Ir. Ciputra
From Dirt and Scrap to Gold:
A Vision for Entrepreneurship
in Indonesia
Can poverty be turned into prosperity? Is it possible to start with no capital and
later be a thriving entrepreneur? je, as well as millions of entrepreneurs in all
parts of the world, fully believe it is.
The phrase “turn dirt and scrap into gold” is an expression intended to con-
vey a philosophy—the philosophy that has guided my own entrepreneurial
journey for five decades. The key to that philosophy is responding to adversity
with creativity and determination.
My own life story and the stories of other successful entrepreneurs show
that even the desperately poor can become prosperous if they properly apply
their entrepreneurial skill. I believe this is also true for entire countries if they
take proper measures to promote human-powered development by targeting
recent college graduates.
A CASUALTY OF THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION
I was born in Parigi, Indonésie, en août 24, 1931, and grew up in a village
called Bumbulan. When I was a young child, my family owned a house and a
grocery store. I was a content child, until a tragedy turned our lives upside
down.
When I was 12 ans, my father was arrested by the Japanese military
and was falsely accused of being an informant for the Dutch. He died soon after
in a prison in Manado, and I do not know to this day where my father was
buried. In what seemed an instant, I became a fatherless child and my family
became poor—we not only lost my father but also the grocery store, which the
Japanese closed.
Docteur. Ir. Ciputra is an entrepreneur and philanthropist based in Jakarta, Indonésie. Il
is the founder of numerous businesses that comprise the Ciputra Group, ainsi que
Ciputra University and the Universitas Ciputra Entrepreneurship Center. He was
named the 2007 Ernst & Young Indonesian Entrepreneur of the Year. This essay is
adapted from his book, Ciputra Quantum Leap: How Entrepreneurship Transforms
Your Future and the Nation’s Future.
© 2012 Ir. Ciputra
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Ir. Ciputra
Hard work colored our days; I was accustomed to hunting wild animals
with spears with the help of our 17 dogs. We ate the meat we needed and sold
the rest to support the family. We also grew as much food as we could, et un
of my tasks was to sleep in the field at night to guard our plantings.
In my preteen years, the age when most teenagers today enjoy owning
brand-name goods, I was forced to become a young entrepreneur. I had to sell
the food we grew and the meat from
the animals I hunted just to survive. Dans
addition, I made hats from leaves and
sold them in the market. I had to grow
up fast, and quickly lost any sense of
embarrassment or reluctance. Le
manner in which I spent my teenage
years planted the seeds of entrepre-
neurial spirit inside of me. The seeds
grew with maturity over time, et
produced a big yield because of the
need to survive.
Even as a boy, je
understood that
education would free me
from the poverty and
suffering I experienced.
Entre-temps, I attended our modest elementary school, which demanded
additional hard work and determination. Back then there was no public trans-
portation, and I had to walk the seven kilometers to school in bare feet. I had
to leave early each morning, and on the walk home after school the suffocating
heat or heavy rain kept me company. My empty stomach also annoyed me from
time to time, but I eventually became accustomed to it as a normal thing. Being
hungry often made me sad, but then I learned to think of the stomach noises as
a kind of symphony. Clairement, I somehow survived this adversity. Throughout
my most difficult years, I remained optimistic that I could turn misery into
wealth.
Even as a boy, I understood that education would free me from the pover-
ty and suffering I experienced. I am grateful for all the lessons I learned in the
school of life, for even though I had to pay for it with so much pain and mis-
ery, it taught me how to manage failure in order to succeed.
DEVELOPING MY ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS
Dans 1960, I received a diploma from the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), where I
studied architecture. The most valuable thing I gained while at ITB was not my
diploma, but the architectural creativity that complements my entrepreneurial
skills and has helped me become a successful developer in Indonesia and many
other countries.
My entrepreneurial skills began to kick in during my second year at ITB.
My mother stopped sending me a monthly allowance and I had to go to work
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From Dirt and Scrap to Gold
to support my life. I began to sell batik, a popular fabric in Indonesia, which I
bartered for in Bandung then sold to my patrons in Medan.
