Malaysia'S 50 Richest: Indonesia'S Emerging World-Class Brands

MALAYSIA’S 50 RICHEST
MAY 2017 • VOLUME 8 ISSUE 5
WWW.FORBESINDONESIA.COM
INDONESIA’S EMERGING
WORLD-CLASS BRANDS
RP 50,000
2017
MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 1
Contents MAY 2017
8 | FACT & COMMENT // Steve Forbes

Don’t let the Fed be another Obamacare
12 | UPDATE
Fitness giant created and
Chairul Tanjung launches Trans Park Cibubur
ISSUES & IDEAS RISING GLOBAL STARS

14 | ROOTING FOR TRUMP 34 | D’EYEKO
Wayne Root is looking to capitalize on an early, and big, D’Eyeko is a brand created in 2010 by Audrie
support of Trump. Sukoco and Yohanes Ferry to make premium
BY JUSTIN DOEBELE fake eyelashes under their own brand.
BY SHINTYA FELICITAS
16 | GUEST COLUMN // James Kallman & Derren Joseph
Marching to a different beat 26 | DUA KELINCI
Dua Kelinci aims to become even bigger in
17 | GLOBAL VIEWPOINT // Jennie M. Xue exporting its brand.
How indonesia can excel at reverse outsourcing BY ARDIAN WIBISONO
40 | NILUH DJELANTIK
Niluh Djelantik crafts premium shoes one pair
at a time for a global market.
BY ANTON MUHAJIR
42 | RINALDY YUNARDI
Rinaldy Yunardi has become a global brand in
designer accessories.
BY ULISARI ESLITA
46 | WARISAN
Warisan has developed a profitable niche in
exporting furniture for hotels.
BY ANTON MUHAJIR
48 | ZEN ROOMS
Zen Rooms offers cheap hotel rooms, first in
Indonesia, and now Asia and beyond.
BY AASTHA SABOO
50 | SPECIAL COLUMN // Wempy Dyocta

The only way up is out
2 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

Contents MAY 2017
54 | OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
Falling currency? Political turmoil? Most tycoons
power ahead.
57 | FLYING HIGHER
58 | SELLING ISKANDAR
To drum up business, home builders try a novel
approach: hosting arts events and concerts.
BY CHEN MAY YEE
60 | TIAH THEE KIAN’S FAMILY BUILDS A

TRUMP TOWER
COMPANIES & PEOPLE

62 | HEAD IN THE CLOUD
18
Maverick Shih didn’t think he’d work at Acer, the
company his father started. Now he’s helping reshape
the personal computer giant.
BY RALPH JENNINGS
36 | HONDA OPENS ITS DOORS

The famously independent Japanese carmaker is
finally admitting it can’t invent the future single-
handedly. Will Silicon Valley lend a hand?
BY ALAN OHNSMAN
ENTREPRENEURS FORBES LIFE

68 | HOW TO CHEAT DEATH
18 | COLORS OF SUCCESS
Craig Venter, the man who mapped the human
Rahul Bhatnagar is building Asian Paints’ presence in genome, is back with a $25,000 physical he hopes can
Indonesia. extend your life—and make him a billionaire
BY AASTHA SABOO BY MATTHEW HERPER
20 | GREEN GAS 74 | SWEET SUCCESS

A revolutionary $150 million power plant promises to Toby Garritt has grown Pod into a creator of some of
capture all its polluting carbon—and produce electricity at Indonesia’s best chocolate.
the same low cost as a dirty facility. BY EDEN GILLESPIE
BY CHRISTOPHER HELMAN
76 | THE EYE
22 | BEING ACCOUNTABLE
ICAEW’s Hilary Lindsay would like to help Indonesia
improve its accountancy profession
BY JUSTIN DOEBELE
23 | PROPERTY STRATEGIES // Todd Lauchlan

Indonesia attracting international logistics investments
24 | YOUR NEXT ASSISTANT: A CYBORG

Maran Nelson’s Clara Labs is building sentient automated
assistants to save Silicon Valley, and the world, from the
tyranny of email.
BY CLARE O’CONNOR
26 | INVESTEMENT IDEAS // Teguh Hidayat

Time to buy bank stocks
27 | MONEY & MARKETS // Rainer Michael Preiss

The rise of Ether
74
SIDELINES
Rising and Global

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
CHIEF EDITORIAL ADVISOR Justin Doebele
EDITOR-AT-LARGE Taufik Darusman
SENIOR EDITORS Ardian Wibisono,
Ulisari Eslita, Yessar Rosendar BY JUSTIN DOEBELE
WRITER Shintya Felicitas justin@forbesindonesia.com
SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Hidayat Abubakar
W
JUNIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Meyta A. Safitri
PHOTO EDITOR Ahmad Zamroni
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Indri Kristina elcome to one of the most popular annual issues of the year, the
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Aastha Saboo, 2017 edition of the Rising Global Stars of Indonesia. This list of
Jeffrey Hutton, Miri Hwang, Putri Kadarmanto 20 emerging world-class brands is meant to demonstrate that
INTERN Cassia Tandiono
Indonesia can become a creator of globally competitive goods and services
BUSINESS DEPARTMENT and a—home for companies which are on par in quality with the best from
PUBLISHER Jusuf Wanandi anywhere else in the globe.
DIRECTOR SALES & MARKETING Tanti Jumiati What is fascinating about this list, now in its fourth year, is the broad
SENIOR SALES & EVENTS MANAGER Rafki Ismael
range of companies that qualify for inclusion. They range from tobacco firm
SENIOR EXECUTIVE Ryan Wiranata
ASST. MANAGER EVENTS & COMMUNICATIONS Djarum, a large well-established firm, to the boutique designer Rinaldy
Rio Zikrizal Yunardi. The list is agnostic on whether the firms are started or owned by
MARKETING SUPPORT Gracia locals or expatriates—it is a good sign if non-Indonesians consider the coun-
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Seli Widiati
try as an ideal place to be an entrepreneur and start a business. In many
CIRCULATION MANAGER Habibie Hasanuddin
CIRCULATION EXECUTIVE Dahlia Komala Sari
cases, they could potentially have chosen a different locale.
PRODUCTION MANAGER Mudafid Riyanto To be sure, some products are also commodities, such as coconut milk.
ACCOUNTING MANAGER Indrawati Sonjaya Yet that is the genius of being a good brand: the company behind Kara has
ACCOUNTING SUPERVISOR Inge Stephanie learned to package and market coconut-based products through a respect-
ACCOUNTING EXECUTIVES Tjhin Anna
ACCOUNTING STAFF Aldina Anggraini
ed brand. The process is similar to how Starbucks transformed an ordinary
cup of coffee into a branded “affordable daily luxury” item, for which it can
PT WAHANA MEDIATAMA fetch a premium price.
PRESIDENT DIRECTOR Millie Stephanie One finds this in many markets, companies that are able to produce a
VICE PRESIDENT DIRECTOR Dewi Victoria
relatively high quality good or service, that could command a higher price,
PRESIDENT COMMISSIONER Jonathan Tahir
VICE PRESIDENT COMMISSIONER Maria Lukito if only the company could wrap it inside a memorable brand. To put it an-
other way, the iPhone’s technology and software are not that different from
FORBES MEDIA LLC the tech and software in many other phones. Apple’s magic has been to cre-
CHAIRMAN & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Steve Forbes
ate an amazing brand identity to support its products, pioneered by the late
PRESIDENT & CEO Mike Perlis
CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER Lewis D’Vorkin
Steve Jobs, a true wizard of marketing.
CEO / ASIA William Adamopoulos The lessons of these Rising Global Stars has local as well as global signifi-
EDITOR, FORBES ASIA Tim Ferguson cance. The domestic market is rapidly maturing, and driving local brands to
raise the level of their overall game. Consumers are exposed to a wide range
MAY 2017 — VOLUME 8 NUMBER 5
of local and international brands, and the Internet allows for instant and deep
comparative global research into any item or service. Therefore, local consum-
FORBES INDONESIA is published by PT Wahana Mediatama under ers can quickly determine the true value of a brand against its global peers—if it
a license agreement with Forbes LLC, 60 Fifth Avenue, New York,
New York 10011. “FORBES” is a trademark used under license from
doesn’t deliver on its promises, on a world-class level, then it may be shunned.
FORBES LLC. ©2010 PT Wahana Mediatama • ©2010 FORBES LLC,
as to material published in the U.S. Edition of FORBES. All Rights
So local brands may need to become more global, one way or the other.
Reserved. ©2009 FORBES LLC, as to material published in the edition Finally, this issue would not be complete without its counterpart event.
of FORBES ASIA. All Rights Reserved.
FORBES INDONESIA is published monthly, 12 times per year. For those on the list, Forbes Indonesia plans an annual dinner and awards
Copying for other than personal use or internal reference or of articles
or columns not owned by FORBES INDONESIA without written event to celebrate the success of the Rising Global Stars. It’s a great way to
bring to life the stories found on these pages. F
permission of FORBES INDONESIA is expressly prohibited.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Forbes Indonesia: Menara Sudirman 19th Floor, Suite 19D,
Jl. Jendral Sudirman Kav. 60, Jakarta 12190. Tel: (021) 522 6828,
Fax: (021) 522 7208. Website: www.forbesindonesia.com
: Forbes Indonesia Magazine : @forbes_id : forbesindonesia CORRECTIONS FOR APRIL ISSUE:
Subscriber Enquiries: Please contact Circulation Division. Email: Page 18: The word “Institutional” was misspelled in the top graph. The first two lines of the column were
circulation@forbesindonesia.com. Or visit www.forbesindonesia.com
to subscribe or advertise. Single copy price Rp 50,000, local meant to be a callout quote, and not the start of the column. The column should actually start with the
subscription rate Rp 480,000 + postal fee (Jadetabek) for 12 issues. phrase, “In their recent book….” The editors apologize for these mistakes.

FACT & COMMENT
“With all thy getting, get understanding”
DON’T LET THE FED

BE ANOTHER OBAMACARE
BY STEVE FORBES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
NOTED ECONOMIC GURU and ticularly pension funds and insurers) and
Forbes columnist David Malpass is go- the destructive way our central bank ac-
ing to the U.S. Treasury Department as tually finances its bloated portfolio, were
undersecretary for international affairs, a all on target. The Fed made possible the
critical post at a time of unsettling uncer- massive financial engineering in which
tainty around the world regarding mon- corporate America indulged. Companies
etary and trade policies. Malpass couldn’t would borrow money at give-away prices,
be a better pick for two big reasons. boosting their stock prices by buying
Most crucially, he understands mon- back their own shares, paying for higher
ey and central banking better than just dividends and engaging in mergers and
about anyone else around these days. acquisitions. Meanwhile, productive cap-
Under U.S. law, it’s the Treasury Depart- ital spending stagnated.
ment, not the Federal Reserve, that sets Malpass recognizes the pernicious
policy for the dollar. This fact, plus Malpass’ knowledge impact of an unstable dollar. When the greenback is
of the Fed, could be critical in preventing bad monetary weak or strong, it’s like a watch that is running either too
policy from further harming our economy. fast or too slow—neither is helpful. Money is not wealth;
Malpass’ analyses of the destructive and misbegotten rather, it measures value. It makes buying and selling
policies of the Federal Reserve over the past decade have infinitely easier. It facilitates investing, without which
been acutely insightful. He quickly grasped that instead of we stagnate. Currency manipulation is a highway to no-
easing monetary policy, the Fed, in combination with the where. Just ask Brazil and Argentina.
overregulation of the banks, was inadvertently tightening The second important reason for the wisdom in
credit availability for small and new businesses and house- President Trump’s inspired choice is David Malpass’
holds, while directing very low-cost credit to the govern- extensive government experience under Presidents Ron-
ment and larger corporations. New business formation— ald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He will be no naïf as
critical to job creation and innovation—withered. Malpass’ he battles to get proper policies in place, policies that
searing criticisms of other Fed blunders, such as creating will be in stark contrast to the bad ones that have pock-
a shortage of long-term bonds for the private sector (par- marked our economy during this century.
Indispensable Book About Indispensable Man

George Washington: The Wonder of the Age—by aimed at nothing less than the transformation of West-
John Rhode-hamel (Yale University Press, $32.50)—is a ern civilization. . . . When Washington died, in 1799, the
masterpiece, a concise, fluidly written and well-ground- eighteenth century was coming to a close, while the age
ed biography. Rhodehamel, who edited two highly of hereditary power, the very notion of government-by-
acclaimed books for the renowned Library of Ameri- birth, had been started down the road to extinction. And
ca series of great American writers (one, naturally, of the United States of America, overleaping its small be-
Washington’s writings and the other of writings from ginnings on the margins of European civilization, would
the American Revolution), has executed an accurate and one day thrust itself into the forefront of world history.
revealing portrait of a man who, more than any other, The little republic would become a gigantic continental
made possible the creation and subsequent success of democracy—a nation unlike any that had come before. . .
the United States. Indeed, Washington emerges as one . American success marked a fundamental turning point
of a handful of giants in human history. in human affairs.”
“George Washington was a revolutionary, for a quar- The radical nature of what Washington vigor-
ter-century the central figure in a radical revolution that ously sought and wrought is obscured by his image as

Specifications in this press may differ from the actual product for the Indonesian market.
Powered by Intelligence.
The new E-Class.
Sit back and relax. Drive in the luxurious E-Class stunning interior with Widescreen Cockpit
and 64 colors ambient lighting. Explore our cutting-edge technology of Touch Control Button,
Wireless Charging, 9G-TRONIC Transmission and Parking Pilot with 360˚ camera which
will redefine your driving experience. Launching price is available for limited time only.
Contact your nearest Authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer or visit www.mercedes-benz.co.id

FACT & COMMENT STEVE FORBES
a remote leader, heroically astride a army, supplemented by thousands of as Jefferson and James Madison, he
horse, a marble figurehead who in hardened and brutally disciplined Hes- backed our first Treasury secretary, Al-
later life wore wooden teeth. He was sian mercenaries. exander Hamilton, in his bold reforms,
“said to have countless admirers but Washington’s military performance which brilliantly reorganized the na-
not a single friend.” was not flawless. Rhodehamel notes that scent country’s disastrous finances and
Rhodehamel capably and compel- he won two battles and lost five, and one almost overnight turned the U.S. from
lingly chronicles Washington’s rise, how was a draw. But that’s like saying the an international deadbeat into a nation
he engaged in “self-invention” by, for American forces won every battle in the with a triple-A credit rating, firmly on
instance, copying out and taking to heart Vietnam War. As Rhodehamel notes, the gold standard. Foreign capital flowed
the 110 “Rules of Civility and Decent Be- Washington held the army together, and in. The U.S. was on its way to greatness.
haviour in Company and Conversation,” its overall performance improved. Washington firmly established the
maxims that had been compiled 150 Keeping an effective fighting force authority of the federal government, es-
years before by French Jesuits. Despite in the field at that time was miraculous: pecially in the suppression of the Whis-
rare lapses, Washington came to control Few troops had enlisted for the dura- key Rebellion, when frontiersmen took
his volcanic temper. He learned to cul- tion, and the Continental Congress was up arms to fight a new tax on spirits.
tivate patrons and mentors, his “steely abysmal at providing equipment, cloth- Those years saw bitter political con-
will” masked by being “courteous, defer- ing and food. The legend of the depriva- troversies, which soon enough made
ential, soft-spoken.” He relentlessly edu- tions of the winter at Valley Forge is no Washington a target of nasty political
cated himself. He became an outstanding myth: About one-fourth of the soldiers attacks (for instance, he refused to risk
horseman and—important to Virginia died of disease, hypothermia and starva- war with Britain by backing France,
colonial society—a superb dancer. He tion. Many were reduced to wearing rags. when popular opinion was all for it).
made himself an excellent and prolific There were other hard winters, includ- The President had a hard time under-
writer. His height and majestic bearing ing one worse than that at Valley Forge. standing the idea of a “loyal opposition,”
helped as well. The war was won with a decisive but there were no secret police, no mid-
Washington also possessed a bound- American-French victory at Yorktown, night knocks on the door, no dragnets to
less energy and extraordinary courage. but the formal peace treaty was signed arrest opponents and no martial law. He
In battle he constantly put himself in nearly two years later. Washington dem- was willing to brook unpopularity to do
harm’s way, amazing colleagues that he onstrated his profound republican prin- what he felt had to be done to keep the
was never felled by a bullet. ciples when he single-handedly defused new yet still-weak nation safe. During
As a militiaman, Washington fired a mutiny of his army at Newburgh, New his second term, he supported a highly
the first shot in what became a global York. The army was set to march on the unpopular treaty with Britain, feeling it
conflict, the Seven Years’ War—or, to Continental Congress in Philadelphia to contained some very useful concessions
Americans, the French and Indian War. forcibly demand it make good on its rou- and would keep the peace.
He was a leading figure in much of the tinely broken promises, primarily regard- Washington believed strongly in the
frontier fighting between the British and ing the army’s pay (the Continental paper western expansion of the country and
French and their various Native Ameri- money with which the men had been pursued policies to that end.
can allies. It was an often harsh learn- paid was virtually worthless). With a After two terms, Washington exem-
ing experience, politically and militarily. persuasive speech and a brilliant piece of plified his belief in the principle of lim-
Washington made mistakes. And he saw theatrics, Washington got them to back ited power by voluntarily stepping down
firsthand how politics can affect military down. The principle was set: No matter from office, even though he could easily
campaigns—particularly the exasperat- how incompetent, corrupt or petty, the have stayed on until the day he died.
ing tardiness of governments in recruit- civil government reigned supreme over As he got older, Washington be-
ing the necessary numbers of troops and the military. Washington was no Caesar came deeply disturbed by slavery. In
adequately supplying them. Washington or Napoléon. He went back home. his will he freed the slaves he owned
fought well enough and emerged from As it became clear that our first and demanded that his heirs ensure
it all with an imposing reputation that constitution, the Articles of Confed- their education so as to better their
made him the logical leader of America’s eration, was a disaster and that a real chances at earning a decent living (Vir-
rebel army in 1775. His previous experi- federal government was vital, Wash- ginia negated this provision).
ences would be indispensable in navigat- ington lent his immense prestige to as- Thanks primarily to George
ing the unprecedented and treacherous semble the Constitutional Convention Washington, the American Revolution
situation he faced. in 1787 and make it a success. and the subsequent American experi-
Britain was determined to suppress As our first President, he did the ment succeeded. Rhodehamel rightly
the rebellion and sent over a formidable same. Against the opposition of Thom- notes that this is monument enough. F

Four Points by Sheraton
Jakarta, Thamrin
Jl. MH. Thamrin, Kav 9
Jakarta - 10350
T +62 21 390 2226 F +62 21 390 2524
FOURPOINTSJAKARTATHAMRIN.COM
RAMADHAN
SPECIAL OFFERS
Celebrate the holy month of Ramadhan with Four Points by
Sheraton Jakarta Thamrin.
Enjoy our special room offers and feel at home in the comfort of our bed with
complimentary buffet Sahur and buffet Breakfasting dinner for 2 persons
during the month of Ramadhan
BREAKFASTING PACKAGE RAMADHAN ROOM PACKAGE
Only For IDR 200,000 net/pax Starts From IDR 950,000 ++ / night
Four Points by Sheraton Jakarta, Thamrin

BOOK NOW AT FOURPOINTSJAKARTATHAMRIN.COM
OR CALL (+62) 21 390 2226
Update BY ARDIAN WIBISONO
STAR ENERGY The Star Energy group has concluded the acquisition of Chevron’s
geothermal assets in Indonesia. Chevron stated that it received the
BUYS CHEVRON
cash proceeds upon settlement on March 31, and will reflect this
gain in its first quarter results. Major Chevron geothermal assets
in Indonesia include the Salak and Darajat geothermal fields that
GEOTHERMAL generate a combined capacity of 650 MW—enough to power about

three million homes in Indonesia. The Salak project is one of the
largest geothermal facilities in the world.
The group included Star Energy Group Holdings and Star En-
ergy Geothermal, both owned by billionaire Prajogo Pangestu, the
Philippines’ Ayala Group and Thailand’s EGCO. For the acquisition
of Chevron geothermal operations in Indonesia, Star Energy Group
Holdings and Star Energy Geothermal holds the majority with
68.3%, followed by Ayala at 19.3% and EGCO 11.9%.
Aside from the assets in Indonesia, the group also is buying
Chevron’s geothermal assets in the Philippines: the Tiwi-Makban
geothermal field that currently produces approximately 326 MW.
The conclusion of the sale of Chevron’s geothermal business in the
Philippines is expected later this year.
Prajogo’s Star Energy has been operating the Wayang Windu
Geothermal with a capacity of 227 MW located 40 kilometers
south of Bandung. This year Prajogo returns to Forbes’ billionaire
ranks with a net worth of $1.8 billion. His fortune was up more
than fivefold in the past year on a rise in the share prices of his list-
Chevron’s geothermala field in Darajat
ed petrochemical companies Barito Pacific and Chandra Asri.
BAREKSA GETS
NEW FUNDING
Mutual fund marketplace Bareksa obtained new funding from PT Gemilang
Dana Sentosa, the investor behind payment service company Doku, on
its first round funding for undisclosed amount. In return, the new investor
gets 20% of Bareksa’s shares through a rights issue.
AHMAD ZAMRONI / FORBES INDONESIA; COURTESY OF CHEVRON
The fresh capital will be used to expand the business, including tech-
nology development, talent acquisition and marketing. Karaniya Dharma-
saputra, Bareksa’s chief executive and co-founder, said it choose Gemilang
Dana Sentosa out of two other investors due to Doku being one of the top
players in the online payments field.
Launched a couple years ago, Bareksa is working with 24 asset man-
agers and sells 111 mutual funds products. It manages 32,000 investors in-
vesting Rp 200 billion in mutual funds. With the new investment, Bareksa
plans to triple the number of its investors. The Bareksa-DOKU partnership
started late last year when DOKU announced that it was helping Bareksa
to market a mutual fund product. Earlier, Bareksa also started a partner-
ship with marketplace Bukalapak to tap new investors in mutual funds.

