By: Aldia Putra )*
President Joko Widodo showed one of his breakthroughs in his second period, namely the appointment of special staff from millennial circles. Not only that, interestingly, one of the special staff came from the disabled Angkie Yudistia who had been fighting for people with disabilities.
Angkie Yudistia is a disabled person who served as CEO of Thisable Enterprise, Angkie was born in Medan on June 5, 1987. He started the company at the age of 25 years. The focus is on social missions to help people with disabilities.
Previously he was a graduate of the London School of Public Relations (LSPR), Jakarta majoring in advertising. He also holds a master’s degree in marketing communication from the same college.
In front of reporters, he also introduced himself in sign language during the question and answer session. Angkie expressed his pride that Jokowi could be chosen to become a Special Staff.
With the appointment of Angkie Yudistia, surely we should pay our respects to the government. This proves that in this era of openness, anyone can take part broadly for the nation.
Of course Jokowi’s consideration in choosing the 32-year-old woman shows that the government has a vision to empower people with disabilities.
This Thisable company aims to provide disability groups in Indonesia the ability, skills and channel them to the world of work, especially in the creative economy industry. According to Angkie, at the moment the disability group is still having difficulty in finding work.
The existence of Thisable Enterprise has successfully created synergies with start-ups from Indonesia namely Go-Jek, where persons with disabilities under the auspices are channeled to become workers in a number of Go-Jek services, such as Go-Massage, Go-Clean, Go-Auto or Go -Glam, tailored to the abilities of each person with a disability.
Angki said, it was time for disability not to become a minority group, but we were considered equal.
Aside from being a CEO, Angkie is also a writer who has spawned 3 books entitled Penetrating the Limits, As High as the Sky and Sociopreneur.
Aside from being asked as a special staff, Angkie is also trusted by President Jokowi to be his spokesperson in the social field. On this occasion Angki revealed that he was ready to help the President wholeheartedly towards Inclusive Indonesia and of course more disability friendly.
He also felt proud to have the opportunity by the President to voice 121 million disabilities throughout Indonesia. Because according to him it was time for the voice of disability to be heard.
In October 2019, Angkie was awarded the Asia Women Marketer of the Year 2019 in the Asia Marketing Federation which took place in Taipei, Taiwan.
He also won the 2019 Pancasila Achievement Icon and became the 21st award during his career. This appreciation was given by the Pancasila Ideology Development Board.
Of course, among all the presidents in office, perhaps only President Jokowi is seen to have considerable attention to people with disabilities.
This was seen when Jokowi attended the commemoration of 2018 International Disability Day at Sumarecon Parking Lot, Bekasi, West Java. Where Jokowi began his speech by greeting the invitees using sign language.
On this occasion, the President also appreciated the achievements made by people with disabilities. One of them was during the Asian Para Games event which won 37 gold medals and was ranked fifth.
Jokowi had argued that the achievements of persons with disabilities must be appointed to inspire and motivate the community to continue to excel.
With the election of special staff from the disability community, naturally there is hope that the persons with disabilities will continue to work and not feel the slightest lack.
Persons with disabilities will not need to feel inferior for their shortcomings. All citizens certainly have the same right, especially the right to life and the right to get a decent education.
The government’s move in appointing special staff from the disabled community is certainly expected to be a connection of people with disabilities so that all voices and complaints can be conveyed to the President. So that the dialogue space between the government and persons with disabilities can be expanded.
)* The author is a social political observer