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Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra speaking at an online talk show organized by Andalas University on Friday (25/9) from Jakarta. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra is an inspiring figure for his alma mater, Andalas University (Unand). He spoke at an online talk show “Unand Inspiring,” which featured Unand graduates, organized by the Green Studio of the Agriculture Faculty (Faperta) of Unand. At the event, which was moderated by Faperta Unand dean Munzir Busniah and biology lecturer Henny Herwina, Justice Saldi talked about his life journey.

After he graduated from the physics major in senior high school, he took an entrance test to the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in 1988 but failed. He took another test in 1989 but failed again. After three failures, he then went to Jambi for work. After saving enough for school in 1990, he took the UMPTN (state university entrance selection) and chose the mining engineering major at Sriwijaya University, the civil engineering major at Andalas University, and the law major of Andalas University. He unexpectedly passed the entrance test to the Law Faculty of Andalas University.

He hadn’t expected to reach a 3.71 GPA in the semester. In the second, he had a 4.00 GPA. “Only then did I think that it was God’s secret that put me in law studies. I then pictured what I wanted to be afterward. To be a lawyer, I would have to be an advocate. Or I could also be a lecturer,” he said. He said he had to read and write a lot as he was studying law. He said he only became more serious as he was about to graduate, when his writing was then published in the Singkalang newspaper. To help earn money for school, he had no choice but to write.

He graduated top of his class and was offered a lecturing job at Bung Hatta University. In under a year, he quit and started working at Andalas University in October 1995. He kept on writing, and some of his works were published in Republika. He has written several books and finished a masters’ degree in Malaysia.

While teaching, he was known to be actively writing in the media and for national and international journals. His body of works made him a known figure in the electronic and print media. He was also the director of Unand Law Faculty’s Center for Constitutional Studies (Pusako) and an anti-corruption activist.

Justice Saldi admitted he had little time to write after becoming a constitutional justice. Despite not having any formal training in writing, it is one of the things he enjoys doing. He also attributed his success to the many figures in his life. “I can’t progress alone. My surroundings supported me,” he said.

Friends’ Testimonies

Vice dean of the State University of Padang Hendra, Justice Saldi’s close friend from elementary school to senior high school, said that Justice Saldi had started helping at his cousin’s jewelry store in the first grade and was good at engraving jewelry. His academic prowess had been evident since elementary school days. He had aspired to be an engineer. Hendra said Justice Saldi’s achievements were fruits of labor since childhood.

Former Constitutional Justice I Dewa Gede Palguna said he and Justice Saldi sometimes share the same and different opinions as constitutional justices. However, their differences didn’t keep them from forming a close bond. He also said Justice Saldi had conviction with his views, unless someone can convince him otherwise in a fundamental way and that he is a productive writer.

Hopes for Next Generation

Zainal Mochtar said that he knew Justice Saldi through his body of work. The justice, he said, is egalitarian and doesn’t play the seniority card with his juniors. He said Justice Saldi is a man of few words but an exceptional, productive writer. He also hoped Justice Saldi would leave the legacy of the culture of writing, which fellow Unand alumni have started to neglect, to the next generation.

Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/06/2020 20:30 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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