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Tuesday, Mar 17, 2015
Leong Weng Kam
The Straits Times
Indonesian billionaire and philanthropist Tahir, who goes by a single name which means "virtuous, pure and chaste" in Arabic, makes it a point to pick up the Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao whenever he is in Singapore.
Not for the paper's racy stories about crime and sex, but to look out for tales of woe about poor families affected by suicides, accidents, illnesses or cheating cases. They offer him leads to performing acts of charity.
"Just the other day, I read about a poor widow whose welder husband died after a stroke, leaving behind four children. After a few years, she was left with only $28 in her bank account," he tells The Sunday Times at his Singapore home, a seaside bungalow in Sentosa Cove.
"How can I not respond to such a cry for help?"
A devout Christian and a Singapore permanent resident, he is known in the Chinese community here and in Indonesia by his Chinese name, Weng Junming, and has been doing acts of kindness for years anonymously, mostly unnoticed.
The 62-year-old chairman and chief executive of Indonesia's Mayapada group usually offers assistance to those in need through the Church of God Singapore, the Alexandra Road church he attends and supports.
Speaking fluently in English and Mandarin during an hour-long interview, he says he does the same thing back home in Indonesia, where his thriving multibillion-dollar conglomerate is based.
It includes the Mayapada Bank with nearly 200 branches across the archipelago, two 300-bed modern hospitals in Jakarta, a chain of duty-free shops and a hotel in Bali, as well as other business interests in insurance, newspaper and magazine publication and real estate investment.
About a decade ago, he set up the philanthropic Tahir Foundation, supported by his business empire, to serve the less fortunate in Indonesia, South-east Asia and beyond in a bigger way, especially in healthcare and education.
"I always believe that health and education are the two most important areas for the needy," says Mr Tahir.
Over the past 10 years, he has donated millions to universities at home and abroad, including in Singapore.
To date he has pledged a total of $33 million to the National University of Singapore (NUS), including $30 million to the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine; and last year, he committed $2 million for two Singapore Management University scholarship funds, one to help its Indonesian students and the other for Singaporeans.
He is the immediate past president of the Indonesian Table Tennis Association and also set up a million-dollar trust fund at the Singapore Table Tennis Association to help Singapore-born national players pay for their tertiary education.
But his largest single donation so far is the US$100 million (S$138 million) he put into a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve the lives of the world's poorest by eradicating diseases such as polio.
He says three-quarters of their combined US$200 million global fund would go to healthcare for Indonesians, including family planning education for women.
The partnership signing ceremony was held in Abu Dhabi two years ago, and he recalls the Indonesian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates saying to him at the time: "Mr Tahir, your wealth has been reduced by US$100 million now, how do you feel?"
He says he replied: "I feel so grateful, so joyful and overwhelmed because God has given me so many blessings that I can have the opportunity to give back to my country."
He adds that he has often told Indonesian officials that he will not hesitate to part with half his wealth if it goes to the poor in his country.
His foundation is always on the lookout for worthy causes. Since the beginning of last year, it has put in place a scheme through which Indonesian cancer patients below the age of 12 receive free treatment at any hospital. So far, more than 20 children have benefited.
His two Mayapada hospitals in Jakarta, one opened in 2008 and the other in 2013, provide free heart surgery to the needy.
Now, his foundation is looking at ways to give women from the provinces skills that will help them avoid being maids overseas. It wants to train women to be nurses, and receive language and skills training that will lead them to better jobs.
Mr Tahir has also become active on the philanthropy scene in Singapore, which he considers his second home, and is well-known among top political, business and community leaders for his generosity to various causes.
He was born in Surabaya, one of three children of a pedicab maker. His mother, a housewife, helped out in the family business by painting the pedicabs her husband assembled. They lived in a rented house shared with two other families.
He became a Christian at 14. Growing up, he dreamed of becoming a doctor or pastor. But he became a trader instead in the 1970s after finishing high school.
"With a few hundred dollars, I would make frequent trips to Singapore to buy women's clothes, children's toys and bicycles, and sell them for a profit back home," he says.
The enterprise did not do well. After two years, he enrolled at the Chinese-medium Nanyang University, the now-defunct Nantah, and graduated four years later with a degree in commerce.