In my senior year at ITB I established a consulting firm, Daya Cipta, avec
two ITB schoolmates. It required hard work and discipline to successfully jug-
gle the consultant firm and my studies, but it paid off: the company still exists
today under the name of PT Perentjana Djaja.
Just imagine what would happen each year if our education institutions
could produce hundreds of thousands of graduates with entrepreneurial skills.
It would not only benefit the graduates—people would also get better products
or services, more tax revenues for the government, unemployment would
decrease, and innovative services would further improve the social and eco-
nomic conditions of millions. This is the vision I began to see during my final
years at ITB. Over the past 50 années, through the pursuit of dozens of develop-
ment and entrepreneurship projects, I have confirmed this vision.
BUILDING “THE DISNEYLAND OF INDONESIA”
Dans 1967, the Ancol area of Indonesia’s capital, Djakarta, was swampy lowland that
no one wanted to visit. That year, in my capacity as the CEO of a real estate
development firm called PT Pembangunan Jaya, I presented a development
plan to Bang Ali, the governor of Jakarta, to turn Ancol into a major urban and
tourism development. He instantly approved and said, “Make Ancol the
Disneyland of Indonesia.”
En fait, during the project, I requested a partnership with Disney America
to make Ancol the “Disneyland of Indonesia.” They rejected my request, but I
knew I could prosper through my vision of nothing but gold for Ancol, despite
that what laid in front of me was dirt and scrap. I thought to myself, "Quoi
should I do to turn this dirt and scrap into gold?” In hindsight, I used three core
entrepreneurial skills to develop this project.
D'abord, I used my entrepreneurial creativity to analyze the problem of Ancol.
I let my imagination explore all the activities that could actually be considered
in this dreadful place. I did not allow myself to be hindered by these obstacles,
weaknesses, or shortcomings. I focused on the potential and opportunity that I
could reach.
Deuxième, I innovated. We developed part of Ancol to sell to build commer-
cial centers for profit, while we kept other parts for ourselves. In other areas, nous
built, and we leased land to raise capital to build our recreational park, lequel
needed long-term investment. Creativity does not just apply in fields like
conception. An entrepreneur relies on creativity to finance a venture.
Troisième, I took calculated risks. I took this step after I created the opportuni-
ty and innovated. I applied for a credit from the bank; cependant, the bank did
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Ir. Ciputra
not only ask for collateral, I had to provide a personal guarantee. As an entre-
preneur, I took this risk because I was certain that Ancol would be successful.
Now Ancol is the largest integrated tourism area in Southeast Asia, et
with about 13 million annual visitors one of the largest in the world.
BUILDING AN INTERNATIONAL CITY FROM SCRAP
I started to examine Vietnam in the early 1990s. Through Metropolitan Group, je
decided to enter the Vietnamese market instead of China, based on the fact that
Chinese land was too expensive. As China’s neighbor, Vietnam had great prospects.
In the mid-1990s, supported by Vietnam’s state-owned corporations, we built
Hanoi Horison Hotel, a five-star hotel equipped with 350 rooms.
During my time in Vietnam, I had the idea of building an international city
from dirt and scrap while I passed through the area between the international
airport and central Hanoi. Previous development projects helped me to under-
stand the potential offered by international airports. In Vietnam, I visualized a
world-class, international satellite city of 300 acres adjacent to the Hanoi
Central Business District—ten minutes from Nobai Aiport and ten minutes
from the city center—to serve the needs of expatriates.
I presented my vision for a comprehensive international city to the
Vietnamese government and convinced them that Hanoi needed central devel-
opment instead of a collection of smaller projects spread out across two or three
acres. Through Ciputra Group, I worked with a state-owned Vietnamese cor-
poration and established a new company. Ciputra Group owned 70 percent of
its shares; our partner owned the rest. Actuellement, Ciputra-Hanoi International
City is one of the largest property corporations in Vietnam and it has a terrific
reputation. It received the Foreign Investment Award from the Vietnamese gov-
ernment in 2005 for its contributions to the attraction of foreign direct invest-
ment in real estate.
