‘He Was A Natural Leader’: S’pore Professors Remember Commander of Sunken Indonesian Submarine

The Straits Times Online

25 April 2021

The commander of the sunken Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala-402 had completed a master’s programme at RSIS. Professors who taught Lieutenant Colonel Heri Oktavian, 42, during his time in Singapore described him as a natural leader and a thorough military man. Col Oktavian was a postgraduate student of strategic studies at RSIS for the 2014-2015 academic year, along with a few of his peers from the Indonesian armed forces. Dr Anit Mukherjee, Associate Professor and deputy head of graduate studies at RSIS, shared how he first met Col Oktavian out on the football field as opposed to the classroom. Both men participated in a staff and students soccer initiative at the institution, where Dr Mukherjee recalled Col Oktavian was “the heart and soul of his team”. Dr Bernard Loo, Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Master of Science (Strategic Studies) programme at RSIS, said it was Col Oktavian’s attire that set him apart from other students in the class. “No matter their background, students would usually come in relaxed, casual clothes, whether it be T-shirts or bermuda shorts, but Heri would always come dressed in a pair of smart slacks and freshly pressed shirt with leather shoes. Although as faculty members, we insisted the students could address us by our first names, he would always call us ‘Sir’ or the Indonesian equivalent of ‘Pak’,” Dr Loo said.

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