A turning point came when he got married while in his second year at university. His bride, Rosy, was a year younger than him and the daughter of Indonesian tycoon Mochtar Riady, founder of the Lippo Group.
The couple had met through an arrangement between their parents who knew one another through a common relative.
Their first child, a daughter, arrived soon after, and Mr Tahir recalls flying back to Surabaya almost every weekend to see his wife and child.
"I have a perfect wife who is not only beautiful but also virtuous, and she has supported me all my life. For that, I must thank Nantah, because the Riady family found me eligible mainly because I was an undergraduate at Nantah," he says, adding that they considered the university to be a top tertiary institution at the time.
Although he married into a wealthy family with business interests ranging from banking, property and retail to information technology, natural resources and healthcare, he remembers that one of the first things his father-in-law told him was that there would be no job waiting for him.
Mr Riady did not believe in providing a job for his daughter's husband.
Mr Tahir says that only spurred him on to succeed on his own.
"I never took a single cent or any favour from him, but I must say that I wouldn't be who I am if I was not his son-in-law, for that relationship alone was good enough to help me open doors," he says.
He went straight into business after completing university, importing fruit from Japan and Taiwan, and later, porcelain ware from China to Indonesia.
He moved into the automobile industry in the early 1980s, becoming an agent selling Suzuki cars, but he went bust in 1989, owing millions to banks.
He had to rebuild his business and, a year later, he seized an opportunity to break into garment manufacturing, reaping good profits from export quotas he received from the government.
"In five years, I was able to clear all my debts and return all the money I owed the banks," he says.
His business empire has flourished since and his four children - three daughters and a son - work in the Mayapada Group. His son, Jonathan, 28, assists him as his deputy.
With an estimated net worth of US$2.1 billion according to Forbes, Mr Tahir is today one of Indonesia's richest men, ranked close behind his father-in-law, Mr Riady, who is said to be worth US$2.7 billion.
Asked about his views on wealth and the super-rich, Mr Tahir says he dislikes most rich people because "they are generally arrogant, bully others and think they are the elite".
He says people should pursue wealth as a means to do some good for the community or mankind, not as an end in itself.
"The biggest and the most glorious objective in life is to be a blessing to others, creating their happiness," he declares.
Then he adds: "One is truly rich only when one has a strong faith in God, good relations with one's family, a fulfilling career and an active and successful social life."
He is still pursuing richness in all four areas, he says.
"Otherwise, like the Taiwanese say, you are so poor that money is all that you have."
TYCOON'S WISH: NO INDONESIAN MAIDS
If billionaire Tahir had his way, there would be no Indonesian women working overseas as maids.
He told The Sunday Times that he has heard enough stories of the women being abused, beaten and even raped while working overseas, including in the Middle East and Singapore.
There are about 125,000 Indonesian maids in Singapore alone, based on Indonesian Embassy estimates.
Last month, Indonesian President Joko Widodo also expressed his wish to stop Indonesian women from working overseas as maids.
Mr Tahir said the solution is not to stop women from going overseas to work, but to train them for better jobs.
He has worked out a plan with the governors of the five main provinces in Java, where most maids come from, to provide women with training in languages, such as English and Japanese, nursing and other skills.
"I told the governors: They provide the space and buildings as training centres, and I will be responsible for the teachers, training programmes, and food and lodging for the women," he said.
"I want Indonesian women to be able to work as nurses or sales persons abroad and not as maids only."
NANYANG UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS
The eldest child of a pedicab assembler, Mr Tahir was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, in 1952. He has two younger sisters.
After completing high school, he came to Singapore to further his studies and graduated from the former Nanyang University with a degree in commerce in 1976.
He is married to Ms Rosy Riady, daughter of Lippo Group founder Mochtar Riady, and they have three daughters, Jane, Grace and Victoria, and a son, Jonathan, whose ages are between late 20s and early 40s.
Mr Tahir founded the Mayapada Group in 1986. Based in Jakarta, it owns a bank with nearly 200 branches, two hospitals, the Duty Free chain of shops and a hotel in Bali. It also has real estate investments in Indonesia and Singapore.
