Ciputra or Tjiputra (born Tjie Tjin Hoan, ; 24 August 1931 – 27 November 2019)
was an Indonesian businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He founded Ciputra Group, one of Indonesia's largest real estate companies, with three subsidiaries, including Ciputra Development, listed on the
Jakarta Stock Exchange
Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) (Indonesian: Bursa Efek Jakarta (BEJ)) was a stock exchange based in Jakarta, Indonesia, before it merged with the Surabaya Stock Exchange to form the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
History
Originally opened in 1912 under ...
. Known as one of Indonesia's most generous philanthropists, he established ten schools, the Ciputra University of Entrepreneurship in
Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
, and the Ciputra Artpreneur Museum in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
.
Early life and education
Tjie Tjin Hoan was born on 24 August 1931 in the town of
Parigi in
Central Sulawesi
Central Sulawesi (Indonesian: ''Sulawesi Tengah'') is a province of Indonesia located at the centre of the island of Sulawesi. The administrative capital and largest city is located in Palu. The 2010 census recorded a population of 2,635,009 for ...
,
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
. He was the third child of
Chinese Indonesian
Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries.
Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have ...
merchants Tjie Sim Poe (徐沈步) and Lie Eng Nio (李英娘) whose ancestral home was in
Zhangzhou
Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefec ...
,
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
.
After
Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies during World War II, Tjie's father was falsely accused of being a Dutch spy and arrested by the Japanese in 1943.
Tjie never learned for sure what happened to his father, who was never heard from again
and presumed to have died in prison.
Fatherless at age 12, Tjie grew up in poverty, but was able to resume his education after the end of World War II. After finishing high school in
Manado
Manado () is the capital City status in Indonesia, city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 Census giving a population of 451,916 distribu ...
, he entered the prestigious
Bandung Institute of Technology
The Bandung Institute of Technology ( id, Institut Teknologi Bandung, abbreviated as ITB) is a national research university located in Bandung, Indonesia. Since its establishment in 1920, ITB has been consistently recognized as Indonesia's premie ...
in
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
to study architecture. He graduated in 1960.
When he was 25, Tjie Tjin Hoan adopted the
mononym
A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...
Ciputra (also spelled Tjiputra
). "Ci" is from his Chinese surname
Tjie, while "putra" means "son" in Indonesian.
Career
While still studying architecture in university, Ciputra and two friends, Budi Brasali and Ismail Sofyan, started a consulting firm. After graduation, he decided to become a property developer instead of a consultant. Having earned the trust of
Soemarno Sosroatmodjo
Soemarno Sosroatmodjo (24 April 1911 – 9 January 1991) was an Indonesian soldier, doctor and politician who served as both governor of Jakarta and Minister of Home Affairs of Indonesia.
He served two terms as Governor of Jakarta. His first t ...
, the
Governor of Jakarta
The Jakarta Special Capital Region is administratively equal to a province with special status as the capital of Indonesia. Instead of a mayor, the executive head of Jakarta is a governor. The governor of Jakarta is an elected politician who, alon ...
, he became CEO of Pembangunan Jaya (Jaya Group), a developer partly owned by the
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
provincial government. He worked for the company for 35 years and became a minority shareholder for his services. His major projects at Jaya included
Ancol Dreamland
Taman Impian Jaya Ancol also known as Ancol Dreamland is an integral part of Ancol Bay City, a resort destination located along Jakarta's waterfront, in Ancol (Kelurahan), Pademangan, North Jakarta, Indonesia.
It is owned by PT. Pembangunan Ja ...
and the
Senen
Senen is a long-established urban district of Jakarta, Indonesia that has kept many tourist attractions such as two museums, the National Library of Indonesia and Gelanggang Remaja Senen, a quite narrow alley with old Chinese and similar style ...
Market.
