There's no such thing as a free lunch...Or is there?

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It's official. The next president of Indonesia is former army general Prabowo Subianto. Quite how the next five years will pan out is anyone's guess but hopefully the foreign pundits who always bring up his dodgy human rights record will be proven wrong. Nonetheless, on policy making, Prabowo's popularist move to literally offer the poor 'a free lunch' every day of the week does not augur well for the future. Such a policy - if it ever came to fruition - would cost a phenomenal amount of money and likely lead to huge inefficiencies (food waste) and poor incentives (make people lazy). Another concern is Prabowo's strong nationalist bent. Thus, in the possible event that he finds himself with his back against the proverbial wall in the face of stern economic challenges, there is a big chance that he will simply scapegoat foreigners. But he will have to be careful. Construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, for example, is highly dependent on foreign in
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Indonesia’s richest people 2010 (Forbes)

Indonesia may have its fair share of desperately poor people - including people so poor they can pass themselves off as hobbits (I kid you not) – but there are heaps of rich people too. But who are these rich people? And who are the richest? Well, it’s not that easy to get a definitive answer as the rich can use nominee accounts and employ other trickery to hide their wealth – or simply not report it – but Forbes has come up with a new list that places seven Indonesians in the worlds 1,000 richest people. They are: 

1. Michael Hartono, ranked 258 (70 years old) US$ 3.5 billion 
2. R Budi Hartono, ranked 258 (69 years old) US$ 3.5 billion 
These two brothers founded Djarum, now Indonesia’s third largest cigarette company. The cash is continuing to pile up as Indonesian smokers puff away in huge numbers but growing realization among Muslims that smoking causes death (Muhammadiyah has just passed a fatwa saying smoking in haram) may make things tougher in the longer term. But not to worry. The Djarum Group also has a majority stake in BCA (one of Indonesia’s largest banks) and many other businesses. They even control the venerable Grand Indonesia Mall in the heart of Jakarta. 

3. Martua Sitorus, ranked 316 (50 years old) US$ 3 billion. 
Martua, who owns the CPO producer Wilmar International, has every reason to be happy now that the government has (unbelievably) classified palm oil plantations as “forest”. 

4. Peter Sondakh, ranked 437 (58 years old) US$ 2.2 billion. 
Owner of the Rajawali Group, he pocketed a cool US$ 350 million from the sale of Bentoel to British American Tobacco in June 2009. Keen to give money back to the community, the Harvard University community that is. 

5. Sukanto Tanoto, ranked 536 (60 years old), US$ 1.9 billion. 
Despite tax “problems” in the past, the Raja Garuda Mas Group is doing well in businesses from paper to CPO. 

6. Low Tuck Kwong, ranked 828 (61 years old), US$ 1.2 billion. 
Coal may be black and dirty but it’s made this chap heaps of cash through his astute purchase of coal mining firm Bayan Resources back in 1997. 

7. Chairul Tanjung, ranked 937 (47 years old), US$ 1 billion. 
A tender 47 and he’s already made a billion dollars. Not bad going. Owner of the Para Group – nope not those British chaps who jump out of planes but a group which owns Bank Mega, Trans TV and the Bandung Supermal shopping complex. 

>>Important update (3 December 2010). The new Forbes list is now out! 

I’ve included last year’s ranking in parenthesis so you can see how each rich person has fared over the year of 2010. 

1. (1) R Budi & Michael Hartono US$11 billion 
2. (3) Susilo Wonowidjojo US$8 billion 
3. (5) Eka Tjipta Widjaja US$6 billion 
4. (2) Martua Sitorus US$3.2 billion 
5. (9) Anthoni Salim US$3 billion 
6. (-) Sri Prakash Lohia US$2.65 billion 
7. (11) Low Tuck Kwong US$2.6 billion 
8. (6) Peter Sondakh US$2.3 billion 
9. (7) Putra Sampoerna US$2.3 billion 
10. (4) Aburizal Bakrie US$2.1 billion 
11. (-) Kiki Barki US$1.7 billion 
12. (12) Eddy William Katuari US$1.65 billion 
13. (16) Edwin Soeryadjaya US$1.6 billion 
14. (30) Boenjamin Setiawan US$1.5 billion 
15. (14) Garibaldi Thohir US$1.45 billion 
16. (8) Sukanto Tanoto US$1.4 billion 
17. (15) Theodore Rachmat US$1.35 billion 
18. (13) Chairul Tanjung US$1.25 billion 
19. (20) Murdaya Poo US$1.15 billion 
20. (18) Ciliandra Fangiono US$1.1 billion 
21. (-) Benny Subianto US$1.05 billion 
22. (19) Arifin dan Hilmi Panigoro US$985 million 
23. (-) Sjamsul Nursalim US$850 million 
24. (-) Agus Lasmono Suwikatmono US$845 million 
25. (34) Kartini Muljadi US$840 million 
26. (-) Tahir US$805 million 
27. (29) Sandiaga Uno US$795 million 
28. (25) Mochtar Riady US$730 million 
29. (27) Ciputra US$725 million 
30. (21) Hashim Djojohadikusumo US$680 million 
31. (24) Harjo Sutanto US$350 million 
32. (17) Trihatma Haliman US$600 million 
33. (28) Hary Tanoesudibjo US$595 million 
34. (22) Kusnan dan Rusdi Kirana US$580 million 
35. (-) Wiwoho Baduki Tokronegoro US$575 million 
36. (-) Engki Wibowo dan Jenny Quantero US$560 million 
37. (38) Husain Djojonegoro US$545 million 
38. (26) Eka Tjandranegara US$525 million 
39. (33) Sutanto Djuhar US$490 million 
40. (23) Prajogo Pangestu US$455 million 

