Family and education

Abdul Halim was born On December 27, 1911, in Bukittinggi

Bukittinggi

Bukittinggi is one of the larger cities in West Sumatra, Indonesia, with a population of over 91,000 people and an area of 25.24 km². It is situated in the Minangkabau highlands, 90 km by road from the West Sumatran capital city of Padang. It is located at , near the volcanoes Mount...

, West Sumatra

West Sumatra

West Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It lies on the west coast of the island Sumatra. It borders the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. It includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast...

, to Achmad St. Mangkuto and Hj. Darama. At the age of 7, Abdullah, his mother's cousin, who at that time was one of the leaders of Bataafsche Petroleum Maatscappij (BPM - now known as Pertamina

Pertamina

Pertamina is an Indonesian government-owned corporation which extracts and refines the country's oil and gas reserves. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin and Permina...

) took him to Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

 in order to obtain a better education. Halim attended HIS, MULO, AMS B and Geneeskundige Hoge School (Medical School) in Jakarta.

Career

Abdul Halim was involved in various activities, from the politics to education to sports. He was the fourth Prime Minister of the Republic of Indonesia during the period January 1950 - September 1950. He was also the first Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia (September 1950 in the Natsir

Muhammad Natsir

Mohammad Natsir was a Islamic scholar and politician. He was Indonesia's fifth prime minister.After moving to Bandung from his hometown Solok, West Sumatra for senior high school, Natsir studied Islamic doctrine extensively. His first articles were published in 1929, and during the 1930s he wrote...

 cabinet).
Halim also made a contribution in the establishment of the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia

Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia

The Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia , was established by Indonesian Republicans after the Netherlands occupied Yogyakarta in Central Java the location of the temporary Republican capital...

 (PDRI) in Central Sumatra, together with Johannes Leimena

Johannes Leimena

Dr. Johannes Leimena was Deputy Prime Minister of Indonesia from 1957 - 1966 and served as Minister of Health under President Sukarno from 1946 - 1956. A Christian, he founded the Indonesian Christian Party in 1950...

 and Muhammad Natsir

Muhammad Natsir

Mohammad Natsir was a Islamic scholar and politician. He was Indonesia's fifth prime minister.After moving to Bandung from his hometown Solok, West Sumatra for senior high school, Natsir studied Islamic doctrine extensively. His first articles were published in 1929, and during the 1930s he wrote...

.
As a doctor, Abdul Halim was the Director of RSUP (now Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, or RSCM) from July 1951 until July 1961, and worked as Inspector General until his death on 4 July 1987.

Away from politics, Halim, who had a hobby playing football, was involved in the formation of the Voetbalbond Indonesische Jakarta team(now Persija) in 1927, and was the Chairman of Persija for several years. From 1951-1955 he was Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the Olympic Committee of Indonesia(KOI). Halim was appointed Chairman of the National IKADA Foundation to build the Ikada Stadium

Ikada Stadium

Ikada Stadium was a multi-use stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was initially used as the stadium of Indonesia national football team matches as well as the 1951 Indonesian National Games. It was replaced by Bung Karno Stadium in 1962. The capacity of the stadium was 30,000 spectators.-External...

 Merdeka Field, Central Jakarta. In 1952 he led the first Indonesian contingent to participate in the Olympics

1952 Summer Olympics

The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...

.