Encore, I created the opportunity. An entrepreneur derives his or her mind-
set from imagination. My entrepreneurial imagination made me see, pense, et
be impressed by things in completely new ways. Every day, thousands of peo-
ple passed through the same area. Why didn’t someone else have the vision to
build an international city near the airport?
DEFINING THE ENTREPRENEUR? DEFINING MY VISION?
How have these experiences—from my childhood to creating entire cities out
of scrap—defined my vision of entrepreneurs? Entrepreneurs represent a seg-
ment of the world that turns dirt and scrap to gold. While just an expression,
the philosophy behind it holds far more importance than the denotative mean-
ing. Transforming something from scrap into something of value relies on
change and creativity. Unlimited opportunity is all around us. Cependant, to cre-
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From Dirt and Scrap to Gold
ate anything new we need to see the world with the eyes of an entrepreneur,
develop a creative imagination, and have the courage to take action through
calculated risks.
With more than five decades of experience as an entrepreneur, as illustrat-
ed in my stories above, I have derived three important lessons from turning dirt
and scrap into gold:
(cid:129) Creating opportunity, not only seeking opportunity
(cid:129) Innovation
(cid:129) Calculated risk-taking
What can development experts and policymakers learn from the entrepre-
neur’s skill set? They must ask the same questions that an entrepreneur asks:
Can I turn poverty into pros-
perity? Can I start with no cap-
ital or zero capacity and expect
to build a thriving country?
I have derived three important
lessons from turning dirt and
scrap into gold:
(cid:129)Creating opportunity, pas
only seeking opportunity
(cid:129) Innovation
(cid:129) Calculated risk-taking
To answer these questions,
consider Singapore—a tiny
city-state that astoundingly
has become one of the most
prosperous countries in the
monde. It did not start from a
point much different from that
of many other countries. Prendre
a look at photos of Singapore
depuis 50 years ago and com-
pare them to the photos of
Jakarta and capital cities of similar countries from the same time. Basically, ils
were the same. Singapore did not have the sophisticated businesses, transporta-
tion, or housing systems it now boasts. Now compare the public infrastruc-
photos, public housing, and the quality of life of Singapore and several other
des pays. We can effortlessly find a huge gap. Par exemple, in Singapore almost
everyone can own a house. In contrast, one easily finds vile dwellings in many
other developing countries. So what’s the secret?
In my opinion, it is because leaders in Singapore have the talent to trans-
form dirt and scrap into gold. They support the creative potential of everyday
citizens and promote entrepreneurship. Surtout, Singapore has less corrup-
tion than many other developing countries. A start as a poor country does not
necessarily mean that the country has to stay poor. Consider the many other
countries that have turned dirt and scrap into gold—Dubai, Japan, Suisse,
and Taiwan, to name but a few. These countries look to their human resources,
not physical resources or industries, to turn dirt and scrap into gold. Poverty in
a country can end if the leaders and the productive potential of young genera-
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tions possess the skills to turn dirt and scrap to gold.
Ir. Ciputra
Just imagine what would happen if our educational institutions could pro-
duce hundreds of thousands of graduates each year who have entrepreneurial
skills. It would not only benefit the graduates. Banks and other financial insti-
tutions could provide loans
for small corporations; nouveau
des produits
et
services
would create community
solutions; new and better
employment opportunities
would appear; tax revenues
would
et
decreased unemployment
would lead to improved
social circumstances.
What can development experts
and policymakers learn from the
entrepreneur’s skill set? Ils
must ask the same question that
an entrepreneur asks: Can I turn
poverty into prosperity?
increase;
What happens in reality,
cependant, is quite the oppo-
site. Since only a few people
possess entrepreneurial skills, employment opportunities are limited, et
poverty abounds. Countries such as Singapore and Japan become economic
miracles, when what they do is really quite simple.
