Management guru Tanri Abeng launches ‘No Regrets’ on his 70th birthday

Jumbo Editorial Team

Indonesia’s famous entrepreneur and management guru, Tanri Abeng, celebrated his 70th birthday on March 7 with the launch of his latest book ‘No Regrets’ at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Jakarta.

Abeng, in his book, has divided his seven decades into 10 periods. To the last five, he gave titles beginning with the word “half.” They were, consecutively, Half Proud, Half Mad, Half Conscious, Half a Teacher and Half an Entrepreneur.

The septuagenarian declared that while he had no regrets being half this and half that in the past, he had now reached a point where he wanted to be 100 percent a teacher. After three years of preparation, the Tanri Abeng University, to be headed by the man himself, is scheduled to open its doors in September.

“We have a system. Each student should have a focus and specialty. For example, for economy, they should not only be knowledgeable in macro but also in finance,” Abeng disclosed, adding that the university will have five schools with the first batch to comprise of around 100 students.

“The weakness of the current education system is that it did not do enough to prepare students for work upon graduation and thus contributed to unemployment. We want to produce quality,” he said of his own university.

He is currently a member of the editorial board of Berita Satu Media Holdings, with which the Jakarta Globe is affiliated while in the past he has held several positions including President Commissioner of Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Commissioner of Sepatu Bata, President Director and President Commissioner of Multi Bintang Indonesia, President Director of Bakrie & Brothers and President Commissioner of British American Tobacco Indonesia. He also served as Minister of State Enterprises in 1998 and 1999.

“He may be 70 years old, but his mind is still young, still dynamic,” said former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who said he had known Abeng for 51 years.

Besides Kalla, those present included former President B.J. Habibie, Education Minister Mohammad Nuh, Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakri, several Golkar senior executives and top executives of state enterprises.