“My mother not only raised me, she filled my soul with grit and wisdom. It is from her, and also my late father, that I learned about the meaning of sacrifice and dedication, and how it can lift you to a higher place. This book is a tribute to her, a small way for me to show her that it is her love that has brought me this far in life,” said prominent Indonesian businessman and philanthropist Dr Tahir at the launch of his book ‘Living Sacrifice’ at the Singapore Management University’s Mochtar Riady Auditorium on 4 May 2016.   

The other reason being to honour his family's contributions to the Tahir legacy. Yet a third reason is Dr Tahir’s love for his country. He said “This book serves as a reminder from one Indonesian citizen to the nation that there is plenty of opportunity in our country, but you need to fight hard and work smart to convert opportunity into gains.  Through this book, I also wanted to remind Indonesians that, whatever you do and wherever you come from, it is necessary to keep the flame of idealism, the same idealism that has motivated me over the years.” 

The book launch was attended by over 300 academics, business leaders, government officials and students. The event was jointly organised by the Tahir Foundation, SMU and Lianhe Zaobao.

Among the dignitaries present were Indonesia’s 3^rd President Dr Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, Indonesia’s 6^th President Dr Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to ASEAN H.E. Xu Bu, SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer, General TNI Dr Moeldoko (former Commander in Chief of the Indonesian National Armed Forces), General Police Dai Bachtiar (former Chief of Indonesian National Police), and Mr Anthony Tan, Executive Vice-President of Chinese Media Group and Media Strategy & Analytics Division, Singapore Press Holdings.

In his Welcome Address, Prof De Meyer expressed SMU’s sincere appreciation to Dr Tahir for his strong support and encouragement to SMU. He shared that in 2014, Dr Tahir established the $1 million Tahir Indonesian Scholarship at SMU to provide financial assistance to Indonesian students studying at SMU, and also as a means to further enhance the good relations and understanding between the people of Indonesia and Singapore. In 2015, Dr Tahir doubled his support with another Scholarship, this time for the financially needy Singaporean and Singaporean Permanent Resident students studying at SMU.

On 4 April 2016, Dr Tahir extended his support to a collaboration between SMU and Universitas Gadjah Mada by contributing $1 million towards the establishment of the Tahir SMU-UGM Management and Faculty Development Programme. This programme will focus on collaborative academic initiatives such as case writing on Asian companies, faculty seminars, training and in-class observations that will help to build capacity and enhance the quality of teaching. It will also facilitate student and faculty exchanges, as well as study missions, thus providing our students with the necessary exposure to the regional environment, cultivate cross-cultural awareness and knowledge, as well as promote knowledge exchange and interaction between the two universities. 

[Caption: Dignitaries at the launch of Dr Tahir’s book were (from left) General Police Dai Bachtiar, Mr Anthony Tan, Dr Tahir, Dr Habibie, Dr Yudhoyono, Ambassador Xu Bu, Prof Arnoud De Meyer, and General TNI Dr Moeldoko.]

In his speech, Dr Tahir expressed his wish to see his children grow to become positive agents of change to society. “I want them to take, with humility, what I have built with Mayapada, and creatively elevate it to the next level. I want my children's contributions to society to be bigger than their last name, and I want them to commit even more passion and dedication to their work as humanly possible.”

Dr Tahir added that he does not measure success in terms of how much wealth he makes, but how much of a difference he makes to the life of others. “For me, a business career is only a platform to achieve much bigger things than delivering goods and services. For me, a business career is about transforming the society.”      

The Bahasa version of ‘Living Sacrifice’ was launched in Jakarta last year, and quickly made it to the bestseller’s list. The book launched at SMU was translated into Chinese and published by Lianhe Zaobao.

The 400-page Chinese edition traced his humble beginnings, his relationships with his parents, his wife Rosy Riady, and his father-in-law Mochtar Riady, founder of the Lippo Group. It also offered insights into his personal values and beliefs, his trials and tribulations, and his successes in building the Mayapada Group into one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates with businesses in financial services, healthcare, tourism, retail, media and aviation.

During the event, Dr Tahir presented cheques of $100,000 each to four charities: President’s Challenge 2016; Nee Soon CCC Community Development and Welfare Fund;   Paediatric Oncology Treatment for Children from Asean Region; and Woodbridge Hospital Charity Fund.

Proceeds from the book launch, at $200 a book, were matched dollar-for-dollar by Dr Tahir and donated to various charities.

[Featured photo: Dr Tahir presenting copies of his book to former Indonesian presidents Dr Habibie (centre) and Dr Yudhoyono (right).]