{"id":132300,"date":"2021-11-04T12:38:42","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T11:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=132300"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:58","slug":"three-generations-of-eur-students-in-our-family-the-eur-feels-like-our-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/11\/04\/three-generations-of-eur-students-in-our-family-the-eur-feels-like-our-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Three generations of EUR students: ‘In our family, the EUR feels like ‘our’ university’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Indonesian minister for Economy, Finance and Industrial Affairs Kwik Kian Gie visited his old faculty at the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) on Wednesday. His daughter Kwik Mu Lan, son-in-law Yoe Kok Tiauw and grandsons Jason and Thomas Yoe were also present. All of them are alumni of the EUR, except for grandson Thomas, who isn\u2019t (at least not yet). He has just started the International Bachelor of Economics and Business Economics (IBEB) programme. As Kwik says: “The knowledge and wisdom I received during my student years here has proved to be indispensable throughout my career.”<\/p>\n

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Kwik Kian Gie and his family next to the timeline of Jan Tinbergen's life in E building.<\/span><\/p>

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Director of Alumni Affairs Charles Hermans welcomed the family at the E building where the faculty is currently housed. \u201cI have never been in this building before,\u201d says grandson Thomas. He arrived in Rotterdam two months ago and is still following most of his lectures online.<\/p>\n

Old professors<\/h2>

Together with Hermans, the family admires the timeline of Jan Tinbergen\u2019s life that adorns the wall on the ground floor. Grandsons Thomas and Jason take turns pushing the wheelchair that their grandfather is sitting in. \u201cI know those professors,\u201d Kwik says when he sees a photo of ESE Emeriti. \u201cI used to have lectures from them. The first one on the left is Wisselink, that is Tinbergen and those are Lambers and Van Esveld,\u201d he says as he points to the photo.<\/p>\n

In 1956, Kwik began his studies at the then Netherlands School of Economics, now the ESE. At that time, the economists were still located in the middle of the city on Pieter de Hoochweg. Kwik shows a photo of himself from a few days ago. \u201cI am standing here in front of the old ESE building\u201d, he says proudly. These days, the building is the home of the Rotterdam Theatre School.<\/p>\n

'Rotterdam angels'<\/h2>

During his studies, Kwik met Edith Johanna de Widt, who at the time was working at the faculty. The young woman from Rotterdam captured his heart and they married not long afterwards. After working in the Netherlands for a few years, the family moved to Indonesia. For many years Kwik worked there as an entrepreneur and founded a number of companies. He also went into politics. In 1999, he became Coordinating Minister for Economic, Financial and Industrial Affairs, and from 2001 to 2004 he was Minister of National Planning.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\tIn Indonesia, you would hear: \u2018The Berkeley Mafia has the government, but the Rotterdam Mafia has the money\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Kwik was not the only EUR alumnus in the government. \u201cEver since the beginning of the Indonesian Republic, there have always been EUR alumni in the cabinet. It started with the first Prime Minister Mohammad Hatta,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were not in the majority, but we did determine the economic direction to some extent. In the corridors, you would then hear: \u2018The Berkeley mafia has the government, but the Rotterdam mafia has the money\u2019,\u201d Kwik laughs. The \u2018Berkeley mafia\u2019 are the Indonesian politicians who had studied at University of California, Berkeley in the United States. The \u2018Rotterdam mafia\u2019 was later known as the \u2018Rotterdam angels\u2019. \u201cJustifiably so, if you ask me\u201d, he adds with pride.<\/p>\n

How has his Dutch education played a role in his career? \u201cMy time studying at EUR has shaped my way of thinking,\u201d he notes. \u201cThe knowledge and wisdom I received during my student years here has proved to be indispensable throughout my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hatta Building<\/h2>
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Family Kwik and Charles Hermans in front of the Hatta building<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichelle Muus<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

It is not the first time that Kwik has paid a visit to the university. When the Hatta building opened in 2013, Kwik asked Hermans during his visit if Mohammad Hatta\u2019s family knew that the building was named after him. Hermans then contacted the Executive Board about this. It turned out that the university had not yet been able to inform the family.<\/p>\n

A year later, ESE professor Wim Lammerts van Bueren presented a framed photo of the Hatta building to the daughters of Hatta on behalf of the Executive Board. \u201cIt is because of you that it came right,\u201d Hermans told Kwik. \u201cOh well, all\u2019s well that ends well, right?\u201d he replies.<\/p>\n

\u2018Our\u2019 university<\/h2>

From the E building, the family walks towards the Pavilion. \u201cOh, now I remember!\u201d says son-in-law Yoe beside the pond. He points to the Tinbergen, Theil and Erasmus buildings. \u201cWhen I was studying here, only those buildings were there. And this pond was a car park where I always parked my car.\u201d Son-in-law Yoe also studied at the EUR. He began in 1987, and during his studies at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) he met Kwik Mu Lan, who was studying at the ESE then. The couple remained in the Netherlands until 2004 when they moved to Indonesia together with their two sons Jason and Thomas.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018In our family, the EUR really feels like \u2018our\u2019 university.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Already at an early age, Jason knew he would follow in his parents\u2019 and grandfather\u2019s footsteps: studying at the EUR. Like his father, he chose the RSM. \u201cAt the ESE, you have more quantitative subjects, while I find the qualitative ones more fascinating,\u201d he states. In August, he finished his studies in International Business Administration and is currently doing an internship with a company in Amsterdam. \u201cWhat will happen next, I don\u2019t know yet. All options are still open.\u201d<\/p>\n

The choice was not so obvious to Thomas. \u201cI had doubts about whether I wanted to study in the Netherlands or in the United States,\u201d says the first-year IBEB student. \u201cFortunately, he came to Rotterdam, after all,\u201d his father jokes. \u201cIn our family, the EUR really feels like \u2018our\u2019 university.\u201d<\/p>\n

RSC member<\/h2>

During the lunch in the Pavilion, Kwik sits next to a window. \u201cIt\u2019s fantastic to be here again,\u201d he says. Due to his health, travelling is no longer a matter of course, only this time, he had to come to the Netherlands for a medical examination at the Erasmus Medical Centre. \u201cI have stomach problems and I am not very mobile anymore,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

He has very fond memories of his study period in Rotterdam. \u201cI didn\u2019t speak a word of Dutch when I arrived, but I decided to join the RSC student association. The association introduced me to Western culture. I had a lot of fun there,\u201d he recollects. \u201cMy doctor said that my liver is not in good shape either. So I told him: that\u2019s probably because of my time at RSC,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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