TOPICAL SUBJECTS JUSUF WANANDI
THE PLIGHT OF THE

INTERNATIONAL REFUGEES
That evening we at-
tended a party with the
Indonesian community,
with speeches by Tahir,
Arcandra Tahar, Deputy
Minister for Energy and
Mineral Resources, and
Nico Adam, acting Am-
bassador in Jordania. Ta-
hir took this opportunity
to help the Embassy by
granting funds to Indo-
nesian workers stranded
at the Embassy, pay-
ing their return airfare,
and outstanding salaries
withheld by their former
employers. The next day,
LAST MONH, Dato’ Sri Prof. we visited Tahir’s adopted family, with four girls and one
Dr. Tahir, owner and chief ex- boy. The meeting was moving, especially when Tahir led a
ecutive of the Mayapada group prayer for the family and other refugees. After some other
and chair of the Tahir Founda- visits, we celebrated Tahir’s birthday with the community.
tion, went to Jordan for the sec- The UNHCR local leadership treats the refugees well.
ond time to visit Syrian refu- This camp is populated by around 67,000 refugees. The
gee camps, in his capacity as an UNHCR is under pressure, with over 60 million refugees
Eminent Advocate of the United worldwide while in 1979/1980 when we had the Indochi-
Nations High Commissioner nese refugees, the number of refuges was only 12 million.
for Refugees (UNHCR). A few Thus, the UNHCR is looking for donations and support
friends, like Radius Wibowo, Mediarto Prawiro, and myself, from the private sector as support from governments
were invited to join him on the trip. He told us about his alone is inadequate. It was different when Indonesia was
first visit, how much he was moved, in particular, to see the having the boat people from Indochina because we got
children, who looked so sad. He has adopted a family and help from the UNHCR and the developed countries (espe-
made its children his grandchildren. He granted funding cially the U.S., France, Australia and Canada).
for their university education, put it into a trust managed by Tahir is currently looking for ways to help the Rohing-
the UNHCR. (Disclosure: Tahir is the majority owner of the ya people from Myanmar. He already gave some assis-
license to publish Forbes Indonesia.) tance to the Indonesian government and Indonesian Red
When we first arrived in Amman, we saw a pub- Cross effort to build a hospital and schools for them. The
lic school that teaches both Jordanian and Syrian chil- Indonesian government has also assisted around 10,000 of
COURTESY OF TAHIR FOUNDATION
dren. Tahir has donated 20 schools, each with a $60,000 them already in Indonesia. After all, they are our ASEAN
solar system for their electricity. The system generates brethren and only ASEAN countries have been welcomed
$12,000 annually to the national grid paid by the govern- by the Myanmar government to help them. We are still
ment. Thus, in addition to free electricity, the schools get hoping Tahir can rally others into this humanitarian ef-
$12,000 annually to help cover expenses. forts. Noblesse oblige, Tahir! F
JUSUF WANANDI IS THE VICE CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CSIS FOUNDATION, AND THE PUBLISHER OF FORBES INDONESIA.

ISSUE & IDEAS
boring. I want to be in the middle of

that, with Root Reaction. I should
launch around June 1.
Rooting for
FI: Why did you believe Trump
would win?
WAR: Nobody thought Trump had a
chance of winning, even the day be-
Trump
fore. Nobody in the media would be-
lieve that, because they looked at the
wrong polls. I kept pointing out that
the polls were oversampling Demo-
crats. All my friends are small busi-
Wayne Root is looking to capitalize on his early, nessmen and women, and they all
said Donald, Donald, Donald. I was
and big, support of Trump.
on a show with a Democratic consul-
BY JUSTIN DOEBELE tant and a Republican consultant. The
Democrat said the odds are so slim
that no matter what he does, he’s lost.
WAYNE ALLYN ROOT’S initials spell out “war.” These initials help sum up this The Republican said the only question
one-man multimedia phenomonen—he’s full frontal direct. His popular talk show is whether the Republicans can keep
in Las Vegas, where he lives, is called “WAR now: the Wayne Allyn Root show,” and the House or the Senate. I said you’re
it may soon go national. He has been an anchor on a financial news network, and both wrong. My poll is my friend’s
also a TV producer, creating several highly rated series. His latest book, “The Power wife, who is a cab driver in Las Vegas,
of Relentless” is one of 11 he’s written (disclosure: Forbes Editor in Chief Steve and talking to average people in the
Forbes endorsed the book), in addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist. back of her cab. She asked all of them
He is an entrepreneur, earning millions doing sports handicapping, through his Las who they are voting for, and every
Vegas-based firm Wayne Allyn Root’s Winning Edge (one season’s worth of his tips single one says Trump. That’s the best
can cost over $1,000). One of his best bets was predicting Donald Trump—a good poll. The consultants said I needed
friend—would win the presidency back in June 2015. To support Trump, Wayne counselling. They are the ones that
made over 1,500 media appearances and speeches. Wayne recently stopped in Ja- need counselling now.
karta, where he successfully raised funds for his latest venture, Root Reaction, a po-
litical news website in the U.S. that will provide Wayne’s comments on the day’s top FI: So what can we expect from the
stories. The interview took place in a private meeting room on the executive floor of Trump administration?
the Shangri-La hotel in Jakarta. The following are edited remarks. WAR: Trump is our Ronald Reagan—
and some would say that’s offensive
to Reagan, but they are missing the
FORBES INDONESIA: What brings you your face. I’m very pro-business. I am point. They are the same in the sense
to Jakarta? proof of the American dream, there’s that they both appeal to middle-class
WAYNE ALLYN ROOT: Well I’m here fun- nothing you can’t have. My philosophy working Americans. In my book “An-
draising for my new project, a website in life is just to be relentless 24 hours gry White Men,” I predicted that in
called Root Reaction.com. I was one of a day—that is how you make things this election angry white men would
the first, if not the first, big supporters happen. vote for Trump. The book isn’t racist,
of Donald Trump and I want to figure I am a white male so I can only talk
out a way to capitalize on the next FI: So how do you capitalize on that? for myself. Obama spent eight years
eight years—and it is going to be eight WAR: The Trump administration cre- beating up on business—if you make
AHMAD ZAMRONI / FORBES INDONESIA
years—not four. I want to be the new ates controversy. The more contro- money you are a bad person. Under
Huffington Post. I will provide break- versy, the more people tune into the Obama, the middle class was getting
ing news links to all the hot news, and news. They want to see opinions. I’m killed and small businesses were be-
provide my reaction. Nobody’s done in the right place at the right time to ing destroyed. So Trump is going cut
that. I will give my raw, truthful, first capitalize on that—whether you love taxes and cut regulations like Reagan.
gut reaction to every hot news story. him or hate him, Trump is going to He’s killed ObamaCare. It will be the
Like Trump, I am outspoken and in stir things up. Politics will never be golden age of entrepreneurship.

WAYNE ROOT
My philosophy
in life is just to
be relentless 24
hours a day.
FI: If he can revive the econo-
my, will his popularity rise?
WAR: Some say he is the most di-
visive president ever, and most
unpopular. I said they were
wrong—you’re looking at the
wrong polls. He is popular, and
his popularity is actually going
up. But even if you assume he’s
divisive, some will just be an-
gry and jealous forever. Trump
might win some converts, but
he will never be wildly popular.
FI: What advice do you have

for Donald?
WAR: I think the only mistake
Donald made, and I’m very open
about this, is making the debate
about Mexicans or Muslims.
The debate should have been
legal versus illegal immigrants.
I want to see all immigrants,
that have something to offer,
come to America. The problem
today is that a majority of
immigrants are illegal, and the
second problem is they want
food stamps and welfare. Trump
should have said if you are a
Mexican or Muslim, and you
want to work here legally, then
you should come in. I said this
to a Malaysian audience the
other day, and they said that’s
fair, we can live with that.
Trump could have solved the
whole problem by saying it’s
legal versus illegal, it’s not
about race or religion. I think
we should just make it illegal
for an illegal immigrant to
collect welfare and food stamps.
After that, many will self-de-
port or start to work. F

GUEST COLUMN JAMES KALLMAN & DERREN JOSEPH
MARCHING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

instance. Moreover,
the tax advantages in
certain states are so at-
tractive that more than
half of U.S. public and
Fortune 500 compa-
nies are incorporated
in either Delaware or
Nevada.
To further com-
plicate matters, U.S.
banking regulation is
split between nation-
al and state authori-
ties. With states vying
against each other for
lucrative company in-
corporation, the direc-
tion has been towards
greater secrecy rather
than transparency.
Thus, while change is
IT’S IRONIC that a measure initially meant to track unlikely at state level, state representatives in Washing-
down American tax evaders could ultimately lead to U.S. ton are also far too aware of their precarious standing to
isolation in the area of international cooperation on tax support any legislation as potentially disruptive to the
reporting. As noted before, the success of the Foreign Ac- status quo as CRS.
count Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in tracing U.S. tax If not enough, the corporate tax cuts proposed by Pres-
evaders encouraged the OECD to introduce the Common ident Trump would make individual U.S. states increas-
Reporting Standard (CRS). Early adopters came at the ingly attractive to foreign funds seeking to escape higher
start of 2016, but it is from January 1, that Indonesia and tariffs and closer scrutiny. Already some wealth advisors
Singapore, together with the remainder of the 100 or so are seeking to move their clients’ holdings to states such
other signatories, have begun to collect financial informa- as Nevada, Wyoming and South Dakota, from former ha-
tion on individuals and entities for reporting in 2018. vens in the Caribbean and elsewhere.
The demands of CRS are far more stringent than those With banking secrecy laws that almost rival those of
of FACTA, which may be one reason the U.S. is not a sig- Switzerland in its heyday, the U.S. is moving in the oppo-
natory, even though a vast majority of wthose countries site direction to the rest of the world. From being a world
formerly considered “tax havens” have signed, including leader in fighting tax evasion and money laundering, the
Panama. Nor does the U.S. reciprocate in providing FAC- U.S. has become one of the few countries whose banking
TA information, as domestic law doesn’t permit. secrecy and tax reporting laws provide opportunity for
One CRS requirement is disclosing an entity’s ben- others. Though the current administration likes to march
eficial owner—while it is perfectly legal to incorporate to a different beat, it might find itself in splendid isolation-
anonymous shell companies in states like Delaware, for ism on international tax reporting matters. F
ADOBE STOCK
A 30-YEAR VETERAN OF EMERGING MARKETS, JAMES S. KALLMAN IS THE SENIOR PARTNER OF GLOBAL ACCOUNTING AND CONSULTING FIRM, MOORES ROWLAND INDONESIA (A
MEMBER FIRM OF PRAXITY). DERREN JOSEPH IS ADMITTED TO PRACTICE BEFORE THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (IRS), AND MANAGES THE U.S. TAX DESK OF MOORES ROWLAND
ASIA PACIFIC, WITH OVER 25 OFFICES IN 10 ASIAN COUNTRIES.

GLOBAL VIEWPOINT JENNIE M. XUE
HOW INDONESIA CAN EXCEL AT

REVERSE OUTSOURCING
ACCORDING TO AT Kearney’s are still experiencing challenging issues, such as security,
2016 Global Services Location data integrity, payment processing, and human resources.
Index (GSLI), India ranked the By far, one of the fastest growing and most profitable Indo-
first out of 55 countries ana- nesia-based SaaS companies is Randevoo, which is a sales
lyzed on business outsourcing activity management platform used for sales team produc-
destinations. China, Malaysia, tivity from getting leads to closing deals. It was founded in
Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, The 2012 and the current revenue is $7 million. Indonesia’s SaaS
Philippines, Mexico, Chile and sector started to gain momentum in 2014.
Poland respectively made up According to Celoxis’ founders Ravindra Wankar and
the top ten list. Nikhil Daddikar, at least six things that they learned from
However, contrary to this economic service-oriented Silicon Valley can be emulated by Indonesia-based SaaS “re-
landscape, there are companies focusing on “reverse out- verse outsourcing” companies. First, solve simple problems
sourcing.” The term “reverse outsourcing” itself refers to with technology. Second, work with highly motivated indi-
exporting software products from countries that normally viduals. Third, good execution is more important than good
attract outsourcing jobs, such as India, Indonesia and Chi- ideas. Fourth, scalable simple ideas can massively grow. Fifth,
na. Instead of businesses sending off their projects to be sometimes the market is not ready for an early mover. Sixth,
completed, software as a service (SaaS) companies allow hire good talents with good ego management.
users from other countries to work on their platform. In conclusion, to suc-
The concept of “reverse outsourcing” was further Founders should ceed in the SaaS “reverse
popularized by Prime Minister’s Make in India initiative focus on solving outsourcing” sector, Indo-
launched in September 2014. It urged Indian companies nesia requires a strong legal
to transform India into a global design and manufacturing
problems, adopt- policy environment sup-
hub, in response to the 2013 emerging market bubble bust. ing technological ported by the government.
India was among the “fragile five,” along with Brazil, Rus- innovations, and Moreover, founders should
sia, China, and South Africa at that time. hiring talents with focus on solving problems,
One case in point is Celoxis, which is a SaaS platform adopting technological in-
for project and work management developed and sup-
strong hard and novations, and hiring tal-
ported in India. Celoxis is considered among the first SaaS soft skills. ents with strong hard and
companies in India, launched in May 2001. Celoxis was soft skills. F
the first mover in several areas, such as free client portals
and customizable dashboards.
In 2011, SaaS companies in India started gaining trac-
tion, and some of them, like Freshdesk and Capillary
Technologies, started receiving enormous funding. Today,
Celoxis is among the 30 fastest growing companies in
Asia, according to the Silicon Review.
According to India trade body Nasscom, India software
products industry is experiencing a hyper-growth phase,
with a minimum of 2,000 startups per year by 2020. In Indo-
nesia, the expected figure is 1,000, according to Yansen Kam-
to, chief executive of Kibar, a startup hub and incubator. The
projected Indonesia e-commerce market is $130 billion.
For Indonesia, SaaS “reverse outsourcing” companies
ADOBE STOCK
JENNIE M. XUE IS A GLOBALIZATION OBSERVER, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, AND ENTREPRENEUR BASED IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. SHE IS A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO
NUMEROUS PUBLICATIONS WORLDWIDE. HER WORKS CAN BE FOUND AT JENNIEXUE.COM.

T
he $800 million Indo-
Colors of
nesian paint industry
has seen rapid growth
in the last few years,
yet it remains a frag-
mented market, with the largest firm
Success
holding only 17% share. These con-
ditions have attracted international
paint firms. One of them is India’s
largest paint company, Asian Paints,

with $260 million profits on $2.4
billion annual revenues and opera-
tions in 18 countries outside India.
Rahul Bhatnagar is building Asian Paints’ presence
Yet Indonesia is a key market for the
in Indonesia. firm, which set up operations here
BY AASTHA SABOO in 2014 by establishing its largest

ENTREPRENEURS ASIAN PAINTS
Egypt Bahrain
UAE Nepal Bangladesh
Jamaica
India
Barbados Oman
Ethiopia
Trinidad & Tobago
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Indonesia Solomon
Worldwide
Islands
Samoa
Vanuatu
Operations Fiji
Tonga
Asian Paints operates in 18

international markets.
SOURCE: ASIAN PAINTS, AS OF FEB. 2017
manufacturing plant in Karawang— holding half-day training programs to lated products.

from scratch—outside India, with a teach end-users such as painters and The product segments in the
24,550-tonne capacity that will open contractors on the different aspects paint market are broadly divided into
in May. The total investment is about of the products and proper paint- interiors and exteriors. Each segment
$140 million. ing practices. They have currently it is further classified into three price
Rahul Bhatnagar, 45, is president covered more than 30 cities across points: economy, middle and pre-
director of PT Asian Paints Indo- Java and Sumatra in a span of eight mium. The economy category here,
nesia. “This market is underuti- months, holding sessions with 4,000 as in many developing markets, is
lized and underpenetrated,” he says. painters. The firm plans on getting quite crowded with affordable, mass-
“While the Indonesian people and
the government were very friendly,
the task of establishing the Asian
“THIS MARKET IS UNDERUTILIZED
Paints brand in a new country was AND UNDERPENETRATED.”
not easy.” Indonesia is a priority for
Asian Paints, although at the moment 11,000 retailers in the short-term and market paints. The middle category
it holds less than 5% of the market. 30,000 in the long-term. is priced approximately 70% higher,
Asian Paints would like Indonesia to “We needed to develop products and is the largest category in volume
become one of its top three markets from scratch for Indonesia. We also terms in the Indonesian market. All
worldwide in the next few years. realized that products used here can- large international players in In-
Rahul was a part of an Asian Paints not be used anywhere else,” says Ra- donesia are well entrenched in this
team that did a detailed evaluation of hul. “We will use technology to cre- segment, and the competition in this
emerging markets, including Indone- ate an edge and provide services at a segment is the most severe.
sia, in early 2014. cheaper price.” At the moment, the Meanwhile, the premium cat-
To build market share, the com- Indonesian operations is selling only egory is on the rise, with consum-
pany started doing extensive cus- decorative paints, but later on would ers looking for a better finish and
tomer engagement exercises such as like to add industrial paints and re- special features, such as stain resis-
tance. Asian Paints is also likely to
enter this segment soon. Its most
Going Beyond Paints popular international brand, Apex,
is an exterior paint that protects
Asian Paints in India has expanded from paints into “home needs” into kitchen and
against such items as ultraviolet, al-
bathroom fittings as well. It has started selling furniture from recently launched
gae and seawater spray. It is priced
stores in India. It has also started painting academies in India, to upgrade the skills
of professional painters. competitively versus other products
in this segment. F

ENTREPRENEURS
Green
Gas
A revolutionary $150 million
power plant promises to
capture all its polluting
carbon—and produce
electricity at the same low
cost as a dirty facility.
BY CHRISTOPHER HELMAN
G
rowing up in England
after World War II,
“all the youngsters
like me were ob-
sessed with aircraft,”
says Rodney Allam. “I had a picture
on my wall of Chuck Yeager when
he broke the sound barrier in the
Bell X-1, the earliest turbine-driv-
en aircraft.” Those high-powered Rodney Allam
machines were inspirational. Allam
became a chemical engineer and
went to work at the U.K. division of voirs of CO2. But there were none of Allam, 76, flew from his home in the
Air Products & Chemicals, based in those in England. U.K. to meet Forbes at a construction
Allentown, Pennsylvania. There in Allam explored various bolt-on site in Texas near the Houston Ship
the 1970s, he became obsessed with methods to grab the CO2 from a gi- Channel, the heart of the nation’s
an idea: how to capture the carbon- ant 2,400-megawatt coal plant in largest petrochemical complex.
dioxide emissions from the U.K.’s Scotland. But none came close to When completed early this year, at
giant coal-burning power plants? He viability. For a simple reason: They a cost of about $150 million, these
already knew where to put the CO2. were too expensive. He became ob- 5 acres of steel and concrete, pipes,
BP and Royal Dutch Shell would sessed with making carbon capture tanks and high-voltage lines will be-
MICHAEL THAD CARTER FOR FORBES
jump at the chance to inject it into affordable: first for the technical come the proving ground for a tech-
their vast oilfields in the North Sea. challenge and then out of an im- nology called the Allam Cycle. It’s
Injecting the gas (which acts as a petus to slow CO2-induced global a novel electric-generation system
solvent to free up stubborn crude warming. “I tried like hell,” he says, that burns natural gas and captures
oil) has long been a common practice “but I gave it up in the early 1990s— all the produced carbon dioxide. The
in West Texas fields, where oil com- couldn’t make it work.” best part is that it makes electricity
panies tap naturally occurring reser- But now he has. In December, at the same low cost as other modern

RODNEY ALLAM
NET POWER’S ROD- use steam. Instead, the so-called

working fluid that turns the tur-
NEY ALLAM STANDS bine is carbon dioxide itself. The
ASTRIDE HIS INVEN- CO2, under pressure and heated to
TION: A POWER PLANT a manageable 1,000 degrees, is kept
THAT CAPTURES ITS in a supercritical state, in which it
OWN CARBON, AT NO can expand to fill its container like
EXTRA COST. a gas, yet has the density of a liquid.
Instead of pouring into the sky, that
CO2 gets cycled in a loop, spinning
Allam left Air Products in 2005 the turbines that power the genera-
after 44 years. In 2009, he got a call tors. Combustion continually adds
from 8 Rivers, a venture capital in- additional CO2, while excess CO2 is
cubator in Durham, North Carolina. directed off into a pipeline.
Bill Brown, 8 Rivers’ cofounder, saw Power generator Exelon ($35
piles of federal Recovery Act money billion revenues) saw the potential
available for research on carbon and became an equity partner after
capture and sequestration. It wasn’t months of due diligence. “We usu-
hard to rev Allam up again. Soon ally don’t make investments this far
he was sending handwritten brain upstream,” says Ron DeGregorio,
dumps to the cadre of young engi- president of Exelon Power. He’ll be
neers at 8 Rivers. Within six months, spending many billions in the com-
Allam completed the design. ing years to upgrade Exelon’s vast
8 Rivers worked with engineer- fleet of aging power plants.
ing powerhouses Fluor and Babcock The third equal partner in the
& Wilcox to refine and verify the company, which is now called Net
tech. Brown, formerly of Goldman Power, is publicly traded engineering
Sachs and Morgan Stanley, presented giant CB&I (a.k.a. Chicago Bridge &
it to whoever would listen. “Nobody Iron). Since 2012, Net Power, which
believed us,” Brown says. “They will own the new Houston facil-
thought I was selling snake oil.” ity, has been working with Toshiba
They had reason to doubt. Bolt-on to engineer and build the combus-
systems for carbon capture exist, but tor system for the first Allam Cycle
they reduce efficiency. And they’re plant—an R&D effort that has cost
expensive; Southern Co. is $4 bil- the Japanese company at least $200
lion over budget so far on its “clean million, which it plans to recoup as
coal” plant in Mississippi. “Compa- orders roll in.
gas-fired turbines—about 6 cents per nies don’t want to just slap a box on A full-size Net Power plant will
kilowatt-hour. the back of a power plant,” says Julio generate 300MW and 800,000 tons
Environmentalists are hopeful. Friedmann, carbon-capture expert of CO2 per year and cost around $300
“It’s not just a bridge, it’s a destina- at Livermore National Laboratory. million to build. “The plan is to build
tion,” says John Thompson, who “They want an integrated solution.” these in oil regions, then transport
directs the carbon-capture program Which is what the Allam Cycle the power,” says Daniel McCarthy,
at the Clean Air Task Force. Renew- gives them. To understand what head of tech investments at CB&I.
able energy sources haven’t scaled this cycle is, start with what it isn’t. “If you can generate power without
fast enough to replace fossil fuels, Most power plants that burn coal carbon dioxide and with no economic
and zero-carbon nuclear is too ex- or natural gas use the heat to create penalty versus existing technology,
pensive. “We’re going to have to use steam that goes through a turbine, why wouldn’t you do that?” It’ll take
fossil fuels in the future whether we spins rotors and creates electricity. a few months of operation before Net
like it or not,” Allam says. “The chal- In many generators, half the use- Power can prove the stability of the
lenge will be in using fossil fuels to ful heat shoots into the atmosphere cycle. Allam predicts his invention
produce electricity without emitting along with steam and, of course, car- will soon sell itself: “In a year we will
CO2 into the atmosphere.” bon dioxide. Allam’s cycle doesn’t know for sure.” F

