Chinese
descendants in Indonesia had unpleasant past. Many of them experienced racial
discrimination under the regime of the second president, Soeharto. The same
thing happened to Sukanto Tanoto, a
successful entrepreneur from Medan, North Sumatra, and one of the richest
Indonesians according to Forbes. He was able to overcome difficulties caused by
racial discrimination and he emerged as one of leading figures in business.
The Rise after Racial Incident
Sukanto
Tanoto’s first encounter with racial incident in Indonesia happened in 1966,
when the Chinese school where he studied at was closed by President Soeharto
due to his anti communism sentiment that made him abolish everything related to
China, including Chinese public schools. At that time, he had not even gotten
any chance to learn Indonesian and English languages formally. At the tender
age of 17 years old, Sukanto had to stop his education and started earning
income.
Like
many Chinese people in Medan, Sukanto first worked as a common trader, but then
had his own oil pipeline contractor company. His second business started to
gain success when oil crisis happened in 1972, as he suddenly got a lot of
orders from oil companies. However, his true success happened when he opened
his third business, Inti Indorayon Utama, in which he built the first pulp mill
to enter potential business of pulp export.
Now,
he is the leader of two giant company groups, Raja Garuda Mas International and
Asia Pacific Resources International. He was even able to be listed as Carnegie
Mellon Highlands Circle, thanks to his generous regular donation to the
university.
Secret of Success
Since
he was abruptly cut off of his formal education, Sukanto Tanoto always keeps
his passion for learning for a long time. After acquiring enough money, he was
finally able to study at a university in INSEAD Jakarta, before continuing to a
business school in France. He often goes to international management courses at
leading international universities. Sukanto Tanoto believes that unending
passion to learn is one of his keys of success, and he will never stop
learning.
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