The Ultimate Investment: The community hero
Sugianto Kusuma supports community-centred initiatives in Jakarta, including efforts towards better healthcare and education, as well as helping to rebuild communities after the occurrence of natural disasters
3 minutes to read
AS: Please give us a brief overview of the initiatives that you support
SK: I started supporting the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Taiwan-based Buddhist non-profit organisation focusing on a wide range of charitable initiatives, in 1993 with simple efforts centred on medical and healthcare activities. We set up temporary clinics in Indonesia near areas in need, as well as recycling stations. However, after the Social Insurance Administration Organization was established by the government, we decided to become more ambitious following advice from Master Cheng Yen, who founded Tzu Chi in 1966. Now, we are providing support for students in the form of scholarships, and we’ve expanded into building hospitals.
AS: What inspired you originally to start working with the Tzu Chi Foundation?
SK: I was introduced to the teachings of Tzu Chi in 1993, but they didn’t really resonate with me fully until the riots of 1998. The actual trigger point came when my wife and I visited a big flood site in the Angke area of west Jakarta in 2002. We witnessed first-hand how the distribution of the emergency aid we had provided almost turned violent due to people’s desperate need for food. I think the extreme inequalities of wealth and social status were the main source of these problems. I consulted Master Cheng Yen on how to prevent this violent behaviour, and her advice was to build a strong structure of schools and accommodation that would withstand any future disaster. Great Love Village, a complex of 1,100 households and a school, was constructed soon after. If you are asking why I support the Tzu Chi Foundation in particular, I am impressed with its volunteers and its commitment to accountability and transparency. All of the operating costs are borne by volunteers and all donations are guaranteed to reach those in most need, and are not diverted or misused.
Above: Sugianto Kusuma helping the community
AS: What does your role as a philanthropist involve?
SK: A lot of my time revolves around the Buddhist Tzu Chi Indonesia Foundation, our local country chapter. I’ve left the day to-day operations of my businesses in the hands of capable professionals. Following directions from Master Cheng Yen herself on how to educate the rich and help the poor, I take a strategic view of what we should focus on both during normal times and in disaster situations.
AS: Which of your achievements are you most proud of?
SK: In terms of tangible achievements, there are a few that stand out: the large temple of the Tzu Chi Foundation in north Jakarta; two Tzu Chi schools in west and north Jakarta; the Tzu Chi school in Padang, west Sumatra; the 2,566 houses built by the Foundation after the Aceh tsunami; and the construction of a further 2,500 homes following the Palu Valley landslides in 2018.
AS: What about your plans for the future?
SK: Some of my medium-term plans include the construction of a 528-bed Tzu Chi hospital in Pantai Indah Kapuk, north Jakarta. I am also planning to create the largest blood data bank in Indonesia for leukaemia treatment purposes.
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Sugianto Kusuma is one of Indonesia’s leading businessmen. Among his many ventures and roles, he founded Agung Sedayu Group in 1971. The business is now one of the region’s most successful property developers.