ENTREPRENEURS HILARY LINDSAY
Being
Accountable
ICAEW’s Hilary Lindsay would like to help
Indonesia improve its accountancy profession
BY JUSTIN DOEBELE
T
he Institute of Chartered Accountants in Eng-
land and Wales (ICAEW) was formed in 1880,
making it one of the oldest professional bod-
ies in the world. At present, the ICAEW has
147,000 chartered accountant members, who are in 155
countries. The body’s main office is in London and it has
local offices in Beijing, Brussels, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur,
Hong Kong and Singapore.
The current president of the organization is British
citizen Hilary Lindsay, 68, who is also the first academic
and the second woman to hold the post in 137 years. Each
presidency is for one year, which for Hilary will end in
June this year—she has already been a member of the
ICAEW for over a decade.
Recently Hilary was in Jakarta, for the first time, to speak
at a conference entitled “Value Creation for Business Resil- as accountants to be professional, independent and ob-
ience in the Era of Neo-Protectionism.” Among the other jective. “What investors need to know is whether the
speakers were BCA bank’s Chief Executive Jahja Setiaatmaja, figures presented to them are true and fair. So that’s the
Telkom Chief Executive Alex Sinaga and Astra Chief Execu- business side. On the government side, we need to know
that government projects are running well, and that the
“WHAT INVESTORS NEED TO KNOW IS people running them are accountable,” says Hilary.
WHETHER THE FIGURES PRESENTED Towards that end, in 2015, the ICAEW appointed its
TO THEM ARE TRUE AND FAIR.” first representative, Deny Poerhadiyanto, as head of Indo-
nesia. Deny will be working on developing the local mem-
tive Prijono Sugiarto. Yet, aside from the event, Hilary is try- bership for ICAEW. Deny is consulting with government
ing to promote a deeper message: “The thinking is that if you bodies as well as the local accounting body, the IAI, on this
want to have a strong, successful economy going forward, goal. He also has a program for the best and brightest uni-
then you need to have a strong accountancy profession, and versity students to become a new generation of Indonesians
to help to support the government behind it.” to potentially join the ICAEW. At present, all 50 members
This year will be the 20th anniversary of the start of of the ICAEW in Indonesia are expatriates.
the Asian Financial Crisis, in July. While the crisis began as Hilary also wants to promote another key message: that
a currency problem, it quickly exposed shading account- accountants are not going away. Some have speculated,
ing practices present in the region, exacerbating the crisis. with the rise of blockchain technologies, and artificial intel-
As the U.S. Federal Reserve notes in a history of the crisis: ligence, the need for human accountants will be diminished
“Years of rapid domestic credit growth and inadequate su- or even eliminated. Hilary begs to differ: “Some people say
pervisory oversight had resulted in a significant build-up of that you won’t need accountants going forwards, the robots
financial leverage and doubtful loans.” will do it all. Actually there will be very much a need for ac-
Thus, the ICAEW, among other goals, promotes the countants, to add that next level of value to the new amount
highest level of accounting standards, with such goals of data that we will have.” F

PROPERTY STRATEGIES TODD LAUCHLAN
INDONESIA ATTRACTING INTERNATIONAL

LOGISTICS INVESTMENTS
INTERNATIONAL LOGOS
Property has entered the Indo-
nesian market, the first major
international warehouse opera-
tor to invest in the country. It is
likely to be the start of several
similar announcements. The
company is making its move
with backing from two of the
largest institutional investors in
the world, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and
Ivanhoé Cambridge. These two have fronted up to $400
million in funding for Logos, which is also expanding in
Singapore thanks to the partnership.
Logos competitors Global Logistics Properties from Sin-
gapore and the Goodman Group from Australia both have
extensive warehouse operations in China. With growth there
slowing, Indonesia presents an attractive diversification. As
the world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia and its 17,000+
islands present plenty of logistical opportunities. President
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration is committed to
improving the country’s infrastructure. The government on As the world’s dépôt et placement du Québec.
March 31 concluded a nine-month tax amnesty program that Their backing has helped fund
resulted in the declaration of $365 billion in assets that will
largest the Logos purchase for $23 million
now enter the “official” economy. archipelago, of a 10.7 hectare industrial property
Indonesia certainly has its quirks. The Indonesian mo- Indonesia and in Bekasi. Logos will then spend
torbike-hailing app Go-Jek is competing fiercely with its car its 17,000+ another $130 million to develop a
counterpart, Uber. Go-Jek and its peers may be the answer three-level warehouse on the plot,
to the “last mile” delivery crucial in logistics, a role filled by
islands which at 1.7 million square feet
courier companies in developing countries such as China. present plenty would be one of Indonesia’s biggest
Sydney-based Logos was founded in 2010 to manage prop- of logistical logistics spaces. The first phase of
erty for the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. It has opportunities. construction should be completed
properties in Australia and China. The Australian investment by the end of 2018. Logos chose the
bank Macquarie Group and then Ivanhoé Cambridge itself spot since it believes the site offers
have subsequently bought major stakes in Logos. easy access to Jakarta’s central business district, the city’s in-
Logos said it has identified a “strong pipeline” of oppor- ternational airport, its port and nearby toll roads.
tunities for modern logistics facilities in Indonesia, and now Surabaya is a likely second destination for warehouse
has opened an office in Jakarta. It recently entered the Singa- operators. Beyond that, Bandung and Medan are potential
pore market, where it already has two warehouses and a de- cities for expansion. Jones Lang LaSalle’s Industrial and lo-
velopment site. Logos is developing new warehouse facilities gistics team worked with Logos to purchase the site, which
to own and operate in Indonesia. It has found deep-pocketed is being developed with a major international car manu-
partners. With $202 billion in assets under management, facturer as the anchor tenant. JLL is also currently leasing
Canada Pension is the ninth-largest pension plan on the plan- space in the project to other prospective tenants on a pre-
et. Ivanhoé Cambridge is the real-estate arm of the Caisse de commitment basis. F
ADOBE STOCK
TODD LAUCHLAN IS THE COUNTRY HEAD OF REAL ESTATE ADVISORY FIRM JLL. HE HAS SPENT OVER 18 YEARS WORKING IN REAL ESTATE, PRIMARILY WITHIN THE ASIA PACIFIC
REGION, AND HAS BEEN BASED IN JAKARTA SINCE SEPTEMBER 2010.

ENTREPRENEURS
human assistant. “Please remind me

to make a dentist appointment in a
week” will yield a friendly email ex-
Your Next
actly seven days later, to the second.
When an email is too complicated
to be handled by Clara’s algorithms,
one of the company’s human helpers,
Assistant: A
working from home in time zones
across the world, steps in.
“State-of-the-art machine learn-
ing doesn’t get you to highly complex
Cyborg
natural-language understanding—it
just doesn’t,” Nelson says. Whereas
a bot might respond with gibberish,
she says, Clara will send the message,
along with its algorithm’s predic-
Maran Nelson’s Clara Labs is building sentient tion about an appropriate action, to
one of the people who work with the
automated assistants to save Silicon Valley, and
company.
the world, from the tyranny of email. This hybrid approach sets Clara
BY CLARE O’CONNOR apart from chatbots and virtual as-
A
sistants from the likes of Amazon,
Google and Clara’s biggest competi-
bout a dozen times time-sucking horrors of our in-boxes. tor, X.AI. With each email the human
over the past two For all the machine-learning assistants send, Clara gets smarter.
years, grateful busi- technology at play behind the scenes, “Since they fixed it for us, we have
ness associates of Ma- working with Clara Labs’ robot as- the feedback loop at the team for un-
ran Nelson have sent sistants is simple. For $99 to $399 a derstanding what we did wrong, what
flowers or chocolates to her execu- month, depending on workload and we misunderstood and what was
tive assistant, Clara, to thank her requirements, an executive is assigned actually the right answer,” Nelson
for her excellent work. Clara always a “Clara” with a dedicated email ad- says. (Facebook embraced a similar
replies to emails within 15 minutes, dress. You can rename her: Nelson’s automaton-plus-human strategy for
even in the middle of the night. She first-ever customer, Danielle Morrill “M,” an assistant built into Messenger
knows just which Palo Alto sushi of data analytics startup Mattermark, that is in a limited test. The company
spot to recommend for a lunch meet- chose Claudia Robertson; Reddit co- is tight-lipped about it.)
ing, sending along a calendar invita- founder Alexis Ohanian, a Clara Labs Clara emerged as an effort to re-
tion complete with travel times. She investor, opted for Max Power after sist the tyranny of the in-box and
doesn’t make spelling mistakes. She Homer Simpson’s alter ego in a favor- wasn’t always automated. In 2013,
never forgets to follow up. ite episode of the cartoon. Nelson found herself struggling at
Clara can’t enjoy the floral spoils Clara communicates exclusively her first endeavor after dropping out
of her tireless admin work, though: via email and entirely in natural lan- of the University of Texas at Austin,
She’s a cyborg—part algorithm, part guage. You can add her to any thread where she had studied neuroscience
human. She’s the result of two years that concerns scheduling, and from and psychology. It wasn’t the role
of heads-down testing and $5 million her unobtrusive perch on your cc itself, as cofounder of Y Combinator-
in funding at San Francisco startup line, she’ll take over the tedious in- backed A/B testing startup Crowdery,
Clara Labs. CEO Nelson, cofounder teractions that can mar a workday. that overwhelmed her. It was the
and CTO Michael Akilian, who are Give her access to your online calen- culture of endless email chains and
both 25 (Nelson is a 2016 Forbes 30 dars and she’ll set up meetings, calls, reply-all scheduling threads. She
Under 30 honoree), and a handful of lunches and coffees. She’ll handle found herself dropping the ball on
big-name investors like Salesforce back-and-forths with your contacts, important contacts because she’d for-
CEO Marc Benioff are convinced suggesting times and venues based get to schedule a call or follow up on
she’s going to change the way we on your preferences. You commu- an invitation. “I really disliked it, and
work, starting with saving us from the nicate with her as you would with a I was bad at it,” she says.

CLARA LABS
Clara Labs CEO Maran Nelson is the youngest person and only woman to
go through the prestigious Y Combinator program two years in a row.
Once Crowdery shuttered, Nelson machine-learning technology, which Backers see potential in Clara
teamed up with Akilian, a computer was not yet in the product, would al- well beyond scheduling. “My contact
scientist and her best friend since low it to scale. list is trapped in my in-box,” Red-
tenth grade in Plano, Texas. The two When it came time to seek capital dit’s Ohanian says. “Clara has insight
recruited beta testers, like Morrill, in 2014, Clara was very much on in- into that and could do some thought-
and Akilian built a prototype that al- vestors’ radars; employees at Sales- ful things. There’s a ton of seren-
lowed either of them to log in and force subsidiary Heroku were already dipity that can come from that. We
handle scheduling manually. “We using her product when Benioff just have to unlock it. Clara has the
wanted to really understand what wrote an early check. High-profile potential to be this software-scalable
people wanted from this product,” customers include executives at Se- connector.”
Akilian says. quoia Capital (which also invested), In the meantime, power users
TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD FOR FORBES
Soon enough, Nelson was back Stripe and Hipmunk. The startup like Morrill are spreading the Clara
at Y Combinator, the youngest per- won’t disclose financials, but with gospel around the Bay Area. “People
son and only woman to go through prices topping out at $4,800 a year visit the offices and ask for my as-
the accelerator in two consecutive for the busiest executives, its revenue sistant, Claudia,” she says. “We have
years. She was accepted with the is in the millions of dollars, Forbes this awkward moment where you’re
understanding that automation and estimates. like, ‘She’s not real.’ ” F

INVESTMENT IDEAS TEGUH HIDAYAT
TIME TO BUY BANK STOCKS

EVERY TIME I meet interna- cluding bank stocks. In 2016, the JCI recovered, gaining
tional investors interested in in- 15% for the year, but bank shares rose far lower overall.
vesting into the Indonesian stock BRI, for example, only rose 2%, even though its net in-
market, I virtually always rec- come rose 3%.
ommend banking stocks, espe- The stagnation of bank stocks in 2016 was because this
cially the big ones such as Bank sector got hit with negative sentiments during the year.
Mandiri, BRI, BCA or BNI. For In February 2016, the government issued a statement that
most investors from U.S. or other the net interest margin of banks would be restricted from
developed countries, to invest in 7% to around 4%, which investors misinterpreted as a
a developing country such as In- decline in the banks’ net profit. In June 2016, Bank Indo-
donesia has risks. Therefore, they will prefer to buy stocks nesia (BI) changed the calculation of the BI Rate to the
with the lowest possible risk, where the company could seven-day BI Rate, confusing investors, who dumped bank
operate normally without any serious obstacles for years or stocks. Lastly, in December 2016, during the government’s
even decades, no matter the macroeconomics or local poli- tax amnesty program, any repatriated funds had to be put
tics (except, of course, in the most extreme crisis, such as in into domestic banks, thus inflating the value of third party
1998 or 2008). So the stock, although it may fluctuate short- funds in BCA. Therefore, BCA would have to raise capital,
term, long-term will produce decent gains along with the to shore up its capital adequacy ratio.
real growth of the company itself. Because of the episodes, bank stocks barely moved in
Based on experience, in Indonesia, there are only 2016, not going up or down much. Here is the opportu-
two sectors with these characteristics: consumer goods nity: even as bank stocks stagnated, their book value grew
and banking. You can check for yourself: In addition to significantly in 2016. That’s right—their valuations are
banking stocks as mentioned above, stocks of consumer now become much cheaper than usual. When this article
goods firms such as Unilever Indonesia, HM Sampoerna, was written, BRI’s stock was at Rp 13,150, reflecting a PBV
Indofood CBP, and others. Almost all of them have seen of 2.2 times, which for second largest bank in Indonesia
substantial gains in the last five years or even longer, not (in total asset value, after Bank Mandiri), is well below its
including dividends. Unfortunately, consumer stocks’ valu- historic average of 3.0. BRI boasts consistent long-term
ations are usually expensive, and some companies are al- performance, with an ROE of about 25% every year—so we
ready mature, so they don’t offer further growth in terms can say the valuation is too low.
of their net asset value, as they spend 100% of their annual Based on experience, the cheaper valuation means that
net income to pay dividends. the profit will be higher. In 2011, bank stocks also stagnat-
So banking stocks may be a better choice. Interesting- ed, after the JCI rose 3% for the year, whereas their funda-
ly, in contrast to the consumer goods stocks, which often mental performance was good. As a result in 2012, when
stagnant without notable fluctuations for months, banking the JCI rose 13%, many bank stocks, such as Bank Mandi-
stocks have been more volatile, although they still will gain ri, rose much higher, at least 40% for the year.
in the long-term. When Indonesia slowed down in 2015, So unless there is a major crisis this year (unlikely),
the banks, especially the big ones, still did well, growing bank stocks are likely this year to have an extraordinary
their net income, paying dividends of 30% or more, and rise, as they did in 2012. So far, international fund manag-
keeping their return on equity stable. BNI did see its net ers have spent the most cash on bank stocks, thus BRI and
income decrease, but only because it was being cautious by others have gone up more than 10% since January. But,
provisioning for possible higher NPLs—which never actu- given their still low valuations, they could still go higher. If
ally happened. you are looking for big caps stocks with low risk and plen-
Nevertheless, the 12% decline in Jakarta Composite ty of liquidity, but still offer high potential gain, then this is
Index (JCI) in 2015 meant shares fell across the board, in- your best opportunity. Take it now or never! F
TEGUH HIDAYAT IS AN INDEPENDENT FULL TIME INVESTOR IN INDONESIAN STOCKS AND FUND MANAGER. SINCE 2009, HIS SPECIALTY IS VALUE INVESTING, TRYING TO FIND
PROSPECTIVE INVESTMENTS AT THE LOWEST POSSIBLE PRICE. TO READ HIS OTHER WORKS OF STOCK ANALYSIS, PLEASE VISIT WWW.TEGUHHIDAYAT.COM (IN INDONESIAN) AND
WWW.THPARTNER.COM (IN ENGLISH).

MONEY & MARKETS RAINER MICHAEL PREISS
THE RISE OF ETHER

WHILE MOST OF the media bate (the “hard fork”) has led to increased interest in the
attention and blockchain debate PoS algorithm blockchain and hence the massive surge in
is focused on Bitcoin (BTC), the price ETH.
Ether (ETH) and the Ethereum Smart contracts, also known as smart property, are pro-
blockchain is where the real tocols that facilitate, verify or enforce the negotiation or
price action was for investors performance of a contract. Smart contracts often emulate
year-to-date. On January 1, the the logic of contractual clauses. Using Ethereum, a contract
USD/ETH exchange rate was will hold a contributor’s money until a given date or goal is
$8, and the price rose to $60, reached. Depending on the outcome, the funds will either
reaching its all-time-record high be released to the project owners or safely returned to the
in March. Although now it trades around $44, the ETH contributors—all without requiring a centralized arbitrator,
year-to-date return to investor has been 445%. clearing house or having to trust anyone.
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart Because of all these powerful attributes, Ether has done
contracts; applications that run exactly as programmed something only Bitcoin has managed to do among crypto-
without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or currencies—reaching over $2 billion market capitalization.
third party interference. These apps run on a custom built Cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH now provide an
Ethereum blockchain, an enormously powerful shared outlet for personal wealth beyond restriction and confisca-
global infrastructure that can move value around and rep- tion. One other major reason for the ETH rally is traction
resent property ownership. These features enable develop- among big global corporates for the
ers to create markets, store registries of debts or promises, Ethereum is underlying blockchain technology
move funds in accordance with instructions given long
in the past (like a will or a futures contract), all without a
a decentra- Ethereum. The Enterprise Ethereum
Alliance was recently set up to con-
middlemen or counterparty risk. If Bitcoin is often consid- lized plat- nect large companies to tech vendors
ered digital gold or gold 2.0, then Ether is often compared form that working on projects using the ETH
to silver. runs smart blockchain, including, among others,
While the Bitcoin blockchain runs on Proof-of-Work JPMorgan, Microsoft and Intel.
(PoW) algorithms, the Ethereum blockchain runs on Proof-
contracts. With the recent massive surge in
of-Stake (PoS). The recent Bitcoin blockchain scaling de- the ETH price , both institutional and
private investors have started taking a
greater interest in this cryptocurren-
cy. Another reason for the significant
price appreciation of ETH is some-
times accredited to the Trump admin-
istration, U.S. Congress and executive
branch agencies calling for further
development of smart contracts at the
technology’s intersection with public
policy. Specifically, smart contracts
potential to streamline bureaucracy,
empower consumers and drive growth
HTTPS://EDGYLABS.COM
is behind investor interest in ETH. As

Ether becomes better known, early
adopters and investors in ETH could
be richly rewarded. F
RAINER MICHAEL PREISS IS AN INVESTMENT ADVISOR BASED IN SINGAPORE.