Together with his university friends Brasali and Sofyan, he also founded the Metropolitan Group. Serving as President Commissioner, he provided guidance to the company, which counts the
Salim Group
The Salim Group is Indonesia's biggest conglomerate and refers to companies where the Salim family held majority ownership. Its assets include Indofood Sukses Makmur, the world's largest instant noodle producer; Indomobil Group, one of Indones ...
as an investor. Metropolitan developed
Pondok Indah
Pondok Indah is an upscale residential area in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, Indonesia. Dubbed the Beverly Hills of Indonesia, this is a much sought-after suburb by expatriates, conglomerates, celebrities, and government officials. This area ...
in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
and invested abroad.
After his children graduated from universities overseas, Ciputra founded his family holding company, the Ciputra Group, for his four children. In addition to his children, his wife, brother, and children-in-law were all involved in its management. He also hired professional executives to manage the company, which developed more than 30 major projects in Indonesia and abroad, including Citra Raya in
Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
.
The Ciputra Group was severely impacted by the
1997 Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...
, during which the value of the
Indonesian rupiah
The rupiah (Currency symbol, symbol: Rp; ISO 4217, currency code: IDR) is the official currency of Indonesia. It is issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. The name "Rupee, rupiah" is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, (). Sometimes, I ...
plunged and the company's US dollar-denominated debts became far more burdensome. In addition,
anti-Chinese riots broke out in Indonesia, forcing Ciputra to abandon several projects as sales plummeted. It took the group years to restructure its debts, and it did not regain profitability until 2005.
After recovering from the crisis, Ciputra diversified his business from Indonesia and invested in major projects in China, Cambodia, and Vietnam, where the group developed a high-profile international satellite city in
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
in partnership with the local government.
The Ciputra Group has three subsidiaries listed on the
Jakarta Stock Exchange
Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) (Indonesian: Bursa Efek Jakarta (BEJ)) was a stock exchange based in Jakarta, Indonesia, before it merged with the Surabaya Stock Exchange to form the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
History
Originally opened in 1912 under ...
: Ciputra Development, Ciputra Surya, and Ciputra Property.
Ciputra Development is one of Indonesia's largest listed property companies.
Philanthropy
Ciputra was known as one of Indonesia's most generous philanthropists.
Attributing his self-made success to his education, he established ten schools as well as the Ciputra University of Entrepreneurship in
Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
.
An avid art collector, in 2014 he opened the Ciputra Artpreneur Museum in Jakarta, which holds a large collection of works by his favourite artist,
Hendra Gunawan.
Personal life
When he was 24, Ciputra married Dian Sumeler, whom he had met in
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
. The couple had four children: Rina, Junita, Cakra, and Candra.
All four children serve on the boards of the Ciputra Group and Ciputra Development, and his son Candra Ciputra also serves as President of Ciputra Development.
Death
On 27 November 2019, Ciputra died at age 88 at
Gleneagles Hospital
Gleneagles Hospital is a private hospital on Napier Road, Singapore next to Napier MRT station. It provides medical and surgical services. It is part of Parkway Pantai, itself a subsidiary of the Malaysian–Singaporean private healthcare group ...
in Singapore, where he had been undergoing treatment for an illness.
His wife, Dian Sumerler Ciputra, died on 22 December 2021.
Ciputra was buried in a private cemetery at
Jonggol
Jonggol is a district (Indonesian: ''Kecamatan'') in the Bogor Regency, West Java, Indonesia. It is located 50 km to the southeast of Jakarta and is part of the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area. The average elevation is 295 meters, maximum 732 m ...
,
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
on 5 December 2019.
References
{{reflist
1931 births
2019 deaths
20th-century Indonesian businesspeople
21st-century Indonesian businesspeople
Bandung Institute of Technology alumni
Businesspeople in real estate
Indonesian billionaires
Indonesian company founders
Indonesian investors
Indonesian people of Chinese descent
Indonesian philanthropists
People from Central Sulawesi
20th-century philanthropists