GET READY TO STAND IN LINE
It breaks my heart to see young generations, particularly university graduates, OMS
put high hopes in their diploma and never get their dream job. Employment
opportunities can no longer compete with the overwhelming supply of an educat-
ed workforce. Consider the following facts: In June 2006, Jakarta’s ministry of edu-
cation posted 950 job openings. They received 39,622 applicants. In January 2002,
the national Indonesian TV company reported more than 110,000 applicants for
500 job openings. A single job opening in Indonesia is sought by 200 applicants. Dans
2006, 323,902 individuals graduated from university in Indonesia. Cependant, le
workforce absorbs so few of them that more than 740,000 university graduates
could not find work by February 2007. That number increases over time. In just six
mois, from August 2006 to February 2007, the number of unemployed college
graduates went up by 66,578 people (9.88 pour cent). These statistics become more
troublesome if we include the number of half-time employed or underemployed
college graduates. Are we going to let this huge problem continue to grow?
Unemployment like this leads to poverty, and poverty leads to so many
problems, from social issues to natural disasters. It is not difficult to find a cor-
relation between terrorism and poverty, illegal migration and poverty, humain
trafficking and poverty, child prostitution and poverty, global warming and
poverty, and even the correlation between flooding and poverty. Without
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From Dirt and Scrap to Gold
strategies that address the issues of unemployment and poverty, we will leave
the door open to those problems.
THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP STRATEGY
David McClelland stated that a country will prosper if entrepreneurs comprise
at least 2 percent of the population.1 Singapore, based on the report of the
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in 2005, entrepreneurs made up 7.2 pour cent
of the population, up from a 2001 figure of 2.1 pour cent. By comparison, 2.14
percent of Americans are entrepreneurs. In Indonesia, estimates suggest that
only 400,000 people are self-employed, or only about 0.18 percent of the popu-
lation. With 220 million people, Indonesia would need 4.4 million entrepre-
neurs to match McClelland’s suggested 2 pour cent. Lesther Thurow has said,
“There are no institutional substitutes for entrepreneurial change agents.” How
do we get there when an entire generation graduates, only to stand in line for
work that does not exist?
We can teach and train entrepreneurs with the appropriate methodology. je
share this belief with others, including management expert Peter Drucker, OMS
stated, “The entrepreneurial mystique? It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it
has nothing to do with the genes. It’s a discipline. Et, like any discipline, it can
be learned.” Entrepreneurship education produces graduates who know a great
deal about entrepreneurship and understand the practice, and are ready to
become the employees of entrepreneurs. I emphasize the importance of mind-
set and spirit building during the learning process.
Is it possible to prepare individuals to transform dirt and scrap into gold in
huge numbers? C'est, to perform a quantum leap on a national scale that dra-
matically increases the number of entrepreneurs? I strongly believe that it can
be done, even if it’s a long-term project. Entrepreneurship education will have
a huge national impact if we successfully produce four million new entrepre-
neurs from the graduates of Indonesian educational institutions in the next 25
années. I have three ideas on how to make a quantum leap to overcome unem-
ployment and poverty through this entrepreneurship education. D'abord, nous
should integrate entrepreneurship education into the national curriculum at
the elementary and secondary level. Deuxième, at the level of higher education, je
recommend that we create and develop entrepreneurship centers at major uni-
versities in Indonesia and developing countries. Troisième, I imagine the creation
of entrepreneurship training within communities, supported by the govern-
ment or the community itself, to reach a broader range of people who do not
get formal education.
For my part, I established the University of Ciputra in 2006. This universi-
ty resembles other universities in Indonesia and meets the requirements for
higher education in the country. From the moment they step onto campus, tous
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Ir. Ciputra
students are exposed to continuous entrepreneurship training and education. je
want our campus to produce new graduates who “entrepreneurize” their
majors. Ainsi, they do not need to add to the already long line of job seekers in
Indonésie. Plutôt, they can add to the number of employment opportunities.
I know that the University of Ciputra can never solve the issues of unem-
ployment and poverty in Indonesia alone. The problems have roots that go too
deep and reach throughout Indonesia, from Sabang to Merauke. In my opin-
ion, there should be more schools, universities, government units, and non-
governmental organizations that train their students to become entrepreneurs
who can transform dirt and scrap into gold. As a result, I established the
Universitas Ciputra Entrepreneurship Center. It develops the entrepreneurship
education model and curriculum and endeavors to inspire and provide infor-
mation to those who would like to apply it to the national system.