SUBSCRIBE NOW
+
MAY 2017 • VOLUME 8 ISSUE 5
QUARTER I 2017 QUARTER II 2017
WWW.FORBESINDONESIA.COM
THRILLING RIDE
PORSCHE 718 BOXSTER S
INDONESIA’S EMERGING
WORLD-CLASS BRANDS
TEST DRIVE
ART DEVOTEE
INTERVIEW WITH
PEARL LAM
CHRISTIAN RIJANTO
ADDS LIVE EVENTS
TO ISMAYA’S SUCCESS STORY
SPEED SHOWBIZ
RACER SEAN GELAEL IS
WHIZ FORBES
TRAVEL
GUIDE 2017
PAVING HIS WAY TO F1 THE BEST
2017
RP 50,000 RP 50,000 PLACES IN BALI
RP 50,000
ISSN 2087-1996
97 72 08 71 99 60 1
1-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION AT 2-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION AT
640.000 IDR
(12 ISSUES FORBES INDONESIA + 4 ISSUES
960.000 IDR
(24 ISSUES FORBES INDONESIA + 8 ISSUES
FORBESLIFE INDONESIA) FORBESLIFE INDONESIA)
* Exclude delivery charge for outside Jakarta
DETAILS PAYMENT METHODS
Name Mr. Mrs. Ms. A. Credit Cards

Job Title
NPWP number (for corporate subscription)
Cardholder’s name
Subscription starts (month & year)

Company Industry Card Number
Retail Finance/Bank Trading
Real Estate Service Industry/Factory Date of Expiry mm/ yy
Education Forestry & Logging Mining
Cardholder’s signature
Construction Insurance Transportation
Other
Delivery Address Business Home B. Transfer

BCA Bank, Summitmas branch
Acc : 538.530.4479
City Pos Code Acc name : PT Wahana Mediatama
Phone Mobile C. Cash Payment
Fax Email Visit our office between 9 am to 6 pm
Menara Sudirman 19th Floor Suite 19D
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 60, Jakarta 12190, Indonesia
Promo Code
D.
Please allow 4 - 6 weeks for first delivery Click www.forbesindonesia.com/subscribe
Please fax or email this form, and if making transfer payment please include
payment receipt. For more information, please call Dahlia (021) 522 6828.
Fax: (021) 522 7208. Email: circulation@forbesindonesia.com www.forbesindonesia.com
2017
Welcome to the fourth annual list of 20 Rising Global Stars. These companies
are all at the forefront of creating global brands from Indonesia. Some are
entirely homegrown while others were created by expatriates—yet they all
share being started and launched from Indonesia to a world market. The sector
and size can vary, from boutique firms to large groups—a demonstration of the
strength of local firms across a wide spectrum in being globally competitive.
Companies are listed in alphabetical order, all have equal rank.
2
Bamboe
Founded in 1968 in Surabaya by Nathanael
Wirahardja Natahamidjaja, Bamboe makes
packaged spice mixes to simplify the process
of preparing traditional Indonesian dishes—for
example, a premixed package of spices for
beef rending or rawon soup. Over the years,
PT Bamboe Indonesia has built a strong brand
image and become the market leader in its
sector. It has four types of spice mixes: curry
dishes, fried dishes, thick sauces and soups,
1
with a total 26 variants for export.
It formerly focused only on the domestic
market, but in 2008 the firm started to tap the
export market. Now its products can be found
ATI Business Group in Australia, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and

across Europe, while its main export markets
are the Netherlands, South Korea and the U.S.
Exports are about 6.5 tonnes annually, provid-
PT Abdi Teknologi Informasi, known as ATI Business Group, is In- ing revenue of approximately $750,000.
donesia’s leading outsourcing company. Established in 2001, ATI has
gained tremendous traction in the past six years, growing from just 25
staff in 2010 to over 660 employees currently—almost all of them are
full-time—and increasing its business at an 80% CAGR.
ATI’s main business is offering a specific service for the travel in-
dustry called fare loading. Despite its high-tech image, global airlines
still do many things the conventional way, including publishing their
fares on paper. Thus, to make these fares available worldwide, the
printed fares needs to be loaded into the Washington based Airline
Tariff Publishing Company system that publishes the latest airfares for
more than 500 airlines multiple times per day, and to the three leading
global distribution systems: Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport.
In fact, ATI is the largest global user of Travelport’s share filing
system. ATI serves clients from 19 countries around the world, with a
focus on Australia and Asia, including Cathay Pacific, Singapore Air-
lines and Qantas. Last year, ATI partnered with its first local client,
flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, which previously outsourced its fare
loading to India. Aside from airlines, ATI also provides fare-loading
service for hotels and cruises. In April, ATI became a partner of Ex-
pedia—the world’s second largest player in the online travel sector—in
providing an airline fare filling service.

Founded in 1978, PT Bukaka
3
Teknik Utama has evolved into
Bukaka Teknik Utama

a holding company with a fo-
cus on engineering, procure-
ment, construction, energy and
investment. It produces steel
towers, steel bridges, passenger
boarding bridges, oil and gas
equipment, road construction
equipment, special purpose
vehicles, power generators
and plant system projects. It
is owned by the family of Vice
President Jusuf Kalla.
In Indonesia, Bukaka is the
only manufacturer for passen-
ger boarding bridge used in
airports (also known as aero-
bridges), and one of five board-
ing bridge manufacturers in the
world. Bukaka has served many
corporate clients in places such
as Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong,
China, India, Malaysia, Chile,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bru-
nei Darussalam, Singapore and
Laos. As of today, Bukaka has
produced 700 boarding bridges
and claims a 40% market share
in the region.
Cap Lang
The Cap Lang brand is the domestic market leader for
Cajuput oil, and has an array of 20 products based on it
from oil to balm products. It is often used as a balm for
sore muscles. Currently Cap Lang brand products are
exported to countries in ASEAN, Middle East, East Asia and
also South America. The Cap Lang brand was created by
pharmaceutical producer PT Eagle Indo Pharma, estab-
lished in 1973 and based in Tangerang.

Named after its founder, Carlo Pessina, this Bali
Carlo
based furniture company has been designing and
making original furniture, interior fittings and
accessories for over 25 years. The company is
renowned for materials innovation. In the 1980s,
Carlo pioneered the use of coconut shell in fur-
niture design, starting an international trend
5
and influencing a generation of designers. Aside
from coconut shells, Carlo also has experiment-
ed with other material such as seashells, tree
bark and mother-of-pearl.
Its products are used in many well-known
hotels such as the Aman resorts, Four Seasons
and Ritz-Carlton, and has done projects world-
wide. He also caters to high-end clients such
as decorating the presidential palace of the Re-
public of Congo. All products are handmade in
a workshop in Tabanan, with over 200 skilled
artisans. The furniture is priced accordingly,
such as a chair at $800 while a table can fetch
up to $10,000, all depending on the material
used, the size and shape.
Carlo arrived in Bali in 1979, leaving Milan
and a career in advertising, after hearing about
the beauty of Bali. He started off making soft
furnishings, such as pillows and bed covers,
and then later made hard furnishings. Today
his main showroom is in Sanur.

Visitors looking some of the Italian furniture Left to right: Mrs. Endah Wahyu Sulistianti, Vittorio Sandalli, Mr. Cosmas Gozali,
design showcase. Mr. Erlangga Boenawan, Mr. Alessandro Liberatori and Ms. Michela Magri`
Italian Design Day

2-16 March 2017
Forbes Indonesia is the media

partner of the first edition of
the Italian Design Day held by
the Embassy of Italy, Jakarta,
the Italian Trade Agency and
the Italian Cultural Institute,
Jakarta in collaboration with
LAFLO. The event aims to
promote the “Made in Italy”
and all Italian excellences all
over the world in one entire
day with the theme “Italian
and Creativity: Brands and
Customs, Fashion and Design”.
Guests and visitors enjoying the event.
Ferrari is one of the most wellknown

Mr. Erlangga Boenawan Mr. Vittorio Sandalli Mr. Cosmas Gozali Italian brands.
MAY2017
JANUARY 2017 FORBES
FORBES INDONESIA
INDONESIA | 33
71
The company is based in Purbal- labeled ‘made in Indonesia’,” says
ingga, where Audrie grew up, and Audrie.
which from the 1980s has become a He and Ferry built the company,
global center for production of hair- and then the D’Eyeko brand, to go
6 based products, such as wigs and fake

eyelashes. About 30 companies focus
head-to-head with the foreign-owned
factories and brands. D’Eyeko is dis-
on making fake eyelashes in the city. tributed globally, with the main export
Last year, the value of human hair- destinations being Europe, especially
based products, including wigs and Balkan countries; Latin America, with
D’Eyeko
fake eyelashes, was $64 million, much distributors in Ecuador and Colum-
of it made in Purbalingga, according bia; and the Middle East, especially
to government data. Purbalingga’s Saudi Arabia. D’Eyeko has nearly 100
production is also exported, typically variants for export, with differentia-
on an OEM basis for other, usually in- tion in length, thickness, and style. The
ternational, brands. founders continuosly innovate, such as
D
BY SHINTYA FELICITAS
Audrie, whose father sold hair in supplying the current trend for double
’Eyeko is a brand cre- the 1970s, became concerned by the lashes and 3D lashes.
ated in 2010 by Audrie dominance of international compa- The company has two facto-
Sukoco, 41, and Yohanes nies in the business. About half of ries covering nearly two hectares in
Ferry, 42, for their pre- the eyelash companies in Purbal- Purbalingga. Started with only 50
mium fake eyelashes products. The ingga are foreign-owned. “In the staff nine years ago, the company
two own eyelash maker PT Bintang Purbalingga companies, the workers has grown rapidly and now employs
Mas Triyasa, which they started in are all Indonesian, and even some more than 2,000 full-time and 6,000
2008 to make fake eyelashes on an managers and directors were locals, contract staff. The eyelashes are
OEM basis under the brand Eyelash- so why don’t Indonesians become made from real human hair, and each
es World. Yet they decided, after two owners too? Also, we wanted to sell month, the factories buy 1.5 tonnes of
years in the business, that it was time a branded product that was clearly hair. Forbes Indonesia estimates total
for them to make their own branded production is around 2.5 million pairs
eyelashes. The D’Eyeko brand is an of eyelashes a year. Some 90% of the
abbreviation of the name “the eye
“WE WANTED TO SELL A production is exported, both as OEM
cosmetic,” and applies to premium BRANDED PRODUCT THAT and under the D’Eyeko brand, the rest
fakes eyelashes and related products, WAS CLEARLY LABELED is for the domestic market.
such as glue and applicators. ‘MADE IN INDONESIA’.” The products are 100% hand-
made, with each worker able to pro-
duce about 35 pairs of eyelashes daily.
The manufacturing process is quite
complicated, involving 14 steps, and
requiring much detail. Knitting the
hair one by one, known as netting,
requires high precision to make sure
that each eyelash is uniform. For the
most complicated items, one work-
er can spend half an hour per piece
on this first step. After that, the hair
is ironed and rolled, then steamed
in the oven, before being shaped,
trimmed and packed.
COURTESY OF D’EYEKO
The price of one pair of eyelash-

es ranges between Rp 50,000 to Rp
70,000, a relatively high price because
the eyelashes are made from human

Yohanes Ferry (left) and Audrie Sukoco
hair instead of cheaper synthetic ma- posable income, so we are optimistic more capital and marketing clout,
terials. The pair is working hard to get our chances are good,” says Ferry. so D’Eyeko has a tough fight to de-
fake eyelashes more widely used in Meanwhile, in the global market, velop its own brand overseas. For
Indonesia. They have hired celebri- D’Eyeko must compete with other the next few years, Audrie and Ferry
ties to endorse their products, such brands from Europe, U.S. and South are counting on the domestic mar-
as Syahrini, model Olga Lydia and girl Korea, some of which may actually ket to help boost sales, which is fast
band Cherrybelle. “We depend on the use non-branded eyelashes prod- growing and where they have a lo-
purchasing power of Indonesians. The ucts from Bintang Mas Triyasa—in cal advantage. “When fake eyelashes
local market has not fully developed effect, the pair are competing with becomes bigger here, we will be the
yet, but as long as economy keeps their own products. Audrie says these leading brand in our own country,”
growing, more people will have dis- international brands usually have says Ferry. F
Rooted in its hometown of Kudus, Djarum is named after the needle
Djarum
of a gramophone. Djarum has been popular with its clove and
tobacco cigarette products since 1951. At that time, the clove and
tobacco was blended in a simple manual process using minimal
equipment. As demand increased, in early 1970, Djarum started to
manufacture in a fully automated process. Two years later, Djarum
began exporting handrolled kretek to retailers around the world.

Today Djarum brands are available in five continents; the
company has 18 brands specifically for export, such as Djarum
Vanilla and Djarum Black Cherry. Export markets include Australia,
7
Belgium, Canada, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia, Middle East, the
Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Southeast Asia. It claims to
hold a 70% market share for kretek cigarettes in the U.S. The com-
pany is owned by Indonesia’s richest family, the Hartonos.

E
dwin Sutiono, 31, and An- ed worldwide as well as supplying a
drew Limanto, 33, are the growing domestic demand.
8 third generation running

PT Dua Kelinci, the pio-
The company, started by their
grandparents Ho Sie Ak and Lauw
Dua neer in the roasted peanut business

and one of the biggest players in the
snack industry in the country. During
Bie Giok, began as a small grocery
store in Surabaya that sold roasted
peanuts. The roasted peanuts became
Kelinci harvest season, such as now, up to 90

trucks, each loaded with six to seven
tonnes of freshly harvested peanuts
a big seller, and the family focused on
that business. They moved upstream,
producing their own peanuts after a
sourced from Java and Bali, enter the supplier refused to sell to them. In
Dua Kelinci aims to be company’s factory in Pati, Central 1972, the family launched its own
become even bigger in Java, which covers 18 hectares. While brand Sari Gurih, using the logo of
exporting its brand. peanuts remain its flagship product, two rabbits. The logo proved to be
the company now produces a wide more memorable than the name, so
BY ARDIAN WIBISONO variety of items, all of them export- the family changed its brand to Dua
Andrew Limanto (left) and Edwin Sutiono

Kelinci in 1982. “Our research now contribute 15% of the com-
shows that our brand value is pany revenue, with Malaysia as
associated with nostalgic and FROM PEANUTS TO the largest destination and wa-
sentimental values, because we PROPERTY fer as the most exported prod-
are the pioneer of branded pea- Despite a focus on peanuts and snacks, uct. Edwin says ready to eat
nuts,” says Edwin. the family have began to expand its products rather than roasted
business into property. In Surabaya, the
Three years later, PT Dua peanuts, which are sold in their
family has the Ibis budget hotel in the
Kelinci and the factory in Pati shells, are more popular over-
city’s business area, while in Bali, the
were established by the family’s family owns the Harris hotel in Seminyak.
seas. Aside exporting their its
second generation Hadi Sutiono brand, the company also sells
and Ali Arifin. Hadi still serves private label to companies such
as the president director of the as Tong Garden.
company, while his son Edwin “We have seen tremendous
and his nephew Andrew sit on growth in our exports, we were
the board of directors. not serious about it before, as
“Roasted peanuts sold so we are now. Our target is to
well back then that it created grow exports to 40% within
its own popular idiom laris seven years,” Edwin says. The
seperti kacang goreng [selling most notable effort that Dua
like roasted peanuts],” Andrew Kelinci took to boost their brand
says about the early days of the was to sponsor Real Madrid in
business. Dua Kelinci is in the 2010, pouring millions into the
middle of a big market. Japa- Spanish soccer team. Edwin
nese consulting firm Corporate said the idea first came up in
Directions says the Indonesian 2009, and, after some consider-
snack market was worth over $1 ation, the company decided to
billion in 2013. Roasted peanuts go with Real Madrid, becoming
were about 5% of that market, the first Indonesian company to
and Dua Kelinci and rival Garu- invest in sponsorship of a major
dafoods’ Kacang Garuda domi- “WE ARE THE PIONEER OF international soccer club. It was
nate it. Edwin claims that Dua a two-year sponsorship, later
Kelinci beats Kacang Garuda
BRANDED PEANUTS.” extended. The bet paid off big
in terms of production capacity time when Real Madrid became
and output. 30% of the sales (from 100% in 2000). the winner of the UEFA Champions
Edwin is aware that innovation The non-roasted peanuts prod- League in 2014, which boosted the
is the key to stay competitive. Al- ucts also help to stabilize the compa- company’s brand and sales went up
though Dua Kelinci was the first to ny’s finances because of the volatile 20%, Edwin says.
sell mass-market roasted peanuts, it peanut price, since Indonesia now In the domestic market, the com-
was a few years late in diversifying needs to import peanuts to meet lo- pany is aiming at the mass-market
its product range compared to its ri- cal demand. While Edwin is unwill- segment with its low and middle-
val Garudafood. ing to disclose revenue, he says it is end products. Edwin says in the last
Garudafood first introduced its below Garudafood, which is estimat- few years, business has been tough
biscuit products in 1997, followed by ed to be annually about Rp 5 trillion. due to the economic slowdown. Usu-
other products such as jelly, wafers Looking at the huge regional ally sales are good during the first
and soft drinks. Dua Kelinci followed market, Dua Kelinci first began to quarter, but this year got off to a poor
three years later, after 28 years of export in 2010, but only began to do start, albeit demand began to grow
focusing solely on roasted peanuts. so aggressively five years ago. The in March. Edwin says the company
Now the company has six other types ASEAN market is the company’s used the slowdown to evaluate and
of products, such as wafers and soft main focus but it is also looking at improve its efficiency as well as in-
drinks—peanuts now only make up the Middle East and Africa. Exports novate. F

Extra Joss
Extra Joss is an energy drink pro-
9
duced by pharmaceutical firm Kal-
be Farma. Started back in 1994, Ex-
tra Joss was launched for the first
time in sachet packs. In 2001, Extra
Joss Tab, an effervescent tablet,
was launched in order to compete
with other energy drinks, which
targeted the high-end market. To-
day, Extra Joss can be found in
overseas markets such as Malaysia,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Nepal, India, Nigeria
and New Zealand.
10
GT Radial
GT Radial is a brand under PT Gajah Tunggal, the
largest tire maker in Southeast Asia. The company
was established in 1951 as bicycle tire manufac-
turer. Over the years it expanded its production
capacity and diversified initially into making of
motorcycle tires and tubes, and finally to passen-
ger and commercial vehicle tires.
Produced since 1993, the GT Radial brand
has been exported to more than 80 countries.
The tires are used for a wide range of passenger
cars, SUV and commercial vans. For 2016, exports
constitute half of group sales, with nearly three-
quarters of overseas sales going to the U.S. In
2016, group revenue totaled Rp 13.6 trillion, up
5% from last year.

11 Kara
Launched in 1983, Kara has become a
global brand for coconut-based prod-
ucts, popular worldwide in Asia, Europe
and Australia. Among its products are
coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut
water—sold both for consumers and
industrial uses. The brand is under PT
Pulau Sambu Kuala Enok, better known
as the Sambu group, whose founder Tay
Juhana passed away last year. The group
also celebrated its 50th anniversary,
since it was founded in 1967 as processor
of coconut oil, making crude coconut oil,
cooking oil and copra for export. Cur-
rently the Sambu group is the world’s
largest integrated coconut products
company in the world and has three fac-
tories in Riau province, as well as offices
and distributors around the world. The
group also produces pineapples.
Virtual Office
Rp 300,000/Month*
BOOK NOW @ www.centurion.co.id
Sona Topas Tower 5A Floor,
Jl. Jend. Sudirman 26, Jakarta 12920
CALL (021) 250 6222
*Terms and conditions apply. Subject to availability
N
iluh Putu Ary Pertami Rp 15,000 (equivalent to about Rp
Djelantik’s life is inter- 100,000 today). She was very happy.
12 twined with footwear.
Growing up poor in Bali,
Today Niluh owns Niluh Djelan-
tik, making designer shoes that are
Niluh she could not afford good shoes for

schools, and dreamt of having good
exported to 20 countries and sold
through three boutiques in Indo-
Djelantik
shoes one day. Many years passed, nesia (two in Bali, one in Jakarta).
but her dream stayed with her. After She has bedecked the feet of global
graduating from University Gunada- celebrities, including Cameron Diaz,
rama, she got her first job in Jakarta, Julia Roberts, Uma Thurman, Giselle
as a telephone operator for a Swiss Bundchen and Tara Reid. Niluh Djel-
Niluh Djelantik crafts textile company—and finally was antik shoes have also been wore by
premium shoes one pair at able to buy good shoes with her own Miss Universe and Miss World.
a time for a global market. money. With her first paycheck, she Her path to success was indirect.
rushed out to Blok M and bought After getting her first job in Jakarta,
BY ANTON MUHAJIR the best shoes she could afford, for she worked there as a regular em-

ployee for about a decade. She de-
cided to make a change after being
“I JUST WANT TO tik. This company focuses on retail
while her other company, PT Talenta
attacked and robbed in Jakarta by a BE KNOWN AS A Putra Dewata, focusing on produc-
gang in 2001. This traumatic experi-
ence led her to be disenchanted with
MAKER OF HAPPY tion and the online shop. PT Talenta
produces about 350 shoes a month.
big-city life, and she decided to move SHOES.” The shoes are sold for between Rp
back to Bali. 700,000 to Rp 4 million. In one year,
When she arrived, she took a simple shoes. A very simple one,” she she sells about 500 pairs of shoes.
marketing job with Paul Ropp, a says. Through the tourist trade com- Now she has 30 staff in two divi-
fashion designer based in Bali (Paul ing to Bali, they sold to a wide range sions, retail and production. In their
is a naturalized Indonesian citizen, of international customers. workshop in Canggu, shoemakers
who was originally from the U.S.) In 2004, Niluh and her husband craft shoes one by one. To stay up to
Within two years of starting her new separated due to different goals for date, Niluh is always buying shoes
job, sales at Paul Ropp had grown the business. She wanted to keep from competitive brands, and dis-
more than 300% and the brand had producing a small number of quality mantling them to learn abut the ma-
spread to ten locations. However, shoes, while he and some partners terial, design and quality.
such fast growth meant that she was wanted to mass produce shoes and The process of making shoes is
working flat out, and often travelling. sell into the Chinese market. As part labor-intensive. “Every single one of
Eventually she got sick from the hec- of the separation, the husband kept our shoes is made by one shoemaker
tic pace, and a doctor advised her to the Nilou brand. only,” Niluh says. By allowing shoe-
find more sedentary work that was In 2008, Niluh founded her own makers to make one pair at a time,
less stressful. shoes business PT Talenta Putra De- from start to finish, they can express
Somewhat contradictory to that wata under her own brand, using her their passion in the product. “In the
advice, Niluh decided to start her full name, Niluh Djelantik. At first, end, every single shoe expresses the
own shoe company in 2003, under she specialized in high heels, from quality,” Niluh says.
the brand Nilou. Around the same four to 15 centimeters, that women To reach a global market, Niluh
time, she had met and fallen in love can wear comfortably for hours, for mostly uses online marketing. But,
with Frenchman Cedric Cador, even- example using rubber inside the for Niluh, being a global brand is
tually marrying him. The pair started soles. Eventually she created even not the most important thing. “For
to export shoes to Europe. They met higher high-heels. me now, it is not about how many
with early success, soon receiving an Started from one small workshop customers we get, but how many
order for more than 4,000 pairs. The in Seminyak, the company moved people are proud and happy when
U.K. retailer Topshop also engaged the workshop to Canggu. Her three they wear our shoes,” Niluh says. “I
them to make shoes. “In the begin- outlets, two in Bali and one in Ja- just want to be known as a maker of
ning, I just wanted to make a pair of karta, are under CV Niluh Djelan- happy shoes.” F
13 PaperOne
PaperOne is made by paper maker April, a member of RGE Group,
founded and owned by billionaire Sukanto Tanoto. Launched in 1998,
about 75% of PaperOne sales are dedicated for overseas markets, while
the rest is for the domestic market. PaperOne is now sold in more than
70 countries around the world, such as Nigeria, Australia, Switzerland,
U.S. and throughout Asia. It produces a range of home and office paper
made from 100% renewable fiber. Despite predictions that technology
would kill paper use, PaperOne sales grow normally 3% a year.

