ben Mboi, “Love Your People, Use Your Common Sense” is used as my guidance.