[email protected]
Leong Weng Kam
The Straits Times
Indonesian billionaire and philanthropist Tahir, who goes by a single name which means "virtuous, pure and chaste" in Arabic, makes it a point to pick up the Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao whenever he is in Singapore.
Not for the paper's racy stories about crime and sex, but to look out for tales of woe about poor families affected by suicides, accidents, illnesses or cheating cases. They offer him leads to performing acts of charity.
"Just the other day, I read about a poor widow whose welder husband died after a stroke, leaving behind four children. After a few years, she was left with only $28 in her bank account," he tells The Sunday Times at his Singapore home, a seaside bungalow in Sentosa Cove.
"How can I not respond to such a cry for help?"
A devout Christian and a Singapore permanent resident, he is known in the Chinese community here and in Indonesia by his Chinese name, Weng Junming, and has been doing acts of kindness for years anonymously, mostly unnoticed.
The 62-year-old chairman and chief executive of Indonesia's Mayapada group usually offers assistance to those in need through the Church of God Singapore, the Alexandra Road church he attends and supports.
Speaking fluently in English and Mandarin during an hour-long interview, he says he does the same thing back home in Indonesia, where his thriving multibillion-dollar conglomerate is based.
It includes the Mayapada Bank with nearly 200 branches across the archipelago, two 300-bed modern hospitals in Jakarta, a chain of duty-free shops and a hotel in Bali, as well as other business interests in insurance, newspaper and magazine publication and real estate investment.
About a decade ago, he set up the philanthropic Tahir Foundation, supported by his business empire, to serve the less fortunate in Indonesia, South-east Asia and beyond in a bigger way, especially in healthcare and education.
"I always believe that health and education are the two most important areas for the needy," says Mr Tahir.
Over the past 10 years, he has donated millions to universities at home and abroad, including in Singapore.
To date he has pledged a total of $33 million to the National University of Singapore (NUS), including $30 million to the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine; and last year, he committed $2 million for two Singapore Management University scholarship funds, one to help its Indonesian students and the other for Singaporeans.
He is the immediate past president of the Indonesian Table Tennis Association and also set up a million-dollar trust fund at the Singapore Table Tennis Association to help Singapore-born national players pay for their tertiary education.
But his largest single donation so far is the US$100 million (S$138 million) he put into a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve the lives of the world's poorest by eradicating diseases such as polio.
He says three-quarters of their combined US$200 million global fund would go to healthcare for Indonesians, including family planning education for women.
The partnership signing ceremony was held in Abu Dhabi two years ago, and he recalls the Indonesian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates saying to him at the time: "Mr Tahir, your wealth has been reduced by US$100 million now, how do you feel?"
He says he replied: "I feel so grateful, so joyful and overwhelmed because God has given me so many blessings that I can have the opportunity to give back to my country."
He adds that he has often told Indonesian officials that he will not hesitate to part with half his wealth if it goes to the poor in his country.
His foundation is always on the lookout for worthy causes. Since the beginning of last year, it has put in place a scheme through which Indonesian cancer patients below the age of 12 receive free treatment at any hospital. So far, more than 20 children have benefited.
His two Mayapada hospitals in Jakarta, one opened in 2008 and the other in 2013, provide free heart surgery to the needy.
Now, his foundation is looking at ways to give women from the provinces skills that will help them avoid being maids overseas. It wants to train women to be nurses, and receive language and skills training that will lead them to better jobs.
Mr Tahir has also become active on the philanthropy scene in Singapore, which he considers his second home, and is well-known among top political, business and community leaders for his generosity to various causes.
He was born in Surabaya, one of three children of a pedicab maker. His mother, a housewife, helped out in the family business by painting the pedicabs her husband assembled. They lived in a rented house shared with two other families.
He became a Christian at 14. Growing up, he dreamed of becoming a doctor or pastor. But he became a trader instead in the 1970s after finishing high school.
"With a few hundred dollars, I would make frequent trips to Singapore to buy women's clothes, children's toys and bicycles, and sell them for a profit back home," he says.
The enterprise did not do well. After two years, he enrolled at the Chinese-medium Nanyang University, the now-defunct Nantah, and graduated four years later with a degree in commerce.