Rinaldy
Yunardi
Rinaldy Yunardi
has become a
global brand
in designer
accessories. 14
K
BY ULISARI ESLITA
aty Perry’s song “Chained

to the Rhythm” released
in February was a smash
hit, rising to number four
on Billboard’s Hot 100. For the song's
music video, Katy wore a distinc-
tive pair of transparent ankle boots
with silver accents on the heels and
edges—especially made for Katy by
Indonesian designer Rinaldy Yu-
nardi. “Designing Katy Perry’s shoes
was the highest achievement in my
life, and I will never forget it,” says
Rinaldy, 47. Rinaldy created the shoes
in only two weeks—11 days for the
design, and three to produce them.
“Katy Perry’s team asked for a clear
shoes. So they are supposed to be
plastic shoes,” says Rinaldy.
Rinaldy’s success with Katy Perry
is the latest in a long string of interna-
tional triumphs for the designer, who
first entered the business 21 years
ago. He specializes in accessories,
shoes, millinery and even lighting. A Working with another superstar
month before the Katy Perry order,
RINALDY IS Indonesian designer, Tex Saverio,
Rinaldy had pieces shown at the Vic- PLANNING TO BUILD Rinaldy created wings and shoulder
toria’s Secret Fashion Show in Paris RINALDY A YUNARDI pieces for the Dark Angel segment of
in December. This fashion show is the show with American supermodel,
one of the biggest of the year, featur- INTO A LUXURY Devon Windsor. The dark feathery
ing the world’s top models, superstar INTERNATIONAL wings she wore took three months to
musical acts and outrageously sexy create. “I am very grateful,” he says of
and expensive lingerie.
LIFESTYLE BRAND. being included in this show.

Rinaldy's star has been on the
rise for past two years, particularly
in Hong Kong. Among his custom-
ers in Hong Kong are superstars
Aaron Kwok, Andy Hui, Jolin Tsai,
Kary Ng and Sammy Cheng. “I have
been a big fan of Aaron Kwok since
I was a kid,” he laughs. During his
World Tour 2016, Aaron Kwok wore
Rinaldy’s headpieces and mask.
It took a month for Aaron Kwok's
managers to select the pieces for
the tour. “Hong Kong is one of the
most prominent markets in Asia. As
for me, working with international
actress and actors in Hong Kong is
a major path to enter larger markets Nicki Minaj
such as Europe and the U.S.,” says
Rinaldy. His pieces are also locally
popular, worn by Indonesian celebri- RISING STAR
ties such as Anggun and Agnez Mo. Rinaldy’s star keeps rising
among global celebrities. Last
Another fan is Japanese superstar
month, Rinaldy was surprised
Ayumi Hamasaki.
to discover that rap superstar
Rinaldy’s career path as a de- Nicki Minaj wore his headpiece
signer was not planned. After grad- on her recent music video, “No
uating from high school, Rinaldy Frauds,” released April 20.
worked as a marketing officer at a Rinaldy didn’t know that Nicki
tire manufacturer. Then, he left his had ordered the headpiece
job to help his brother who owned because it had been kept
an electronics factory—this is where secret from him. “We arranged
everything started. “One day, I was everything. It was a surprise for
at the factory and came across some him,” says Faye Liu, Rinaldy’s
Hong Kong based PR agent,
materials like wires, acrylic and sol- Katy Perry
The Clique.
der. I started playing around with
them. I experimented by making ti-
aras in a Victorian style and started
promoting my tiaras to different ers started to ask me to collaborate feathers and Lego bricks, which can
bridal designers,” he says. Surpris- with them on their fashion shows,” be found in everything from large
ingly, his tiaras found its own mar- he says. For these partnerships, pieces, such as chandeliers, to small
ket. Fashion designers and bridal the designers usually asked him to personal items such as necklaces. For
houses such as Didi Budiarjo, Se- make headpieces, clutch bags, ear- example, he transformed ordinary
bastian Gunawan, Kim Thong, Mei rings, necklaces, fashion glasses or Converse sneakers into elegant femi-
Mei, Yohannes Bridal, King Foto shoes. From these collaborations, nine footwear, adding ribbons and
and Tarzan bought his tiaras. After Rinaldy learned much about style pearls, for the Lost and Found bou-
that, Rinaldy started his own atelier since every designer had their own tique shop in Jakarta. In the future,
and started to produce millinery approach to fashion. Rinaldy is planning to build Rinaldy
and haute accessories. Rinaldy then Rinaldy began to develop his own A Yunardi into a luxury internation-
began to collaborate with Indone- signature style: intricate, dramatic al lifestyle brand. He claims to have
sia’s fashion designers. “As people and edgy. He is also known for his many exciting projects in the works.
started to know my name, design- use of unusual material, including “Just wait and see,” he laughs. F

Sari Keramindo
15
Established in 1986, PT Sari Keramindo
International is a ceramic producer that
makes tableware and accessories, using
the tagline “where clay and culture unite.”
The company’s products are exported to
the U.S., Europe, South Africa, Japan and
Australia. Its local customer base includes
restaurants and cafes. Its factory is about
30 km outside of Jakarta, and employs
more than 450 staff.
16 2014, and exports to Japan, Chi-
Sunpride
na, Kuwait, United Arab Emir-
ates, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia,
and Hong Kong.
Together with its sister
Sunpride is a brand under PT Sewu company PT Nusantara
Segar Nusantara, subsidiary compa- Tropical Farm, PT Sewu
ny of PT Gunung Sewu Kencana that Segar Nusantara owns
is owned by tycoon Husodo Angko- a 3,500 hectare farm in
subroto, which was founded in 1995. Lampung that produces
It started to export its products in Cavendish banana, honey
pineapple, crystal guava, pa-
paya, and dragon fruit. The
company also set up partner-
ships with local farmers in East
Java to produce honey melons,
golden melons, rock melons, and
baby oranges.
The production capacity of the Around 70% of sales are Cavendish
company is estimated to be around bananas. Beside the Sunpride brand,
120,000 tonnes annually, with 60% PT Sewu Segar Nusantara also has the
of production distributed for domes- Sunfresh brand that focuses on tradi-
tic market and the rest for export. tional local markets.

and its website is offered in five lan-
Traveloka
guages and seven currencies. Trav-
17 eloka’s app has been downloaded
over 12 million times and the firm has
partnered with more than 70 airlines
Indonesia’s leading online travel that cover 100,000 routes worldwide,
agent, Traveloka has been a remark- and more than 100,000 hotels in Asia
able growth story in the last few and Europe. Recently it launched
years. The company was started a feature called Loyalty Points to
in 2012 by Harvard dropout Ferry boost business from repeat custom-
Unardi. It is now considered to be ers. While the company doesn't
close to, if not already, an Internet speak much to the media, it aggres-
unicorn—a company with a billion sively markets its services, such as
dollar valuation (only ride-sharing large billboards inside of Singapore’s
app Go-Jek is confirmed to have hit Changi airport. The company also
this mark so far). The company has has announced its commitment to
received two rounds of funding, with Indonesian football by sponsoring
the first round coming from East Liga 1 along with ride-sharing app
Ventures in Traveloka’s first year. firm Go-Jek. By becoming the main
The second came a year later from sponsor, Traveloka will support the
Global Founders capital, the invest- players, league officials and club of-
ment arm of German firm Rocket In- ficials for their travel needs—as well
ternet. Traveloka now has a presence as prompting fans to use Traveloka
in six countries in Southeast Asia, when they travel to see a game.
18
UBS Gold
UBS Gold is a Surabaya based gold jewelry

producer. Established in 1981 as CV Untung, it
started as a small traditional gold jewelry producer,
but within a decade it transformed itself into PT
Untung Bersama Sejahtera (UBS), a high-tech maker
of gold jewelry, gold bars and gold accessories. The
company has a variety of brands, including Venus
and Kasandra. Almost 90% of its production is
exported to the ASEAN, Middle East, Europe and the
U.S. The company has more than 3,000 employees.

only had a desk. To help him, the pair in Banyuwangi. However, the pair still
made some chairs, marking the begin- have the main office and showroom
ning of Warisan’s current business in Jimbaran, Bali. Warisan also has
model of producing original furniture. showrooms in India, Italy, Singapore,
In Indonesian, warisan means South Africa and the U.S. More than
heirloom or heritage, representing 80% of its output is exported under
something that lasts from genera- the Warisan brand. In a typical year,
19 tion to generation. The pair, however,
wanted furniture that combined the
Warisan ships about 70 forty foot con-
tainers full of furniture—more than
modern with the traditional. “We add- one a week. Warisan’s biggest mar-
ed more materials and more style. So, kets are the U.S. and the Maldives, al-
now we have modern furniture with though Gianpaolo is looking to expand
some touches of the past,” Gianpaolo more into markets such as Malaysia,
says. “We make furniture that is ev- Thailand and South Korea.
erlasting, combining traditional style The biggest buyers of Warisan fur-
and contemporary inspiration.” niture are hotels, including many ma-
Today, Warisan is a major inter- jor global chains such as Banyan Tree,
Warisan
national success. The company has Club Med, Four Seasons, Hilton and St
annual revenues of about $6 million, Regis. Warisan products can be found
and employs 350 craftsmen, plus an- in hotels in Hong Kong, Maldives,
other 50 staff, mostly in a workshop South Korea and the U.S. “We don’t
Warisan has developed a

profitable niche in exporting
furniture for hotels. “WE MAKE
FURNITURE
BY ANTON MUHAJIR
THAT IS
I
EVERLASTING,
talian Gianpaolo Nogara, 72,
has always been interested in
COMBINING
antiques and ethnic art. He ar- TRADITIONAL
rived in Bali in 1986 after sailing STYLE AND
around the world. Three years later,
he founded his company with a friend,
CONTEMPO-
Lucio Brissolese, 64. The pair invest- RARY INSPIRA-
ed $200,000 to establish PT Warisan TION.”
Eurindo in 1989 as a PMA, using Wari-
san as their trade name. Gianpaolo be-
came president director.
At first, their main business was
repairing and selling Indonesian an-
tique furniture and ethnic art, using
12 craftsmen. They sourced the fur-
niture from Java, particularly from
cities such as Malang, Semarang and
Surabaya, and sold it mostly to tourists
from overseas out of an 8x10 meter
showroom in Kerobokan, Bali.
Then in 1991, they had a customer
who wanted a desk and chairs, but they

know if it is lucky or this is what we and kept ordering from us,” Gianpaolo state firm Perhutani. All wood is FSC
deserved, but we have customers from says. Disney and Four Seasons remain certified and managed for sustain-
big names in the hospitality industry,” customers until today, as do many oth- ability. In addition to wood, Warisan
Gianpaolo says. ers long-term buyers. furniture also uses other materials
The entry into the hospitality in- Warisan General Manager Paul such as metal, stone, glass and mar-
dustry started after the Asian finan- Campbell says maintaining and ble—all sourced from Indonesia.
cial crisis in 1997. During the crisis, building a customer base rests on Over 85% of production is be-
sales in Indonesia collapsed, as well as having good quality and good ser- spoke, according to the customers’
from tourism, drying up the two main vice. All products, for example, come specifications, but Warisan also pro-
sources of income. Therefore, the pair with a 12-month warranty. “If we duces over 500 of its own designs.
took a gamble on overseas sales, open- make a mistake, we will correct it. The price can range from a teak pool
ing a showroom in Los Angeles and We make a commitment to them and lounger for Rp 15.4 million, to an
buying a booth at a major furniture ex- treat them with respect. They will outdoor swinging lounge chair, made
hibition in Las Vegas. come back to you because they like from teak, synthetic rattan and alu-
These efforts helped it secure you,” says Paul. minum, for Rp 47 million. As most
some international orders. Their To maintain quality, Warisan customers come from the hospital-
first big customer was Disney, which oversees the whole process from ity industry, Warisan is dependent
ANGGARA MAHENDRA
bought furniture for its theme park choosing the materials until pro- on economic cycles. “Furniture is an
in Orlando. The Four Seasons also duction of the finished product. It industry that really depends on the
ordered some furniture for a hotel in sources wood from 3,000 hectares cycle. If there’s a slowdown, then we
Costa Rica. “They were very happy, of forest owned and managed by the are affected,” Gianpaolo says. F

20
Zen
Rooms
Zen Rooms offers cheap
hotel rooms, first in
Indonesia, and now Asia
and beyond.
W
BY AASTHA SABOO
e are the Uber for bud-

get hotels,” says Rus-
sian Nikita Semenov,
24, the co-founder and
managing director of Zen Rooms. This
startup provides hotel rooms in Indo-
nesia and seven other countries at rock-
bottom prices—such as hotel rooms
in Bali for $14 and ones in Jakarta for
$12. Started in November 2015, Zen
Rooms is still based in Indonesia, but
has spread to the Philippines, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Sri
Lanka and Brazil. "People don't want
to overpay for hotels, or lodging, and pan. It boasts an occupancy rate above
they want to spend on activities,” says
“WE ARE THE 50%, higher than the industry average
Nikita. UBER FOR BUDGET in the country.
Zen Rooms is backed by German
firm Rocket Internet, and now has
HOTELS.” Zen Rooms grew out of a need
that Nikita had on his own for afford-
more than 900 hotels under its brand, able housing. Nikita was in Indonesia
with more than 500 from Indonesia. Bali is the biggest operation in working at Lamudi, a Rocket Inter-
By rooms, it offers 7,000 in total, 4,000 Indonesia with around 2,500 rooms net venture for real estate listings.
of them from Indonesia. By rooms managed on the island, followed by “While I was working with Lamudi
available through its site and app, Zen Jakarta and Yogyakarta. The company Indonesia, I was living in a kost in
Rooms is already among the top five is now planning to grow its existing 2015. Quality was a big problem in the
largest hotel chains in the country. Last markets further, especially Indone- kosts, and there were a huge num-
year, the company grew more than 20- sia. For instance, in Indonesia, Zen ber of unoccupied rooms as well. So
fold, and expects to grow another five- Rooms is planning to open in Manado, I decided to start a marketplace like
fold this year, by booking volume. Medan, Semarang, Solo and Balikpa- Booking.com for kosts,” Nikita says.

gory. It also has started working with
online travel agents, such as Trav-
eloka, Agoda and Expedia, to offer its
rooms on those networks.
"Our pricing is competitive, but
we don't subsidize the prices," Nikita
claims. To allow hotels to make money
at lower prices, Zen Rooms helps
THE ZEN OF owners improve efficiencies in areas
PRICING such as cleaning and Wifi services. For
The pricing of example, it will give managers iPads
Zen Rooms varies from which they can monitor occu-
between Rp 99,000 pancy and reservations in real time.
to Rp 700,000 The owners also benefit from chang-
with an average ing from a no-brand hotel into join-
price being around ing the Zen Room system, which can
Rp 200,000. The boost their occupancy rates, which is
company has four
one of the quickest ways to improve
price categories:
profits. Zen Rooms gets paid for these
Standard rooms value-added services, either through
rom Rp 99,000 to commissions or in profit sharing. The
Rp 350,000 company has a special team just to
check whether rooms are meeting Zen
Premium rooms Rooms’ standards.
from Rp 350,000 to Zen Rooms already has some
Rp 700,000 competition. Aside from traditional
budget chains, such as Ibis, Harris and
Home rooms Pop, Internet startup Nida Rooms was
which include launched last year in Indonesia, and
apartments and
has already spread to Singapore, Thai-
kosts
from Rp 250,000 to
land, the Philippines and Malaysia. Un-
Rp 700,000. like Zen Rooms, which rebrand entire
properties, Nida works with existing
Villas hotels, and only takes a small portion
above Rp 500,000 of their rooms, often less than 10, to sell
over its network. To be sold over the
While Nikita was thinking of kosts, his are required to offer fast and free In- Nida site and app, the rooms have to
co-founders Kiren Tanna, who was ternet, a flat screen TV, an in-room meet some basic minimum standards,
the co-founder of Foodpanda.com, and shower, air conditioning and a clean in a similar approach to Zen Rooms.
Nathan Boublil, who had co-founded bed. They also provide training to the The company is building its back
startup Smartgov Technologies, were existing hotel staff to ensure minimum office as well. It recently opened a tech
already thinking about cloning the required service standards. hub in Bangkok, and relocated other
Indian startup Oyo Rooms, as the firm By doing so, Nikita wanted to pro- tech teams from Berlin to Bandung.
operated only in India and Malaysia, vide a standard minimum that would The company recently closed a $4.1
leaving an opportunity to do a similar allow Zen Rooms to compete with million series A round to expand its
startup in Southeast Asia. traditional hotel chains, even those presence in the region. Aside from
Zen Rooms’ competitive advantage with bigger and more established Rocket, Zen Rooms has gotten fund-
is upgrading the hotels in its system, brands. The big advantage of Zen ing from Softbank and the Asia Pacific
and guaranteeing minimum stan- Rooms is, of course, the prices, which Internet Group. This round takes Zen
dards of service and room conditions are well below existing hotels, even Rooms to $8 million from investors,
everywhere. For example, all rooms often below those in the budget cate- including a seed round. F

land and Israel are rarely established
to serve only the local economies
(which are relatively small). They all
serve global trends, needs, desires and
markets. Whereas Indonesia’s current
business leaders were able to build
conglomerates fueled by domestic de-
mand, future entrepreneurs must cre-
THE ONLY WAY

ate value by serving the global commu-
nity, not just the country.
Going international must no longer
UP IS OUT
be a badge of honor. It must be status
quo for local brands. Here are 10 tips
for launching a global brand:
1. Begin with an International Mindset

By starting with the end in mind, one
B
BY WEMPY DYOCTA
can reverse engineer all company deci-
y all empirical and non-em- sions about product branding, naming,
pirical judgments, Indonesia development, marketing, fulfillment,
has failed to optimally export logistics and customer service strate-
its creativity, imagination, gies.
products, services and solutions to the
world. In 2015, the Economic Com- 2. Search Internationally, Not Regionally
plexity Index ranked Indonesia 75 out Do not leap to the immediate assump-
of 184 economies, with major exports tion that Southeast Asia is the first ide-
being natural resources such as coal, al international launch market. Often,
palm oil, petroleum gas, crude petro- ASEAN markets already have a major
WEMPY DYOCTA KOTO IS A MULTI- leum and rubber. supply of the product or innovation
AWARD WINNING ENTREPRENEUR
AND ADVISOR TO GLOBAL On the other hand, primary imports you are offering. Search globally for
BUSINESS LEADERS, STARTUPS,
ACCELERATORS AND INCUBATORS.
include high-tech products such as markets with better demand.
HIS TWENTY YEAR CAREER SPANS broadcasting equipment, vehicle parts
ACROSS EUROPE, AUSTRALIA,
ASIA AND AMERICA. and telephones. This phenomenon of 3. Connect with Embassies, Trade Influenc-
exporting natural resources and im- ers and Chambers of Commerce
porting high tech is attributable to the Proactively network with the target
educational quality and vocational fo- market’s Chamber of Commerce, gov-
cus of Indonesia’s human capital, and ernment and private sector leaders,
its creative ability, bravery, capacity and influencers, movers and shakers. More
confidence to create globally competi- connections and insights will save you
tive products, services and solutions. time, increase your insight and sharpen
Indonesia has much to learn from your decisions.
Singapore, Switzerland and Israel.
With relatively negligible natural re- 4. Tap Into Lived-In, Experienced Wisdom
sources, these nations, in stark contrast, Seek independent, objective and valu-
rank high on global innovation and able wisdom from other business own-
economic complexity indexes, meaning ers who have launched, succeeded,
that their human capital is centered on struggled or failed in that market.
professions that add value, and have an
attitude of looking outward. 5. Go
ADOBE STOCK
Scalable brands, products and No successful international launch

services built in Singapore, Switzer- was ever executed distantly in an ivory

SPECIAL COLUMN
around the consumer’s reality, not

your company’s ideal.
7. Path to Market
Be definitive with your path to mar-
ket. There are advantages and disad-
vantages to selling directly, engaging
a distributor, sales agent or creating a
joint venture. Mitigate the risks, and
share the rewards equitably. Unfair
relationships never sustain.
8. Engage Proven Professionals

Only engage with administrative, le-
gal, compliance, intellectual prop-
erty, finance, logistics, customs and
taxation professionals who have a
proven portfolio of similar, successful
clients. Only stand on the shoulders
of experience.
9. Due Diligence
Conduct thorough due diligence on
all partners before entering into a
new relationship. Their reputation
and past patterns will repeat. Also,
disclose any past failures and skele-
tons in your own business closet. This
will save anguish, odd discoveries and
elephants in the room that may later
tarnish the relationship.
10. Exporting is an Ultra-Marathon

Business is a marathon. Exporting is
an ultra-marathon. Whilst first im-
pressions last, success is never over-
tower. Invest time and resources into night. It is your daily responsibility to
FUTURE a solo trip or join a delegation. Have build the culture, fabric and dynamics
ENTREPRENEURS a definitive mission with key perfor-
mance indicators of what must be
between teams across markets.
Although some local brands have
MUST CREATE achieved by travel’s end. crossed borders, Indonesia has failed
VALUE BY 6. The Sensing Process

to achieve the success of Japan, South
Korea, China and Singapore, whose
SERVING During business trips, fully immerse exports are centered around high-
yourself in the “sensing” process by barrier-to-entry technology products,
THE GLOBAL listening to the local market’s con- cultural content and value-added ser-
COMMUNITY. sumer chatter, opinions, perceptions
and judgments about your competi-
vices. There will be rough seas ahead
for all businesses journeying towards
tor’s brands. Your branding, acquisi- this ambitious new horizon of an in-
tion, marketing, pricing and distri- ternational Indonesia. Wherever the
bution strategy must be centered winds blow, the only way up is out. F

Malaysia’s 50 Richest
BY JOHN KOPPISCH AND JESSICA TAN
Overcoming Adversity
M
Falling currency? Political turmoil? Most tycoons power ahead.
alaysian busi-
nesses are facing
many headwinds.
In December,
the ringgit slid to
4.50 against the dollar, a new record
low since the 1997–98 financial crisis.
And Malaysian Prime Minister Na-
jib Razak’s alleged links to the global
scandal surrounding state fund 1MDB
continue to hurt investor confidence.
But most of the tycoons on this year’s
list shrugged off the bad news. Only
20 of the fortunes fell this time. An-
other two people fell off the list. On
last year’s list just six people had got-
ten wealthier in the previous year.
The net worth of gaming tycoon
Lim Kok Thay and his family did fall
over the past year, but only by 2.2%,
mainly due to the weaker ringgit.
The share price of his Genting Bhd.
has risen since November. Genting
Malaysia is expected this year to roll Lim Kok Thay’s Genting will roll out its movie theme park this year.
out new upgrades and its long-await-
ed 20th Century Fox movie-inspired Kong, who also goes by Kong Hon Only one woman qualified for the
theme park—the world’s first—at Kong. He rose ten spots to No. 24 list, No. 43 Chong Chook Yew. No
the group’s flagship Resorts World after he took his company private in other Asian economy we survey has
Genting outside Kuala Lumpur. a $1.1 billion deal. A 10.5% gain in in- fewer women among its richest, but
The biggest gainer is No. 11 Chen vestor Desmond Lim Siew Choon’s Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan also
Lip Keong, whose wealth rose by fortune made him a billionaire for the have just one.
158%, to $1.6 billion, putting him back first time. Net worths on the list are based
in the billionaire ranks as Chinese The biggest loser was No. 50 Loh on stock prices and exchange rates as
tourists flock to his casino in Cam- Kian Ching, whose net worth fell of the close of markets on February 17.
bodia. Next was No. 26 Syed Azman 24% and almost knocked him off the Reporting by Caroline Chen,
MUNSHI AHMED/BLOOMBERG
Ibrahim, whose fortune soared 145% list. Lower palm oil prices hurt. Two Grace Chung, Muhammad Cohen,
as firmer oil prices helped his busi- tycoons from last year did drop off— Susan Cunningham, Neerja Pawha
ness chartering helicopters to the oil- palm oil tycoon Freddy Lim Nyuk Jetley, Naazneen Karmali, Sean Ki-
and-gas sector. Another big winner Sang and Goh Siang of condom mak- lachand, Suzanne Nam, Anuradha Ra-
is funeral services innovator David er Karex. ghunathan and Xiang Wang.