I ask the government to integrate entrepreneurship education into the
national vision, mission, strategy, and program. The objective is to overcome
poverty and build the wealth of the people in a reasonable and prompt manner.
I strongly believe that national entrepreneurship education policy that spans
from kindergarten to the university level is the quantum leap strategy needed
to achieve the goal of prosperity for our nation. Without preparation that
empowers each citizen to become a job creator, the nation’s welfare in the chal-
lenge of the 21st century will only become a utopian dream.
REFLECTION
In November 2007, Ernst & Young named me the Indonesian Entrepreneur of
the Year. I went to Monte Carlo as Indonesia’s representative at the event, lequel
was attended by 50 entrepreneurs who were selected from 900 of the most suc-
cessful and innovative entrepreneurs from 50 des pays.
My experience in Monte Carlo confirmed my belief that those with entre-
preneurial skill can have a great impact on society. Two things likely happen
when someone has the ability to turn dirt and scrap to gold. D'abord, they can live
not only free from unemployment and poverty but above the average, et
maybe even become rich. Deuxième, entrepreneurial skill makes it possible for
these people to perform philanthropic acts to help others. Many of these world-
class entrepreneurs don’t just become rich, they provide benevolent services, comme
they have the spirit of sharing and giving to the community.
With the blessing from the Almighty, as I near 80 years of age, I can see the
vast growth of the three business groups I helped to establish: Jaya Group,
Metropolitan Group, and Ciputra Group. Par 2007, Jaya Group had built around
29,800 houses; Metropolitan had built 17,365 houses; and Ciputra Group had
built around 32,300 real estate units and 18,100 simple houses, for a total of
97,576. Plus que 14,000 people work for these companies, and each year the
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From Dirt and Scrap to Gold
new generation of entrepreneurs starts new projects. We have finished around
100 property projects that consist of big cities, small towns, office buildings,
hotels, malls, hospitals, and many others. Thus far, Ciputra Group, Jaya Group,
and Metropolitan Group have built or jointly built ten schools and three uni-
versities. All of these schools and universities have produced over 50,000 grad-
uates. Actuellement, schools are still being built that later can graduate an addition-
al 30,000 students.
As a business entrepreneur, I deserve and must get financial benefits.
Cependant, it appears that it is not the only thing that I get. I blissfully witness
that what I have done as an entrepreneur has created employment opportuni-
liens, prosperity, and joy for so many people. The media has called me a con-
glomerate, and I regard the title as an honor. Some have called me a capitalist.
I do not mind it, since I sincerely want to be a good and creative capitalist.
Now I put serious effort into the activities that help more people in
Indonesia understand that an entrepreneur’s work is noble and incredible.
Cependant, we must have the right objective and the right skill. This reflection
always underpins my belief that the skill to turn dirt and scrap to gold, or entre-
preneurship skill, is truly valuable.
MY CALL
Through my book, I tried to convince the public and the government that we
all need to work together. We must mobilize tremendous energy to inspire,
educate, and train Indonesia’s young generations so that they have the skills to
turn dirt and scrap to gold. We must fully support those who are ready so that
the number of small and medium enterprises in Indonesia continues to rise.
I do not know of a better way to multiply the prosperity of people other
than to empower them through education that teaches them how to create their
own work. I underwent this process unintentionally through my family and life
experiences. Together we can develop structured and systematic education to
foster the entrepreneurial spirit and skill of our young generation. It can be
fait; cependant, it will not be easy and will require a long period of time.
My success has not been defined by wealth, pouvoir, and fame, but some-
thing much broader: surviving the storm of life. I have learned to value life. je
thank God, who guided me through my early experiences, which in retrospect
gave me an invaluable educational experience. It gave me a strong sense of
empathy, and a desire to help people through difficult times so they can rise
and thrive as successful individuals.
1. Quoted in Moko P. Astamoen, “Entrepreneurship” Bandung: Alfa beta, 2005.
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