Rome wasn’t built in a day – it is an adage as old as time, and one that Sukanto Tanoto will surely attest to. The chairman of RGE, which manages successful companies such as APRIL, Sateri, Pacific Oil and Gas – all of which he founded – has an empire that while admired, hasn’t come easy.
Clearing a brighter path for tomorrow
Despite having had his education interrupted, Sukanto Tanoto never did let it deter him from success, and learnt English word-for-word using a Chinese-English dictionary as he built his business. As a modern day success story, the strong believer of lifelong learning is now doing his best to ensure no one would have to face the disadvantages he did; his philanthropic efforts via the Tanoto Foundation, are paying off, as the newest batch of Tanoto scholars recently graduated from Yayasan Perguruan(YP) Sultan Iskandar Muda.
YP Sultan Iskandar Muda, which prepares its students to be the teachers of tomorrow, has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with the Tanoto Foundation. The Tanoto Foundation, set up by Sukanto Tanoto and his wife Tinah Bingei Tanoto, aims to enhance, empower, and educate lives – it has provided over 200 scholarships to students of the school to date. Last Saturday, representatives of the Tanoto Foundation were present to witness the next batch of deserving students take the next step in their lives.
The School of Life: Graduating from One School, Entering Another
Dr. Sofyan Tan, founder of YP Sultan Iskandar Muda, was also on hand to watch his young charges graduate. At the graduation ceremony, the founder talked about the purpose of the school – not for profit, but to help provide the disadvantaged with a better chance at succeeding in life. It is a vision much alike Sukanto Tanoto’s, and it’s easy to see why both organisations have enjoyed such a fruitful partnership.
The representative from the Tanoto Foundation, Yanno, said as much; he highlighted the enthusiasm Sukanto Tanoto had to help the less fortunate, and challenged them of the importance of life-long learning. “As long as we have the skills, then we will be envied by the world.” The gauntlet has been thrown; it is now up to these newly-minted graduates to make their mark on the world.