Ainun Najib:
We are castaways

IN the middle of a tense political situation last July, Ainun Najib, 29, caught the attention of Indonesians inside and outside the country. Based in Singapore, he coordinated 700 volunteers working for Kawal Pemilu, an electoral watchdog organization with members from Australia all the way to Europe. With amazing ease he was able to verify the results of the election through his influential kawalpemilu.org.

Raised among the clerics of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, in Gresik, East Java, Ainun moved to Singapore to continue his studies at Nanyang Technology University. But he never expected kawalpemilu.org to be a determining factor to be reckoned with. "All this is God's will," explained Ainun, when Tempo met him in Singapore two weeks ago. During the interview he was accompanied by many of his colleagues, among them Ruly Achdiat, Felix Halim and Elina Tjiptadi.

December 16, 2014