A turning point came when he got married while in his second year at university. His bride, Rosy, was a year younger than him and the daughter of Indonesian tycoon Mochtar Riady, founder of the Lippo Group.
The couple had met through an arrangement between their parents who knew one another through a common relative.
Their first child, a daughter, arrived soon after, and Mr Tahir recalls flying back to Surabaya almost every weekend to see his wife and child.
"I have a perfect wife who is not only beautiful but also virtuous, and she has supported me all my life. For that, I must thank Nantah, because the Riady family found me eligible mainly because I was an undergraduate at Nantah," he says, adding that they considered the university to be a top tertiary institution at the time.
Although he married into a wealthy family with business interests ranging from banking, property and retail to information technology, natural resources and healthcare, he remembers that one of the first things his father-in-law told him was that there would be no job waiting for him.
Mr Riady did not believe in providing a job for his daughter's husband.
Mr Tahir says that only spurred him on to succeed on his own.
"I never took a single cent or any favour from him, but I must say that I wouldn't be who I am if I was not his son-in-law, for that relationship alone was good enough to help me open doors," he says.
He went straight into business after completing university, importing fruit from Japan and Taiwan, and later, porcelain ware from China to Indonesia.
He moved into the automobile industry in the early 1980s, becoming an agent selling Suzuki cars, but he went bust in 1989, owing millions to banks.
He had to rebuild his business and, a year later, he seized an opportunity to break into garment manufacturing, reaping good profits from export quotas he received from the government.
"In five years, I was able to clear all my debts and return all the money I owed the banks," he says.
His business empire has flourished since and his four children - three daughters and a son - work in the Mayapada Group. His son, Jonathan, 28, assists him as his deputy.
With an estimated net worth of US$2.1 billion according to Forbes, Mr Tahir is today one of Indonesia's richest men, ranked close behind his father-in-law, Mr Riady, who is said to be worth US$2.7 billion.
Asked about his views on wealth and the super-rich, Mr Tahir says he dislikes most rich people because "they are generally arrogant, bully others and think they are the elite".
He says people should pursue wealth as a means to do some good for the community or mankind, not as an end in itself.
"The biggest and the most glorious objective in life is to be a blessing to others, creating their happiness," he declares.
Then he adds: "One is truly rich only when one has a strong faith in God, good relations with one's family, a fulfilling career and an active and successful social life."
He is still pursuing richness in all four areas, he says.
"Otherwise, like the Taiwanese say, you are so poor that money is all that you have."
TYCOON'S WISH: NO INDONESIAN MAIDS
If billionaire Tahir had his way, there would be no Indonesian women working overseas as maids.
He told The Sunday Times that he has heard enough stories of the women being abused, beaten and even raped while working overseas, including in the Middle East and Singapore.
There are about 125,000 Indonesian maids in Singapore alone, based on Indonesian Embassy estimates.
Last month, Indonesian President Joko Widodo also expressed his wish to stop Indonesian women from working overseas as maids.
Mr Tahir said the solution is not to stop women from going overseas to work, but to train them for better jobs.
He has worked out a plan with the governors of the five main provinces in Java, where most maids come from, to provide women with training in languages, such as English and Japanese, nursing and other skills.
"I told the governors: They provide the space and buildings as training centres, and I will be responsible for the teachers, training programmes, and food and lodging for the women," he said.
"I want Indonesian women to be able to work as nurses or sales persons abroad and not as maids only."
NANYANG UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS
The eldest child of a pedicab assembler, Mr Tahir was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, in 1952. He has two younger sisters.
After completing high school, he came to Singapore to further his studies and graduated from the former Nanyang University with a degree in commerce in 1976.
He is married to Ms Rosy Riady, daughter of Lippo Group founder Mochtar Riady, and they have three daughters, Jane, Grace and Victoria, and a son, Jonathan, whose ages are between late 20s and early 40s.
Mr Tahir founded the Mayapada Group in 1986. Based in Jakarta, it owns a bank with nearly 200 branches, two hospitals, the Duty Free chain of shops and a hotel in Bali. It also has real estate investments in Indonesia and Singapore.
[email protected]
