Heritage
Wibawa is a Central Javanese ethnic from the Praja Mangkunegaran in the city of Surakarta, and from his mother’s line, he is a North Sumatera ethnic from the city of Medan. Having the combination of Central Javanese-North Sumatera and being raised in various cities in Indonesia and taking advanced educations overseas have truly shaped Wibawa’s personal values as a Pancasila-based Indonesian who believes in Pancasila as the Indonesian strategic culture and way of life to bring Indonesia as a winning nation at the global level.
Wibawa is the fifth-grade generation descended directly from K.G.P.A.A. Sri Mangkunegara IV and his first queen-wife, K.R.Ay. Sami Soeryomataram Pangeran Haryo Gondokusumo (the granddaughter of K.G.P.A.A. Sri Mangkunegara II) through their son Prince Gondohatmodjo (the Chief of Palace during the reign of K.G.P.A.A. Sri Mangkunegara V). Prince Gondohatmodjo later beget R.Ay.Ng. Soekarti Soeroprenoto II, who beget R.M. Kartosoegondo (R.M. Kartosoedarmo), who beget Wibawa’s father, R.M. Sri Widodo Teguh Rahayu Slamet. Wibawa aspires to continue the legacy that begins in his family, giving back to Indonesia, the nation that has invested in him.
His great grandfather, K.G.P.A.A. Sri Mangkunegara IV (born as R.M. Sudiro and later in his youth as Prince Gondokusumo) was a philosopher-king, writing of no less than 42 books during his lifetime (1809 – 1881) and led the Praja Mangkunegaran to its golden era. As a philosopher in the field of moral philosophy (social science), political ruler, and businessman, he established a solid foundation for the modernization of economic development, state welfare, pluralism, equitable society, and modern political governance in Java island by combining the modern Western arts and sciences (e.g., engineering, technology, mathematics, political sciences, and economics) and Indo-Javanese values. His grand strategy for the development of Java island and Indonesia went hundred years far beyond his lifetime.
His theistic-based books (Serat Wedhatama, Serat Salokatama, and Serat Dharmawasita) reflecting the Judeo-Christian, Islamic, and Eastern values were also among the select references for the Indonesian state ideology, Pancasila, that was later formulated by the Indonesian maestro and first President, Ir. Soekarno. In 1977, his compilation of Javanese songs (Puspawarna) was sent by the NASA-Voyager I and Voyager II spacecraft to the outer space as a part of the Voyager Golden Record (the second song after Johann Sebastian Bach’s Bradenburg Concerto).
This Voyager Golden Record features musical selections from different cultures and eras, spoken greetings in fifty-nine languages, other human sounds, and printed messages from U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. The items were selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Professor and Astronomer Carl Sagan of Cornell University. In 2010, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono posthumously awarded K.G.P.A.A. Sri Mangkunegara IV with a distinguished honorary star from the government of Republic of Indonesia, Bintang Mahaputra Adipradana. K.G.P.A.A. Sri Mangkunegara IV died in 1881 at the age of 72 and was buried at Astana Girilayu, a modern European-style Javanese resting garden area built by himself on Mount Lawu, Central Java.