THE LIST
1
ROBERT KUOK
$11.4 BILLION 
PALM OIL/SHIPPING/PROPERTY
AGE: 93
2
QUEK LENG CHAN
$6.8 BILLION 
BANKING/PROPERTY AGE: 75
3
ANANDA KRISHNAN
$6.5 BILLION 
TELECOM AGE: 78
4
TEH HONG PIOW
$4.75 BILLION
BANKING AGE: 86
5
LEE SHIN CHENG
$4.7 BILLION
PALM OIL/PROPERTY
AGE: 77
6
LIM KOK THAY
$4.45 BILLION
CASINOS AGE: 65
7
YEOH TIONG LAY
$2.1 BILLION
CONSTRUCTION/PROPERTY/POWER
AGE: 87
8
LAU CHO KUN
$2.08 BILLION 
PALM OIL/PROPERTY
AGE: 87
9
TIONG HIEW KING
$2 BILLION 
TIMBER/MEDIA AGE: 81
10
SYED MOKHTAR ALBUKHARY
$1.8 BILLION 
ENGINEERING/ENERGY/
CONSTRUCTION AGE: 65
11
CHEN LIP KEONG
$1.6 BILLION 
CASINOS/PROPERTY AGE: 66
12
LEE OI HIAN
& LEE HAU HIAN
$1.2 BILLION 
PALM OIL/PROPERTY/CHEMICALS
AGES: 66, 63
13
KOON POH MING
& POH KEONG
$1.05 BILLION 
KOON POH KEONG: METAL MAVEN ALUMINUM AGES: 60, 55
CHARLES PERTWEE FOR FORBES
When Koon Poh Keong returned home to Malaysia from the U.S. as a fresh engineering graduate, he found no jobs on 14
offer. It was the mid-’80s and Malaysia was in a recession. So he rallied his four brothers, pooled $50,000 and began an SURIN UPATKOON
$1.02 BILLION 
aluminum-extruding company.
TELECOMS/INSURANCE/LOTTERIES
Today Press Metal is Southeast Asia’s largest integrated aluminum producer and competes with the likes of Rio Tinto AGE: 67
and state-owned behemoths such as Russia’s RUSAL and the Aluminum Corp. of China. Shares ratcheted up nearly 2.5
times in the past year, giving the company a market cap of $2 billion. That gives Poh Keong and his older brother Koon
Poh Ming, the two biggest shareholders, a combined net worth of $1.05 billion and puts them on the list for the first time. UP MORE THAN 10% DOWN MORE THAN 10%
“We are riding a positive trend,” says Koon Poh Keong. “Our share price is reflecting the strength in our story.” NEW TO LIST RETURNEE

SYED MOKHTAR ALBUKHARY: MAJOR PLAYER

With a $4.5 billion construction order book for his listed flagship, MMC Corp., will be involved with the design and construction of tunnels, underground
MUNSHI AHMED
reclusive tycoon Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary is on a high. The infrastructure stations and escape shafts for the second line of the system. The share price
behemoth won a $3.96 billion rail tunneling project last April, along with its is up over the past year, helping to boost AlBukhary’s fortune by 24.1%, to
50/50 joint venture partner Gamuda. The order is part of the buildout of the $1.8 billion. Analysts say the company is looking to take its port operations
Klang Valley mass transit system linking Kuala Lumpur to its suburbs. MMC public—but not until next year or 2019. MMC did not respond to queries.

THE LIST
15
KUAN KAM HON
$1.01 BILLION
SYNTHETIC GLOVES
AGE: 69
16
DESMOND LIM SIEW CHOON
$1 BILLION 
PROPERTY
AGE: 56
17
JEFFREY CHEAH
$970 MILLION 
PROPERTY AGE: 71
18
G. GNANALINGAM
$940 MILLION
PORTS
AGE: 72
ANANDA KRISHNAN: TROUBLED TYCOON 19

DANNY TAN CHEE SING
These are tougher times for Ananda Krishnan, who loses his spot as Malaysia’s second-richest person. He’s now No. 3, down $840 MILLION 
12.2% to $6.5 billion. Last year he agreed to merge his debt-laden Indian telecom firm Aircel with Indian billionaire Anil PROPERTY
Ambani’s Reliance Communications. But India’s Supreme Court threatened to auction Aircel’s spectrum because Krishnan AGE: 61
hasn’t responded to its summons in a long-running federal investigation of how he had acquired Aircel (he has denied any
wrongdoing). Saudi Telecom is said to be mulling the sale of its 16.2% stake in his telecom outfit Maxis.
UP MORE THAN 10% DOWN MORE THAN 10%
NEW TO LIST RETURNEE
TONY FERNANDES AND KAMARUDIN MERANUN
Flying
Higher
T
he two men behind
AirAsia—No. 37 Tony
Fernandes, group
chief executive, and
his business part-
ner, No. 38 Kamarudin Meranun,
the airline’s executive chairman—
DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG (TOP); AHMAD YUSNI/EPA/NEWSCOM
saw their fortunes soar by 50% or

more over the past year. In January
they purchased the entire issuance
of 559 million new shares in their
flagship—spending $228 million. Meranun and Fernandes: AirAsia’s dynamic duo.
The duo now own nearly a third of
AirAsia, which is Asia’s largest low- for offshore funding from Malaysia’s the U.S.; the list price for the pur-
cost airline in terms of passengers central bank. The cash will be used chases was $15.2 billion.
carried. The stock has risen 95% in for everything from working capital Meanwhile, there’s more action
the past year. and debt repayment to financing air- expected from the group as AirAsia
The rebound didn’t come easy. craft, engines and parts. is getting bids to sell its leasing arm,
The long-awaited share issue, which In July AirAsia placed orders for Asia Aviation Capital. And it’s look-
was announced last April, was ex- 100 aircraft from Airbus and 200 ing to build low-cost airports across
tended four times pending approval engines from CFM International in the region. —Anuradha Raghunathan

Selling Iskandar
To drum up business, home builders try a novel approach:
hosting arts events and concerts.
O
BY CHEN MAY YEE
ne evening late last nival”—from September to Novem-

year, in the middle of ber. The company also commissioned
this vast construction five outdoor bamboo sculptures from
site dotted with cranes Southeast Asian artists for an addition-
in southern Malaysia, a al $600,000.
steady thump-thump drifted out into Iskandar Puteri is in a part of the
the still night air. The sound came not country that was mostly oil palms ten Iskandar,
Malaysia
from contractors working overtime years ago. It is part of the massive Is-
but from a small dance troupe inside kandar development region, which at
a completed, low-rise mall. Accompa- 2,217 square kilometers is three times
nied by musicians and plaintive sing- the size of Singapore. By 2025 the Is-
ing, dancers in beaded costumes per- kandar region’s population is expected
formed the ancient Mak Yong dance to balloon from 500,000 to 3 million.
from the country’s northeast. Around Iskandar Puteri now includes state
100 people gathered to watch, a few administrative offices, three offshoots
holding sleeping babies. Earlier, some of British universities and a branch of
had caught a traditional Indian dance a British boarding school, as well as
performance or a rock band and may- a Legoland theme park and a marina.
be taken in an art exhibition. But much of the area is still under con- LEGOLAND
Malaysian arts groups have found struction, and driving around can be
an unlikely new patron—property an eerie, disorienting experience with
companies. As Malaysia’s once red- unexpected dead ends.
hot property market cools, real estate UEM Sunrise is majority-owned
companies must work harder to dif- by Khazanah, a state investment arm.
ferentiate their homes from the thou- Khazanah’s managing director, Azman
sands of other unsold ones out there. Mokhtar, says investing in the arts
That means hosting open days and arts is part of its wider mission: “It’s not
events in hopes of injecting some life enough to just sell the highest GDV
into their gated, suburban develop- (gross development value). We try to
ments. In 2015 the total value of resi- measure societal returns.”
dential property transactions in Ma- Societal or commercial, such events
laysia shrank by 10%, the first drop in a are a bonanza for arts groups, who are
decade, and a further drop is expected used to scrounging for funding. For arts
when the final numbers for 2016 are collective Projek Rabak, which brought
announced next month. in five bands for the weekend, it was its
At Iskandar Puteri, a develop-
ment in the state of Johor across the
first gig for a property company. “You
have to curate the culture and bring it
Land Rush
Malaysia’s top property moguls
border from Singapore, master devel- there,” says Seyn Jukey, a cofounder of have piled into the vast Iskandar
oper UEM Sunrise has gone further Projek Rabak. And unusually for a cli- development region, which features
universities and even a Legoland.
than most, shelling out $1.2 million ent, he adds, “They didn’t ask to lower
for three weekends—dubbed “Iskar- the price.”

THE LIST
20
VINCENT TAN
$820 MILLION
RETAIL/RESTAURANTS/PROPERTY
AGE: 65
21
YAW TECK SENG
& YAW CHEE MING
$815 MILLION
FORESTRY/PALM OIL/PROPERTY
AGES: 79, 57
22
GOH PENG OOI
$805 MILLION 
SOFTWARE AGE: 62
NEWCASTLE 23
UNIVERSITY, LIM KANG HOO
$705 MILLION 
UNIVERSITY OF PROPERTY AGE: 62
SOUTHHAMPTON
AND UNIVERSITY
23
LIM KANG HOO Johor Bahru 24
OF READING Iskandar DAVID KONG
MALAYSIA Waterfront $700 MILLION 
(branches of the Holdings FUNERAL SERVICES AGE: 62
British universities) Danga Bay
25
LIM WEE CHAI
19 $640 MILLION
DANNY TAN RUBBER GLOVES AGE: 59
Tropicana
Tropicana Danga 26
Bay SYED AZMAN IBRAHIM
$600 MILLION 
TRANSPORT/MOTOR VEHICLES
ISKARNIVAL MARLBOROUGH AGE: 56
Weeks one and COLLEGE
MALAYSIA 27
two at Mall of AHMAYUDDIN BIN AHMAD
Medini (a branch of the
$570 MILLION
British boarding
PORTS AGE: 60
school)
28
TAN HENG CHEW, ENG SOON
& ENG HWA
$565 MILLION 
MOTOR VEHICLES AGE: 69, 68, 62
ISKARNIVAL
Week three at 29
NINIAN MOGAN LOURDENADIN
Puteri Harbor
$555 MILLION 
PROPERTY/RETAIL AGE: 63
PINEWOOD
ISKANDAR 30
MALAYSIA LIM KUANG SIA
Singapore
STUDIOS $505 MILLION 
RUBBER GLOVES AGE: 64
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: CHARLES PERTWEE/BLOOMBERG; KYODO/NEWSCOM;
40 31
COURTESY OF JEFFREY CHEAH; GOH SENG CHONG/BLOOMBERG NEWS
LEONG HOY KUM AZMAN HASHIM

Mah Sing Group $490 MILLION
Meridin@Medini BANKING AGE: 77
32
SHAHRIL
& SHAHRIMAN SHAMSUDDIN
$475 MILLION
OIL & GAS AGE: 55
17 33
NGAU BOON KEAT
JEFFREY CHEAH
$460 MILLION
Sunway OIL & GAS AGE: 68
Sunway Iskandar
34
MOKHZANI MAHATHIR
$420 MILLION 
OIL & GAS AGE: 56

NEW TO LIST RETURNEE

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Tiah Thee Kian’s Family

Builds a Trump Tower
T
he world’s newest
Trump building, a
69-story tower of
twisted glass rising
above downtown
Vancouver, celebrated its grand
opening with Eric Trump, Donald
Trump Jr. and the building’s less-
er-known mastermind: Joo Kim
Tiah. The last time Tiah’s fam-
ily garnered any level of intrigue
was 15 years ago, when his father,
Tiah Thee Kian, admitted his staff
had sent false information to the
Malaysian securities commission,
forcing him to step down from
the board of his financial firm TA
Enterprise for five years and pay a
$790,000 fine.
The elder Tiah, 69, has kept
a low profile since. He was one
of Malaysia’s richest for three
years in a row beginning in 2007,
and then again in 2011, peaking
in 2007 with a net worth of $240
million. But he hasn’t made the list
since, and we estimate his cur- Joo Kim Tiah has plenty of experience with strong father figures.
rent net worth at $115 million.
Now Joo Kim Tiah is chief execu- its own money in the project, will pectation and all that responsibility.
tive of listed TA and the family devel- manage the building as a hotel in ex- So we struck a chord.” The two heirs
opment company Holborn. His father change for a fee. It typically charges get together for lunch when they’re
still wields enormous influence. “My around 5% of gross revenue. in the same city. Joo Kim even went
dad is the emperor,” says Joo Kim, 37. Joo Kim spent a year and a half to the U.S. presidential inauguration,
“All of the major decisions, he makes searching for the right hotel-brand- where Trump executives introduced
them.” They invested $275 million in ing partner and ultimately built a him to their other business partners.
RIC ERNST/VANCOUVER SUN
the project and they have enjoyed a connection with Trump Jr. “His dad “I could tell these people were ooz-
return on that capital, having sold all is very dominant, very successful, ing with money,” says Joo Kim. “Who
of the units except three penthouses and so is my dad,” says Joo Kim. “We knows who you’re talking to? They
for roughly $340 million. The Trump understand growing up in that sort may own half a country or something.”
Organization, which did not invest of an environment with all of that ex- —Dan Alexander and Grace Chung

THE LIST
35
PATRICK GROVE
WONG THEAN SOON: DIGITAL $400 MILLION 
E-COMMERCE/MEDIA AGE: 41
INNOVATOR
Thanks to his listed My E.G. Services, Wong Thean Soon 36
LIM TECK MENG
breaks into the ranks of Malaysia’s richest. He debuts at $390 MILLION 
No. 39 with a net worth of $330 million. In the 1990s, the MANUFACTURING AGE: 79
entrepreneur experimented with a number of pioneering
technologies such as PictureMail and global messaging 37
systems before he saw a big opportunity to improve TONY FERNANDES
$345 MILLION 
government services. In 2000, he launched My E.G. AIRLINES AGE: 52
Services to better manage the interactions Malaysian
citizens have with their government in areas such as 38
immigration, licensing, utilities and tax payments. The KAMARUDIN MERANUN
$340 MILLION 
company’s growth potential is huge, given the vast swath
AIRLINES AGE: 55
of services it can still tap into in the country and the chance
to replicate the model in neighboring countries. 39
WONG THEAN SOON
$330 MILLION 
ELECTRONIC SERVICES AGE: 45
TEONG 40
TECK LEAN: LEONG HOY KUM
$320 MILLION
DELIVERING ON PROPERTY AGE: 59
E-COMMERCE 41
KONG CHONG SOON
The group chief executive of $315 MILLION 
courier GD Express studied PROPERTY AGE: 74
electrical and electronics
42
engineering in Canada
LIM HAN WENG
before returning to Malaysia $290 MILLION
to take up jobs first at OIL& GAS AGE: 64
Texas Instruments and then
Lembaga Letrik Negara, 43
CHONG CHOOK YEW
where he honed his skills as $285 MILLION 
chief troubleshooter while PROPERTY AGE: 94
interacting with consumers
every day. The two jobs 44
WONG TEEK SON
prepared Teong, 56, for his
$255 MILLION
entrepreneurial journey. HEALTH CARE AGE: 55
The only problem: He didn’t
have the money to begin. 45
Malaysia was rolling out its KUA SIAN KOOI
$250 MILLION
first privatization program,
INSURANCE/PROPERTY AGE: 64
and he became a dealer at
securities brokerage firm 46
OSK, which had set up TAN CHIN NAM
shop to tap the emerging $245 MILLION 
PROPERTY AGE: 90
opportunity. “You were
surrounded by research 47
analysts, savvy investors and ONG LEONG HUAT
high-net-worth individuals, $240 MILLION 
FINANCE/PROPERTY AGE: 72
and there was lots of money
to be made if you were not 48
reckless or too greedy.” In LING CHIONG HO
2000, when moneylosing $235 MILLION
GD Express Courier came up SHIPS/PALM OIL AGE: 65
for sale, he bought it. Today 49
he ranks No. 49, with $230 TEONG TECK LEAN
million. GD Express’s market $230 MILLION
cap passed $500 million COURIER SERVICES AGE: 56
last month. “We have the
50
best infrastructure in terms LOH KIAN CHONG
MALAYSIA STAR (2)
of tracking, scheduling and $210 MILLION 

reliability, and e-commerce MOTOR VEHICLES/PALM OIL
has just begun in Asia.” AGE: 40
FOR METHODOLOGY AND ALL BIOS, GO TO FORBES.COM/MALAYSIA-BILLIONAIRES. NEW TO LIST RETURNEE

COMPANIES & PEOPLE MAVERICK SHIH
Head in
the Cloud Maverick Shih didn’t think he’d work at Acer, the
company his father started. Now he’s helping reshape
the personal computer giant.
BY RALPH JENNINGS
F
our years ago, Acer opened a unit to provide systems or access to tech hardware through the Inter-
cloud services, even though Dropbox, Google, net only, often at monthly rates. For business customers,
Amazon and others were already doing that a cloud-service deal can replace buying new IT hard-
and Acer had a track record for hardware, not ware. Under BYOC, which stands for “Build Your Own
the cloud. But the Taiwanese company (and the world’s Cloud,” Acer contributes hardware such as a media tab-
No. 6 personal computer developer by market share) let. An outside partner might write the cloud software
had been teetering financially after a chain of manage- and provide related services, he says. He points to the
ment changes, and it needed a new direction. So it hired grandPad, a cloud-enabled tablet offered by a California
a cloud executive with the right qualifications: young- startup. The device is tailored for people over age 75 with
ish, business-savvy, foreign-educated and a math whiz. It Alzheimer’s disease or poor eyesight. It comes with wire-
hired the company’s founder’s son. less charging and a Facebook-like social media network
The choice of Maverick Shih, now 43, as president of restricted to family and friends—and is designed to con-
the BYOC Smart Products unit reflects the weight Acer nect elders with them. Acer did the hardware design and
is giving to cloud services. Shih’s role also puts him in a the motherboard. “You need to have very strong hard-
CHRIS STOWERS/PANOS FOR FORBES
prime spot to rise in the parent company, succeeding his ware,” he says. “You need to have a very low failure rate.”
father and Acer founder Stan Shih, though no one there The cloud unit also designed a system that routes office
is talking about that yet. telephone calls to an app.
Maverick Shih is focusing for now on making some- BYOC, with a staff of roughly 300, can grow by pursu-
thing of the cloud service, and industry analysts say he ing partnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions of other
has a tough job. Cloud units provide software, operating companies’ cloud-service talent, Shih expects. It’s set up

“Starting from 2017, that’s
when we’ll start to take off,”
says Maverick Shih.

