This includes the son, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, of the current Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or SBY. Agus departed to undertake a Masters in Public Administration at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Good program, good school, and also real expensive.
Life must be good in the army. Agus is a captain and had been with the Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad). By my reckoning to complete the course that he has decided to undertake it is going to set him back about USD 100,000 for tuition and other associated living (surviving) expenses. I am not sure whether he has received a scholarship or the army is taking it out of its budget or maybe his wife, Annisa Pohan, is funding her husband's study.
The reason for this post is only that SBY has positioned himself on an anti-corruption platform and a press release stating how this particular educational jaunt is being funded would ensure that no gossip or posts like this one would generate any interest. I am not suggesting that this opportunity is the profit of some crime.
To the contrary, I am suggesting that it is something that can be nipped in the bud with a simple press release or statement. Much in the way the Yudhoyono's addressed whether or not Mrs. Yudhoyono was likely to be a presidential candidate in 2014.
However, it is worth noting that a Masters in Public Administration would be a feather in one's cap if they were looking at capitalizing on their education, skills, and experience for a run at the top job in the Partai Demokrat and the No. 1 Chair in the Republic of Indonesia.
