Four of our lecturers, Pak Akun, Bu Wiwiek, Pak Wishnoe and Pak Irfan joined a public lecture on Quick Count delivered by two distinguished speakers ; Dra. Rosarita Niken Widiastuti, M.Si., the Managing Director of RRI and Prof. Dr. Hamdi Muluk from University of Indonesia.

the speakers and Prof . Arif of DRM
the speakers and Prof . Arif of DRM

Initiated by the DRM, Binus Doctorate Program, the committee invited Binus university lecturers to get better understanding of the buzz phrase in a program called : Power Lecture Series. On the opportunity, both speakers talked about Quick Count from the perspectives of reliability, integrity and professionalism.

Bu Wiek and Pak Akun among other attendees
Bu Wiek and Pak Akun among other attendees

The first speaker, Prof. Hamdi Muluk, explained about the philosophy, the history and the technical aspects of Quick Count. In his description of the process, Prof. Hamdi urges the significance of retaining Quick Count not only as a fast method of collecting information but as an academic , scientific, and reliable way of getting accurate – quantitative information. In the end of his lecture, he quoted a very strong line “Do Not Terminate Quick Count!”. The statement emerged from the many questions , critiques and accusations that the counting method to be unreliable and not credible.

The second speaker, Dra. Rosarita Niken Widiastuti, M.Si., then told us the story of how she and her RRI team conducted Quick Count for the last elections. She openly talked about the initiative, RRI appointment by  The Election Commission ( KPU), and the unpleasant reactions she received after the quick count result was announced. ” The reaction toward me and RRI was just unbelievable. Some people accused us of practicing illegal task. Some even demanded that RRI to be closed!”, shared Ibu Niken. ” Luckily, despite some protests, I have also had some strong supports from people who believe in RRI and what we do,” added Niken. The second speaker ended her lecture with the RRI famous tagline: Sekali di udara, tetap diudara .

A token of appreciation handed by Prof. Gerald
A token of appreciation handed by Prof. Gerald

For the four of us, the lectures were the main reasons we came. We were intrigued in finding out the stories behind the national furore of quick count. And the lectures gave us just that.

We thank the Doctorate Program for the invitation.