COMPANIES & PEOPLE
the milestone will be

Acer founder Stan Shih more important. Of
and son are on the same page.
course revenue is still
relevant to that, but .
. . driving the number
of subscribers will be
very important. It’s a
mid- to long-term in-
vestment.”
Maverick Shih
might be able to play
a strong role, says
Helen Chiang, as-
sociate director with
market research firm
IDC in Taiwan. “They
have a lot of talent on
the inside, but some
of it comes with the
old ways of thinking,”
she says. “You don’t
know the next trend,
so it’s good to have the
[cloud] partnerships.”
Acer’s cloud unit
shows little sign of
making money, ana-
lysts say. Yet a lot of
tech hardware com-
panies prize develop-
ment of cloud services
because they can work
on any “end device,”
says Tracy Tsai, re-
search vice president
with the Taipei office
of Gartner, another
market research firm.
“If you’ve consid-
ered it for so long but
there’s not much to
show, do you maybe
need to readjust?” she
asks. The cloud servic-
es of AsusTek Com-
puter, a Taiwanese ri-
val of Acer, have taken
as a business unit so individual products may be spun off off just in Taiwan and a few parts of China, she notes.
for initial public offerings. Acer’s service lacks a “stable enterprise-customer
Shih won’t disclose how many customers the unit base” and lags behind established players, says Hsieh
has—though it says some are in education and health Pei-fen, an analyst with the Market Intelligence & Con-
care—or the unit’s revenue. “Starting from 2017, that’s sulting Institute research firm in Taipei. China-based
when we’ll start to take off,” he says. “The momentum and tech hardware giant Lenovo stands a better chance of

MAVERICK SHIH
cloud business-to-business success because of Chinese in 2003, he worked first at electronics equipment com-
demand and the 2014 acquisition of IBM’s server busi- pany ALi Microelectronics in the U.S. In 2004, he started
ness, she says. “With existing resources, BYOC has to MAVs Lab. It failed after two years of designing integrat-
count heavily on the demand from emerging markets.” ed circuits and analyzing videos for intellectual property
Last year was “pivotal” for Acer’s cloud business, with purposes. Shih has said he was too early for mass-market
several organizational changes that helped shape it into
an R&D unit with a “market-driven” focus, a company
publicist says in response to the analysts’ concerns. Acer “IF YOU’RE WORKING HARD
plans to outperform the cloud units of other hardware- AND IT DOESN’T MAKE THE
intensive companies by offering aftersale service good COMPANY SUCCESSFUL,
enough to make customers want to pay monthly sub-
scription fees and ask for upgrades, she said.
THAT DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING.”
Shih is first a math whiz. At age 9, when asked to
memorize his multiplication tables, he instead wrote demand. “You will always be early. But do you have enough
a computer program to give the answers, and that was cash? You need to have enough cash flow to live longer,” he
hardly his first code. After a “boring” yet mandatory two- says. He later joined EgisTec in Taiwan as vice chairman,
year military service in Taiwan, he felt the crush to “do focusing on fingerprint-sensor and security software. He
something” in life, he told Forbes Asia in an interview. would travel regularly to meet customers, including Acer
The man who had already earned a bachelor’s degree in and some of its major PC competitors, and sit down with
applied mathematics in Taiwan suddenly moved from the the engineers of EgisTec’s contract manufacturers.
barracks to the U.S. He went to the University of South- In 2011, Acer’s Italian-born chief executive and presi-
ern California for a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in electri- dent, Gianfranco Lanci, quit over differences with the
cal engineering. board over how the company should grow. After Acer
An academic CASHING IN ON THE CLOUD acquired American cloud-service provider iGware, it
advisor in Cali- WESTERN VENDORS DOMINATE CLOUD became obvious during a father-and-son discussion that
fornia helped SERVICES IN ASIA. THESE ARE THE TOP Maverick’s experience in M&A at EgisTec and in software
Maverick pick FIVE SERVICE PROVIDERS IN ASIA-PACIFIC was what a company statement calls “entirely relevant
OUTSIDE OF JAPAN IN 2015:
electrical en- and needed by Acer.” The younger Shih joined that same
gineering to VENDOR MARKET SHARE year as a special assistant to oversee personal cloud ser-
capitalize on his vices, a precursor to his cloud leadership role that began
AMAZON.COM 13%
math talent. “I’m in 2013. Also in 2013, his father returned to Acer from re-
MICROSOFT 7
good at math; ALIBABA GROUP 5
tirement to become chairman and president after a record
I’m not good at SALESFORCE.COM 4
financial loss following a slump in global laptop demand.
literature,” he SAP 4
Stan Shih, who’s 72 and founded Acer in 1976, has
says. “I think SOURCE: MARKET RESEARCH FIRM IDC’S PUBLIC CLOUD SERVICES TRACKER.
quietly shaped the son’s outlook since childhood. Mav-
very logically, so erick Shih said he never thought about working for Acer
anything logical I can easily get.” He calls the advisor a while playing baseball in the company backyard as a
“lasting inspiration.” child. Stan Shih advised all of his three children against
Building on his early aptitude for writing code, in his joining Acer if they saw that move as taking over a family
Ph.D. studies Shih did some of the earliest scientific re- business, the son told German newspaper Die Zeit last
search into digital music, inventing technology to let lis- year. Instead, his father helped Maverick find his advi-
teners find songs by humming the melody. He chose the sor, a USC professor. His parents also funded MAVs Lab
English name Maverick, he says, to “represent his mind- at the start, according to the Acer spokeswoman. Now
set—to be different.” father and son are on the same team. “Stan will call me
Life in California began priming Shih for his eventual for business” on weekends, he says.
career in tech. “What I got was to know more about the Acer might eventually compete on cloud services by
culture in the U.S.,” he says. “It’s really helped me to do installing popular cloud perks on its own PCs. New devices
international business—to understand how Americans will come with cloud services for photos and free tunes, the
look at the world, how they look at business opportuni- younger Shih forecasts. He warns that the workforce must
ties and how to incubate new technologies.” work hard only in the right direction. “The most important
Shih’s ups and downs in his first decade of work—with thing I’ve learned is hard work doesn’t equal success,” he
positions that jumped beyond his engineering degree— says. “If you’re working hard and it doesn’t make the
seasoned him for tech leadership. After getting his Ph.D. company successful, that doesn’t mean anything.” F

COMPANIES & PEOPLE
H
onda Motor Co.’s fu-
ture is quietly being
forged in a secretive
Honda Opens
lab in Mountain View,
California. From this 35,000-square-
foot taupe-colored office park, Naoki
“Nick” Sugimoto, a 55-year-old Hon-
Its Doors
da veteran, scouts for the world’s
best tech partners. Two recent proj-
ects from Sugimoto’s lab—a car dis-
play enhanced with holograms and
The famously independent Japanese carmaker an “optical” microphone that dra-
is finally admitting it can’t invent the future matically improves speech recogni-
single-handedly. Will Silicon Valley lend a hand? tion by reading a speaker’s facial vibra-
tions—wowed crowds of auto and tech
BY ALAN OHNSMAN enthusiasts at the Consumer Electron-
ics Show in Las Vegas in January.
Silicon Valley Lab head Nick Sugimoto (left)

and Xcelerator program lead Dennis Clark
scour the region for technology and startups
that can help jazz up Hondas and Acuras.

HONDA MOTOR CO.
“When it comes to creating in- duction as quickly as possible,” says

novations, doing everything in-house Sugimoto, who has an engineering
is not the right way,” says Sugimoto,
“HONDA IS WILLING degree from the University of Tokyo
echoing a new company line. “Open TO PURSUE WIN-WIN and an M.B.A. from UC Berkeley’s
collaboration is really the key.” TECHNOLOGY CO- Haas School of Business.
As if to underscore the point, the OPERATION SO THAT Take the holographic car display.
world’s eighth-largest carmaker re- WE CAN OPENLY IN- In just six months, engineers from
cently announced partnership talks NOVATE WITH OTHER Menlo Park-based Leia 3D, working
with Waymo, the Alphabet subsid- side by side with Honda auto whiz-
iary formerly known as Google’s self-
COMPANIES AND AT zes, adapted the startup’s nanotech-
driving-car unit. With the exception THE SAME TIME SHOW nology for use in vehicles. The result
of Fiat Chrysler, which has put Way- OUR INDIVIDUALITY,” is a futuristic dashboard that renders
mo’s technology into 100 minivans, images with depth even when driv-
automakers have treaded carefully ers move their heads to view the
around Google, fearful that the tech congested and more fun. Nifty, for screen from different angles.
giant could someday come to domi- sure, but it’s clear the company can’t Sugimoto says it’s one of a “low-
nate their business. get there alone. “Honda’s core com- double-digit” number of projects
Times are a-changing for the petencies aren’t in these emerging from a two-year-old program at the
maker of Baby Boomer favorites like areas,” says Ed Kim, an analyst at lab called Xcelerator. It’s a hands-
the Civic, Accord and CR-V; the com- AutoPacific, an industry consultancy. on incubator, offering startups work
pany has long been known for its Honda sold 4.4 million vehicles space, equipment, funding and men-
obsession with solving engineering in 2015, less than half as many as toring. The optical microphone, a
problems on its own. Since its found- giants like Toyota, VW and GM. collaboration with Israeli startup
ing in 1948, Honda has made motor- Sales for fiscal 2016, which ended VocalZoom, also emerged from the
cycles, cars, lawn mowers, jets, fuel on March 31, grew at a healthy 9.6%, Xcelerator program.
cells, humanoid robots and just about bringing revenue to about $130 bil- In 2014, the lab opened a soft-
everything else in-house. But in a lion. But the company is forecasting ware studio to work with app makers
world where cars are rapidly becom- a 6% drop in revenue for the cur- to integrate new in-car conveniences
ing tech gadgets on wheels, Honda’s rent fiscal year at a time when other into Hondas and Acuras. It’s work-
hallmark masterful mechanical en- automakers are expected to be flat ing with Visa to let cars auto-pay for
gineering is no longer sufficient. To overall. S&P Global Ratings recently parking and gas, and with fast-food
stay competitive, Honda needs to get cut its outlook for the company. chains to allow hungry drivers to
over its chronic case of Not Invented Intangible signs are worrisome, place and prepay for orders.
Here syndrome, and as Sugimoto’s lab too. When it comes to in-car tech, While the Silicon Valley Lab
and the Waymo talks make clear, it’s “Honda is seen at this point to be represents a relatively small piece
starting to make progress. “Honda is fairly average,” says Alexander Ed- of Honda’s $6 billion global R&D
willing to pursue win-win technology wards, president of Strategic Vision, budget, Sugimoto expects its impact
cooperation so that we can openly a San Diego research firm. Long to be far-reaching, and not just for
innovate with other companies and known for making some of the most Honda. “We don’t claim any exclu-
at the same time show our individu- reliable vehicles, Honda ranked sivity. We just share the fruits of
ality,” says Honda CEO Takahiro sixth in owner satisfaction in Con- what we create together,” he says.
Hachigo via email. sumer Reports’ most recent survey, “Startups and partners can take that
The stakes couldn’t be higher. published in December. to Toyota or whoever and pitch the
The auto industry has entered a new That’s where innovators like same proposal. Fine.”
era dominated by technologies like Sugimoto come in. Bespectacled and But the broader goal is to
AI, sensors, apps and ride-sharing. relaxed in jeans and a black North revitalize a ho-hum carmaker with a
As with every other automaker, Hon- Face jacket, he’s welcoming, though history of engineering greatness.
TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD FOR FORBES
da’s execs are touting a “cooperative the old Honda habits die hard: He Says Sugimoto, “The purpose is to
mobility ecosystem”—a distributed won’t offer a tour of the lab where reenergize the original DNA,
fleet of vehicles that communicate dozens of stealth projects are in stimulate the right brain of all
with their occupants, other vehicles development. The lab’s overarch- Honda people and figure out the
and sensors on roads, bridges and ing goal is not blue-sky research but right path to deliver ‘wow’ innova-
buildings to make travel safer, less rather to put “technologies into pro- tions to our customers.” F

HOW
TO
Craig Venter, the
man who mapped
CHEAT
the human genome,
is back with a
$25,000 physical he
hopes can extend
your life—and make
him a billionaire.
BY MATTHEW HERPER
DEATH
ETHAN PINES FOR FORBES

H U M A N L O N G E V I T Y
Craig Venter
CRAIG VENTER, SEQUENCED 1972: Receives B.S.
in biochemistry from
UCSD.
1946: Born in Utah. 1975: Receives Ph.D.
in physiology and
1967-68: Serves in
pharmacology from
Vietnam as a hospital
UCSD.
corpsman, triaging
patients during the 1976: Joins faculty at
Tet Offensive. Tries the Medical School of
to commit suicide by SUNY Buffalo.
swimming out to sea;
has change of heart 1984: Joins National
after being nosed by Institutes of Health.
a shark.
1992: Founds the Insti-
T HE WORLD’S MOST EXTREME

physical exam starts in the
world’s plushest exam room,
complete with a couch, a private
bathroom and a teeming fruit
plate. It will be my home for an entire
I got tested for free). It’s certainly very thorough—and, to
many doctors, precisely the wrong approach, owing to all
the false positives. “Study after study of various kinds of
screening measures has shown they do more harm than
good,” says Steven Nissen, the chairman of cardiology
at the Cleveland Clinic. “You do a total body MRI and
day. First come the blood tests, vial after vial. Then two you’re lucky if you don’t find something. I don’t think it’s
35-minute sessions in an MRI tube, where REM and U2 good medicine.”
try to drown out the clanks as the machine takes pictures Venter scoffs. “We’re screening healthy people, and a
of my entire body. There’s an ultrasound of my heart. lot of physicians don’t like that,” he acknowledges. “My
Salade Niçoise for lunch. A stool sample. A cognitive test response is: How do you know they’re healthy? We use
in which letters flash on a computer screen at a dizzying a definition of health out of the Middle Ages: If you look
pace. And a CT scan of my heart as well, which originally okay and you feel okay, you’re deemed healthy. We have a
seemed so over-the-top for someone my age that I tried different way of looking at people.”
to get out of it. Now 70, Venter cites himself. Last year, he under-
“In Vietnam, I used to do autopsies on 18-to-22-year- went his own physical and says he found prostate cancer,
olds, and a lot of them had cardiovascular disease,” J. which was removed last November. The man he has called
Craig Venter, the architect of the process, says with a his “scientific muse,” Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith, 85,
shrug, before adding, ominously, “We find things. The found he had a deadly lymphoma in his lung. It has also
question is what you do with it.” been treated, and Smith says his prognosis is good.
Yes, it’s that Craig Venter, the man in the late 1990s The famously gruff Venter is entirely comfortable
who, frustrated by the slow progress of the government- ticking off the establishment, no matter what that estab-
funded Human Genome Project, launched an effort that lishment is, and the feeling is mutual. His DNA break-
sequenced human DNA two years earlier than planned through was one of the great scientific accomplishments
(he was subsequently the first human to have his com- of the 20th century, yet he never won a Nobel Prize. Aca-
plete DNA sequenced). He hasn’t slowed down since. He demics view him as someone interested in profits over
sailed around the world in a voyage inspired by Darwin’s science. “He’s a very insecure person who compensates
journey on the Beagle, discovering thousands of new by coming across as very arrogant and aggressive,” says
species along the way. He has created synthetic life and one former collaborator. Similarly, Venter’s discoveries
started three companies, and was almost a billionaire be- have upended industries, yet his business track record,
fore being fired from one of the most promising, Celera including a brief flirtation with billionairehood, is check-
Genomics. ered, as connections to past backers and bosses have
Now he’s back with his most ambitious project since gone up in flames. “He has irritated a lot of people,” says
his historic breakthrough 17 years ago. He’s raised $300 Harvard genetics professor George Church, a Venter fan.
million for a new firm, Human Longevity, that’s trying to “It’s a pity.”
take the DNA information he helped unlock and figure Thus, Human Longevity offers Venter a last chance
out how to leverage it to cheat death for years, or even to square his legacy, awe the scientists and make billions
decades. in the process, all the while shaking the foundation of a
Core to the effort is the $25,000 executive physical, topic that precisely 100% of homo sapiens have a keen in-
branded the Health Nucleus, that I’m taking (disclosure: terest in: how and when each of us will die.

tute for Genomic Research. the human genetic code in 2002: Fired from Celera genome sequenced. The
three years. Enters a race Genomics. results are published in
1995: Decodes the first with the government-fund- PLOS Biology.
genetic sequence, or ge- ed Human Genome Project, 2004–06: Circumnavi-
nome, of a cell: a bacterium, which is trying to do the gates the globe on his 2010: Develops the first
Haemophilus influenzae. same thing. 100-foot sailboat, Sorcerer synthetic bacterium,
II, sequencing DNA from creating a new species with
1998: Cofounds Celera 2000: Celera and the seawater to discover new entirely man-made DNA.
Genomics, a for-profit com- Human Genome Project life. Cofounds Synthetic
pany intent on sequencing announce the comple- Genomics, a company 2013: Cofounds Human
tion of a draft human aimed at creating synthetic Longevity.
genome sequence at a life. Founds J. Craig Venter
2015: Launches Health
ceremony at the White Institute.
Nucleus.
House presided over by
Bill Clinton. 2007: Becomes the first
2016: Diagnosed with
individual to have his entire
prostate cancer.
V
ENTER HAS DISPLAYED POTENTIAL, BOTH change of heart a mile out after a shark prodded him. But
achieved and unrealized, almost since he’d go through Vietnam again. “Knowing the outcome and
birth. Growing up in Millbrae, California, what it did for my personal growth, I would force myself to
near what was emerging as Silicon Val- do it again if I had the choice,” Venter says.
ley, he had such bad grades that by high After he returned to the States, he went to commu-
school his worried mother sometimes checked his arms nity college, then the University of California, San Diego,
for track marks. The first glimmer of his future success where he initially wanted to be a doctor but discovered
was in swimming. He was initially mediocre, but when a science. He eventually completed his Ph.D. in physiology
coach sent him home for the summer with tips, his com- and pharmacology, became a professor at the State Univer-
petitive streak kicked in. He spent three months training sity of New York at Buffalo in 1976 and, in 1984, joined the
furiously and never again lost a race. “Had things been National Institutes of Health.
different I would have been competing for the Olympics,” At the NIH the themes that would define his career
Venter says. “But Lyndon Johnson changed that for me locked into place: productivity, perceived greed, the con-
with the draft.” flicts between pure science and industry money. Using a
SAILING: EVAN HURD/ALAMY
Swimming unlocked his potential, but Vietnam made new technology, he discovered thousands of human genes.
him who he is. At age 20 he served as a Navy hospital corps- The NIH made the unprecedented decision to patent
man, triaging troops who came back from battle, including them, and colleagues blamed Venter, calling him greedy.
the Tet Offensive. Deciding who would live and who would Nobel laureate James Watson said he was “horrified.” Ven-
die was so traumatic that he says he considered suicide and ter insists he was always against the patents but that the
swam far out to sea intending to drown. He says he had a NIH did it anyway.
Frustrated, he
started a nonprofit
institute in 1992, with
STARTUP DNA a unique model. He
THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, CRAIG VENTER HAS TRIED TO CASH IN ON HIS SCIENTIFIC raised money from
BREAKTHROUGHS, BUT WITH A DECIDEDLY MIXED TRACK RECORD.
venture capitalists, on
HUMAN GENOME CELERA SYNTHETIC HUMAN the condition that he
SCIENCES GENOMICS GENOMICS LONGEVITY share his data with a
OPENING MOVE: Founded OPENING MOVE: Venter OPENING MOVE: Cofound- OPENING MOVE: Cofound- for-profit company,
in 1992, the company cofounded Celera Genom- ed in 2005 with longtime ed in 2013 to understand
aimed to discover drugs ics in 1998, the company Venter associate Hamilton how genetic differ-
Human Genome Sci-
based on Venter’s pioneer- that would sequence the Smith to work on creating ences lengthen or shorten ences, before he pub-
ing human genetics human genome and the synthetic life. Hitting major people’s lives.
research at the Institute DNA code of the mouse milestones, including
lished it. The relation-
ENDGAME: Launched
for Genomic Research. and the fruit fly. A tracking creating a synthetic cell a high-end physical, ship ended unhappily
stock, it was valued at with a man-made genome
ENDGAME: Relationship fell
$14 billion at its peak. in 2010.
Health Nucleus, that is in 1997 because of ar-
apart in 1997 over constant also a medical study. Has
arguments about rights; ENDGAME: Venter was fired ENDGAME: Exxon Mobil sequenced the genomes guments over data dis-
Venter says HGS blocked in 2002; firm lost most of said it would fund as much of 40,000 people. closure, with Venter
him from publishing his its value before being sold as $300 million worth of
work. Human Genome to Quest Diagnostics for biofuels. Has a deal with walking away from
Sciences was sold to $344 million in 2011. Johnson & Johnson to $40 million in research
GlaxoSmithKline for develop new drugs.
$3 billion in 2012. funding. “I paid a lot
of money to get rid of

H U M A N L O N G E V I T Y
Craig Venter
[Human Genome Sciences],” Venter says. gered scientists globally, aghast that such research would
But in 1995, Venter’s institute made a real break- be driven by profit rather than knowledge. At the time,
through: the first genome, or map of the genetic code of James Watson reportedly became so enraged he compared
an organism, in this case a type of bacterium. It was a sug- Venter to Hitler, asking colleagues who they were going to
gestion from Ham Smith. They had met at a scientific con- be—Chamberlain or Churchill?
ference in Spain in 1993 and gone out drinking, starting a But the pressure of private enterprise ultimately
two-decade-plus collaboration. Foreshadowing his later spurred results, both at Celera and the public group, which
race with the Human Genome Project, Venter and Smith’s improved their methods and accelerated their research.
bacterial genome map beat similar projects in academia by As a result, the two groups jointly announced they had
many months. mapped the entire human genome—an achievement that
That led a California unit of lab equipment maker our grandkids will be reading about in their textbooks—at
Perkin-Elmer, which made DNA sequencers, to approach the White House on June 26, 2000.
Venter. If he could sequence a bacterial genome, why not In the age of the dot-com boom, Celera became a high-
use the company’s newest machines to sequence a human flier, raising $855 million in a stock offering in February
genome? 2000 and peaking at a market capitalization of $14 billion
Venter couldn’t say no, which led to Celera Genomics’ just before the entire market started to collapse in March.
MAP BY JACK MOLLOY FOR FORBES

founding in 1998. It not only succeeded in overtaking the Venter’s stake briefly surpassed $700 million. He says he
$3 billion Human Genome Project, an international con- gave half his shares to his nonprofit foundation, which
sortium funded largely by the U.S. government, but it also then sold half of them, netting more than $150 million,
mapped the genomes of the fruit fly and the mouse, both which has funded his science ever since.
important laboratory animals. In the process, Venter an- It was a necessary scientific nest egg. Celera struggled
TALE OF TWO VOYAGES

In 1831, a young naturalist named Charles Darwin boarded the H.M.S. Beagle for a five-year voyage, during which he would circumnavigate the earth, explore
the Galápagos Islands and bring back specimens of 1,500 species—including 14 finches—making observations that would form the basis of his theory of evo-
lution. In 2004, J. Craig Venter set off on a two-year circumnavigation of the globe aboard his 100-foot sailboat, Sorcerer II, exploring the Galápagos Islands
and identifying thousands of new species of microbes and millions of previously undiscovered genes.

