Sofyan Djalil, 54, is a fast mover. He claimed to have first learnt about mathematics at the age of 31. Throughout his studies before that, he had never dealt with it in great detail, having taught religion in Aceh, where he was born. But he studied it in record time during his masters degree program, in order to qualify for his doctorate at Tufts University, in the United States.

Today, as a cabinet minister in charge of state-owned enterprise