to invent drugs and diagnostic tests based on its pioneer- the occasional company looking out for key executives—
ing research, and Venter bickered constantly with the the promise of health as the ultimate luxury item.
board. They wanted Celera to become a pharma giant and Doctors hate it. “I’m massively skeptical,” says Ben-
invent medicines in-house. Venter simply wanted to be a jamin Davies, a urologist at the University of Pittsburgh.
scientist and sell other companies his data. He was fired “We’ve been down this road of investigating healthy pa-
in January 2002, days before a quarter of his stock op- tients, and it’s been a sordid road.” He points to a recent
tions would vest. “Being fired in the way it was done was study that used CT scans to screen for lung cancer: 60% of
about as slimy as anybody could do it,” Venter says. Celera patients needed follow-up tests, but only 1.5% had cancer.
limped along until 2011, when it was sold to Quest Diag- Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer of the American
nostics for $344 million. (Forbes estimates that Venter’s Cancer Society, said Venter’s work sounded like “fascinat-
current net worth, based on his stakes in his two startups, ing science,” so long as the people taking the physical un-
is $300 million.) Venter’s baby had essentially been sold derstand that this is research, not medicine.
for parts. Venter believes the problem with earlier screening
tests is that they give too little data, not too much. He is his
W
own evidence. He was the first person to get his DNA se-
ith Human Longevity, Venter hopes quenced, and the results made him think his risk for most
to solve the problem that ultimately types of cancer was low. When he got prostate cancer, he
limited the efficacy of Celera and the asked his researchers why. They found what he calls “the
Human Genome Project. Those two likely perpetrator.”
groups produced an “average” DNA se- It’s a change in the way his body responds to the hor-
quence. That’s incredibly important for a mone testosterone. Testosterone works by tripping a cel-
science textbook, but for individuals, it’s the differences— lular receptor (think of it as a switch). The gene for that
how one person’s genes are different from another’s, lead- receptor is more effective if it has fewer “repeats” (bits of
ing to different noses, eye colors and, yes, diseases—that repeated, garbled genetic code). Testosterone makes pros-
matter. tate cancer grow, so a man with 22 repeats and an ineffi-
Venter says that, thanks to new technology, he can cient receptor has a lowered risk of the disease. Venter’s
generate the data that can determine those differences. At androgen receptor had just six repeats.
Celera, Venter loved to show off his 25,000-square-foot “Basically, I have a supersensitive testosterone recep-
rooms of DNA sequencing machines. But just one mod- tor,” Venter says. “Everybody thought I had balls of steel.
ern desktop DNA sequencer is as powerful as a thousand In fact, I have only six repeats in my androgen receptor.”
of those rooms and can map a person’s genome in days for But Venter’s constant search for more data about his
about $1,000. The original Human Genome Project took own biology also made the problem worse, illustrating one
more than a decade and at least $500 million to do the of the true dangers of the $25,000 physical. Years before,
same thing. (Illumina, the San Diego firm that makes the Venter learned that his testosterone levels were low and
desktop sequencers, is a big investor in Human Longevity.) decided to take testosterone supplements. (Most doctors
Human Longevity initially sequenced DNA from don’t recommend doing this.) It almost certainly made his
40,000 people who had participated in clinical trials for tumor grow faster.
the pharmaceutical companies Roche and AstraZeneca. About 40% of Health Nucleus’ patients have found
Venter says this work has led to the discovery of genetic out they have something serious. Some, like Ham Smith’s
variations that can be found in young people but not older lung cancer, absolutely needed to be treated. Venter insists
ones—meaning the young folks had genes incompatible Smith’s tumor might have killed him had it been discov-
with surviving into old age. Figuring out what these genes ered a few weeks later. But for most of Human Longev-
do could be the kind of breakthrough that would turn the ity’s patients, the results are not so clear-cut. I’m lucky: My
promise of genome sequencing into a lifesaver. MRI results showed nothing save that my hippocampus,
Venter decided that he also needed a study of people a part of the brain that forms memories, is of only average
that could collect even more data than you can get from size. (My DNA sequence isn’t in yet.)
a clinical trial. Hence, the $25,000 physical. And because I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would do if I’d
people pay, it’s not only a source of data but also a revenue learned about a tumor or an aneurysm, and whether this
generator. At the moment, close to 500 people have gone whole endeavor is a bad idea. But I also haven’t been able
through the physical. Venter hopes to be able to serve to get myself to regret going through it. Knowledge about
2,000 annually as early as this year, which would generate yourself is a very seductive offer. It’s one that Venter hopes
$50 million in revenue. This isn’t exactly covered by Medi- will give him the data to finally deliver on the genome’s
care. The market, for the moment, will be the wealthy and promise. F

FORBES LIFE
“When people look at

Pod, they need to in-
tuitively know that this is
something different.”
Fast forward to today, Pod is a ma-

jor success. The company, with Toby
as its chief executive and founder, has
80 staff, two factories and 72 locations
selling its chocolate, including a cafe
and store in a prime location in the do-
mestic half of Bali’s airport (and bars
are also sold in the international half ).
It also offers chocolate tours, with
a second cafe on that site. Toby says
Pod produces 50,000 chocolate bars a
month on average. Priced at roughly
Rp 50,000 per bar, Forbes Indonesia
estimates Pod has annual revenues of
Sweet Success
about Rp 2.5 billion a year only from
bars, not including revenue from the
tours, cafes and other extensions.
The chocolate tour is a major
marketing strategy—tourists want
to have fun, and what could be more
Toby Garritt has grown Pod into a creator of some
fun than visiting a chocolate factory
of Indonesia’s best chocolate. to see and taste fresh chocolate made
BY EDEN GILLESPIE from local beans? Dubbed the Origin
Factory, the factory attracts about
T
100 visitors a day during peak peri-
oby Garritt, 39, is one of Toby, who is Australian, started ods. One of the largest selling points
three owners of Pod Bali in 2010 after travelling around Bali’s is what is called the Origin Factory,
chocolate, which is mak- Badung regency. Along the way, he where Pod officially launched in Jan-
ing and selling high-end saw some local cacao trees, which uary 2013.
chocolates in Bali made from locally weren’t being harvested. So he set to Pod’s Origin Factory is strategi-
grown Balinese cocoa beans. As the work with local farmers and a local cally located next to the Bali Ele-
Pod website says: “Pod Bali creates cocoa plantation to develop enough phant Farm, so visitors to one can go
chocolate at source on the tropical supply—grown organically—for a to the other. At the factory, visitors
island of Bali.” As such, Pod is part of homegrown chocolate business. His enjoy chocolate tours as well as the
a growing movement of Indonesian Indonesian wife Indah found a site to opportunity to purchase 20 types
chocolatiers who are bringing gour- set up the company near the Bali El- of chocolate bars, some with exotic
met chocolate to a country home to ephant Camp, which is owned by her ingredients such as rosella flowers,
some of the world’s best cocoa beans, family (who are related to the Balinese cloves and lemongrass (much locally
such as high-quality criollo. Toby’s national hero Ngurah Rai). In January sourced). Pod’s cafes also sell pastries,
vision, in simple terms, is to produce 2013, Toby launched Pod Bali Choco- such as brownies, cakes and cookies,
high-quality chocolate where it’s late, which operates as PT Bali Coklat, using the chocolate. The company
grown, as Indonesia is the world’s and has a sister company Khatulistiwa also makes nougats, truffles and pra-
third largest producer of cocoa— Kopi and Kakao. The name Pod comes lines, as well as cooking chocolate.
about 300,000 tonnes—after the Ivory the cacao tree’s pod, which holds the “When people look at Pod, they need
Coast and Ghana. seeds that make chocolate. to intuitively know that this is some-

TOBY GARRITT
thing different,” says Toby. “Choco- LONG ROAD Toby is optimistic that he will be
late represents the alchemy of taking able to sell more high-end chocolate
Born in England, Toby moved to South
something from the farm that’s raw Australia with his family when he
not just to Bali’s international tourists
and tropical.” was a child. He got a degree in hotel but to Indonesians as well. Indone-
Toby’s chocolate is done to the management from the International sian chocolate consumption is still
highest international standards, such College of Hotel Management in low, at 0.6 kg of chocolate per capita a
Adelaide. Working in fine dining
as using 100% cocoa butter rather year, whereas in the U.K. and Swit-
restaurants, he had a passion for
than vegetable fats found in cheaper wine, and even took wine studies. This
zerland, it is over 15 kg. However,
“compound” chocolates, such as Sil- interest shifted to chocolate when Toby consumption is growing at 6% a year,
ver Queen. Toby takes care with every first tasted cacao, the purest form of higher than the world average of 3%
step. The cocoa beans are fermented, a cocoa. He was with his friend, when a year, so there’s a bright future for
they both tried cacao beans from the
critical step, in the tropical heat using chocolate consumption of all types.
pod fresh off the tree. “We tasted the
special wooden boxes covered by bam- cacao pod and my friend looked at
As incomes rise, it is expected that
boo leaves. Pod chocolate is all cover- me and was like ‘wow, how does this Indonesians will learn to appreciate
ture, which mandates special tech- become chocolate?’ I said I’d find out, higher quality chocolate, and be will-
ANGGARA MAHENDRA (2)
niques and ingredients. Aside from and from there began a bit of a journey ing to splurge on it. Toby also wants
of curiosity of how this fruit becomes
Pod, other high-end chocolatiers have to eventually export Pod, as well as
chocolate?” says Toby. Aside from
started in Indonesia, notably Delica- learning Indonesian, Toby also had to
expand its retail footprint, and has al-
cao Bali, Krakakao, L’Atelier du Choco- learn all the details of growing cacao ready started to sell his chocolates in
lat, Monggo, Pipiltin and Uforia. and making coverture chocolate. Jakarta outlets. F

FORBES INDONESIA
The Eye BY YESSAR ROSENDAR AND CASSIA TANDIONO
Modular Appeal
Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer has a breakthrough: the Connected Modu-
lar 45, a smart watch that features a modular concept—allowing one
to interchange the lugs, strap and buckle of the watch. The connected
watch is a Carrera Model measuring 45 mm in diameter. The watch
comes with 56 different versions, and the entire exterior of the watch
can be customized. The case can be customized with polished grade five
titanium, or plated with 18K 5N rose gold, and with or without diamonds.
For the strap alone, there are no fewer than 18 choices, such as rubber,
natural leather or anthracite grey leather, titanium or ceramic. For the
watch, TAG Heuer partnered with Intel, providing the brains for a GPS,
an NFC sensor for payments, and a high definition Amoled screen. It’s
complemented with Google’s Android Wear 2.0 and the new TAG Heuer
Companion app to improve the software experience and keep you con-
nected. If you feeling like wearing a mechanical watch, one can have the
smart watch swapped with a Swiss mechanical movement module such
as a three hands calibre five, or the chronograph Tourbillon Heuer 02-T,
with a titanium and carbon case, COSC certified. For the ultimate pack-
age, a deluxe box set is available that includes a connected watch (in
grade five titanium, with titanium lugs and brown natural leather strap),
complete with the COSC-certified chronograph Heuer-02T tourbillon
mechanical module, plus an additional black rubber strap. The set comes
in a presentation case with three drawers, complete with a desktop dis-
play stand to hold the watch and its charger.

Eclectic Vibe
After renovation, Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan Jakarta
recently reopened its Asia Restaurant. The hotel’s all
day dining place with a three-meal buffet concept of-
fers 292-seats with an eclectic contemporary setting.
While the all-time favorite buffet items remain, namely;
the local delicacies such as baso, nasi goreng, Hainan
chicken rice and rib eye roast beef; Asia Restaurant
also has numerous buffet signatures such as the new
Caesar Salad with grilled vegetable and a large Par-
mesan cheese that functions as a mixer bowl. It also has three live cook-
ing stations: the traditional Indonesian dishes, noodles, and Indian naan
bread. The dessert counter showcases numerous new signature cakes
such as Hazelnut Royaltine and Triple Chocolate. —Shintya Felicitas
ASIA RESTAURANT IS OPEN EVERY DAY FROM 6:00 AM UNTIL 10:30 PM, SERVING
BREAKFAST, LUNCH, WEEKEND BRUNCH AND DINNER, AT PRICES RANGING
BETWEEN RP 238.000++ TO RP 428.000++ PER PERSON.
Last April, MINI Indonesia and PT

Maxindo International Nusantara
launched the new Countryman, the
biggest and most versatile model in
Powerful Proportions
the brand’s portfolio. The car now is 20
centimeters longer and approximately
three centimeters wider than the
previous version. Its wheelbase also
has been extended by 7.5 centimeters,
giving it increased space on five fully-
fledged seats as well as a definite
increase in storage volume and
luggage transport versatility. For the
top of the line Countryman S model,
electrical tailgate control as well as
touchless opening and closing of the
tailgate comes as standard. Also being
debuted is a touchscreen and the
Country Timer that measures driving
fun over demanding terrain. A two-liter
turbocharged engine that generates
192 horsepower and acceleration of
0-100 kmh in 7.4 seconds powers the
S model. The MINI Countryman S is
priced at Rp 865 million (off the road).

FORBES INDONESIA
The Eye BY YESSAR ROSENDAR AND CASSIA TANDIONO
Bold Design
For this year, Optik Melawai introduced a new
brand with the eyewear collection from the Italian
fashion house, Marni. The brand, founded in 1994
by Consuelo Castiglioni, is known for its minimal-
ist and original design, and the eyewear collection
follows the concept. One piece from the collection
features a classic yet elegant design with a unique
combination of shapes, material, and colors. The
sunglasses with the half-rim concept have a top
bar that consists of two layers of colors of green
and gold, each representing two opposite shapes.
It comes with a frame that is made from metal,
and a temple that is made from acetate. The col-
lection can be found at Optik Melawai, the coun-
try’s biggest optic retailer with more than 270
stores nationwide.
Full Restore
Mercedes-Benz Indonesia just inaugurated its first certified body
and paint center facility. Operated by PT Cakrawala Automotif Ra-
basha (CAR), the 11,000-sqm facility is located in South Tangerang
and is a complementary facility to the 3S network run by PT CAR
in Kuningan. The repair work is in accordance with strict Mercedes-
Benz guidelines and comes with a two-year repair warranty. The
facility is specially equipped, such as with inspection and paint
booths. At its maximum capacity, the workshop can accommodate
up to 250 car units per month. It has 12 body and paint-certified
experts who use the Mercedes-ap-

proved “Glasurit” paint as the stan-
dard in the painting process.
The facility has several advantages,
such as being able to do advanced
repair such as aluminum repair and
structural repair, based on computer-
ized structural analysis. The estima-
tion of the price of repairs is also
calculated using special software that
can provide a detailed breakdown of
the damage and exact calculation of
the cost. In addition, pickup and de-
livery service are also part of the ser-
vices on offer. CAR was established
in 2003 and awarded the prestigious
Mercedes-Benz Cars Dealer of the
Year 2016 award.

Distinctive Duo
petrol engine, matched to the
six-speed manual transmis-
sion and rear-wheel drive,
or eight-speed Quickshift
transmission with rear- or all-
wheel drive.
Meanwhile, the Range Rover
Vogue 3.0 LWB is the most
attainable model in the long
wheelbase Range Rover line-
up. Compared to the standard
version, the long wheelbase is
longer by 200 mm and taller
by 5 mm, to provide more
legroom and headroom. An-
other highlight of the model
are the upgraded wheels, at
21 inches, and a more luxuri-
ous interior with perforated
premium leather throughout
the car. For entertainment, it
is also equipped with a voice
recognition feature so one
can control the entertainment
system through voice. For the
engine, it’s still powered by
the three-liter superchargerd
V6, which generates 374
horsepower and a torque
of 450Nm, coupled with
an eight-speed automatic
Recently PT Wahana Auto Ekamarga, the authorized distributor of Jaguar Land Rover, intro- transmission. The Jaguar New
duced two distinct models, the Jaguar F-Type British Design Edition and Range Rover Vogue F-Type British Design Edi-
3.0 LWB. The Jaguar New F-Type British Design Edition is a design-enhanced version of the tion is priced at Rp 2.9 billion
already alluring sports car. Offered in red, white, and two new colors of blue and black, the (off the road) and only one
model is aesthetically enhanced outside with a gloss black front splitter, body-colored side sill unit is available, while the
extensions, rear venturi, plus a fixed rear spoiler is also available for the Coupé. For the wheels, Range Rover Vogue 3.0 LWB
they are 20-inch with a grey finish unique to the model with the British Design Edition center is priced at Rp 3.9 billion (off
caps available as an accessory fit. the road).
To support the larger wheels and tires, it also features upgraded

stopping power with calipers finished in red, with black avail-
able as an option. Completing the exterior enhancements are
new badges for the front grille and tailgate. In place of the red
and green of the S roundel, the British Design Edition features a
Union Jack detailing in subtle monochrome. Inside, the car offers
leather throughout together with contrast stitching in a choice of
three distinctive colors: red, ivory and blue.
The 14-way sports seats feature headrests embossed with British
Design Edition branding. Enhancing the sporty feel, aluminum
in the center console is replaced by carbon fiber trim also with
the special edition badge. For entertainment, it can be equipped
with a sound system that delivers 770W of Meridian surround
sound through 12 speakers. The Jaguar F-Type British Design Edi-
tion will be available in coupé and convertible body styles. Power
comes exclusively from the 374 hp supercharged three-liter V6

THOUGHTS ON
Conflict
“EACH UNDERSTANDS IT
DIFFERENTLY, BUT EACH
UNDERSTANDS IT BEST.”
“America, to me, should —THOMAS PAINE
be shouting all the time,
a bunch of shouting “You are fool
voices, most of them enough, it
wrong, some of them seems, to dare
nuts, but please, not just
to war with
one droning glamorous
me, when for
reasonable voice.”
—GEORGE SAUNDERS
your faithful
ally you might “KNOWING
“He who cannot put win me easily.” WHEN TO
his thoughts on ice —ARISTOPHANES FIGHT IS JUST
should not enter into AS IMPORTANT
the heat of dispute.” AS KNOWING
—FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE HOW.”
—TERRY GOODKIND
“DIFFERENT ROADS SOMETIMES

LEAD TO THE SAME CASTLE.”
—GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
“The sciences are not “THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY

sectarian. People do not ISSUE: ONE SIDE IS RIGHT AND
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: EVAN AGOSTINI/INVISION/AP; IAN G DAGNALL/ALAMY; MOHAMED OSAMA/ALAMY; EVERETT COLLECTION/ALAMY;
persecute each other on
THE OTHER IS WRONG, BUT THE
BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES; ERIC HOFFER AWARD; NAPOLEON SARONY PICTURE HISTORY/NEWSCOM; HULTON DEUTSCH/GETTY IMAGES
account of disagreements in
mathematics. Families are MIDDLE IS ALWAYS EVIL.”
not divided about botany.” —AYN RAND
—ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
“The beginning “Economic progress,
of thought is in in capitalist society,
“Respectful disagreement—not means turmoil.”
communication only with others —JOSEPH SCHUMPETER
under opposition is but also with
an essential, truly ourselves.”
awe-inspiring ability.” —ERIC HOFFER
—BRYANT MCGILL
FINAL
THOUGHT
“A GENTLE ANSWER TURNS AWAY WRATH, “Adversity spurs
BUT A HARSH WORD STIRS UP ANGER.” the able.”
—PROVERBS 15:1 —B.C. FORBES
SOURCES: CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRACY, BY JOSEPH SCHUMPETER; FAITH OF THE FALLEN, BY
TERRY GOODKIND; VOICE OF REASON, BY BRYANT MCGILL; A GAME OF THRONES, BY GEORGE R.R. MARTIN;
HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN, BY FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE; LYSISTRATA, BY ARISTOPHANES; ATLAS SHRUGGED,
BY AYN RAND; THE PASSIONATE STATE OF MIND, BY ERIC HOFFER; IN PERSUASION NATION, BY GEORGE
SAUNDERS; SOME MISTAKES OF MOSES, BY ROBERT G. INGERSOLL; THE AGE OF REASON, BY THOMAS PAINE.

READ
THIS
ISSUE
ON YOUR
GADGET
GET OUR DIGITAL MAGAZINE FROM:


Malaysia'S 50 Richest: Indonesia'S Emerging World-Class Brands

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Malaysia'S 50 Richest: Indonesia'S Emerging World-Class Brands

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Malaysia'S 50 Richest: Indonesia'S Emerging World-Class Brands

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MALAYSIA’S 50 RICHEST

MAY 2017 • VOLUME 8 ISSUE 5

8 | FACT & COMMENT // Steve Forbes

ISSUES & IDEAS RISING GLOBAL STARS

50 | SPECIAL COLUMN // Wempy Dyocta

2 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

60 | TIAH THEE KIAN’S FAMILY BUILDS A

COMPANIES & PEOPLE

36 | HONDA OPENS ITS DOORS

ENTREPRENEURS FORBES LIFE

20 | GREEN GAS 74 | SWEET SUCCESS

23 | PROPERTY STRATEGIES // Todd Lauchlan

24 | YOUR NEXT ASSISTANT: A CYBORG

26 | INVESTEMENT IDEAS // Teguh Hidayat

27 | MONEY & MARKETS // Rainer Michael Preiss

Rising and Global

6 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

DON’T LET THE FED

Indispensable Book About Indispensable Man

8 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 9

10 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

Four Points by Sheraton Jakarta, Thamrin

GEOTHERMAL generate a combined capacity of 650 MW—enough to power about

12 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

THE PLIGHT OF THE

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 13

boring. I want to be in the middle of

14 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

FI: What advice do you have

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 15

MARCHING TO A DIFFERENT BEAT

16 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

HOW INDONESIA CAN EXCEL AT

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 17

largest paint company, Asian Paints,

18 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

Asian Paints operates in 18

SOURCE: ASIAN PAINTS, AS OF FEB. 2017

manufacturing plant in Karawang— holding half-day training programs to lated products.

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 19

20 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

NET POWER’S ROD- use steam. Instead, the so-called

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 21

22 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

INDONESIA ATTRACTING INTERNATIONAL

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 23

human assistant. “Please remind me

24 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 25

TIME TO BUY BANK STOCKS

26 | FORBES INDONESIA MAY 2017

THE RISE OF ETHER

is behind investor interest in ETH. As

MAY 2017 FORBES INDONESIA | 27

QUARTER I 2017 QUARTER II 2017

1-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION AT 2-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION AT

* Exclude delivery charge for outside Jakarta

DETAILS PAYMENT METHODS