ANALYSIS 
 - Indonesia now has an astonishing 21 billionaires!!! This is up from only 12 in 2009. 
 - The top 10 richest Indonesians are now worth a staggering US43.15 billion! This is up from only US$26.1 billion last year – a net increase of US$17.05 billion! 
 - In percentage terms, the top 10 richest Indonesian have seen their wealth soar by 65.32 percent in only one year! Not bad, huh?!! 
 - By comparison, the minimum wage for Jakarta’s poorest will only rise by 15 percent in 2011 to US$143 (source: Jakarta Post). 
 - The combined wealth of R Budi & Michael Hartono could pay the YEARLY minimum wages of 6.41 million Indonesians!!!!! 
 - Sri Prakash Lohia wasn’t ranked last year but this year he is ranked 6th with US$2.65 billion. The reason for this is that like the footballer Christian Gonzales, the owner of Indorama Synthetics has now become a naturalised Indonesian citizen. 
 - Kiki Barki storms into 11th place from absolutely nowhere. This is the magic of listing your company on the stock market through an IPO. Kiki’s company Harum Energy was listed in October, and with the share price up over a third since IPO, Kiki is a very happy man indeed. 
 - The biggest “loser” must be tea tycoon Soegiharto Sosrodjojo who is not even in the top 40 any longer, although he was ranked 10th with US$ 1.2 billion last year. That’s something for him to ponder over a cup of tea, poor chap. 

Here’s the previous list of the richest Indonesians in 2009: 
1. R. Budi & Michael Hartono US$ 7 billion 
2. Martua Sitorus US$ 3 billion 
3. Susilo Wonowidjojo US$ 2.6 billion 
4. Aburizal Bakrie US$ 2.5 billion 
5. Eka Tjipta Widjaja U$S 2.4 billion 
6. Peter Sondakh US$ 2.1 billion 
7. Putera Sampoerna US$ 2 billion 
8. Sukanto Tanoto US$ 1.9 billion 
9. Anthoni Salim US$ 1.4 billion 
10. Soegiharto Sosrodjojo US$ 1.2 billion 
11. Low Tuck Kwong US$ 1.18 billion 
12. Eddy William Katuari US$ 1.1 billion 
13. Chairul Tanjung US$ 99 million 
14. Garibaldi Thohir US$ 930 million 
15. Theodore Rachmat US$ 900 million 
16. Edwin Soeryadjaya US$ 800 million 
17. Trihatma Haliman US$ 750 million 
18. Ciliandra Fangiono US$ 710 million 
19. Arifin Panigoro US$ 650 million 
20. Murdaya Poo US$ 600 million 
21. Hashim Djojohadikusumo US$ 500 million 
22. Kusnan & Rusdi Kirana US$ 480 million 
23. Prajogo Pangestu US$ 475 million 
24. Harjo Sutanto US$ 470 million 
25. Mochtar Riady US$ 440 million 
26. Eka Tjandranegara US$ 430 million 
27. Ciputra US$ 420 million 
28. Hary Tanoesoedibjo US$ 410 million 
29. Sandiaga Uno US$ 400 million 
30. Boenjamin Setiawan US$ 395 million 
31. Alim Markus US$ 350 million 
32. Aksa Mahmud US$ 330 million 
33. Sutanto Djuhar US$ 325 million 
34. Kartini Muljadi US$ 320 million 
35. Soegiarto Adikoesoemo US$ 300 million 
36. George Santosa Tahija & Sjakon George Tahija US$ 290 
37. Paulus Tumewu US$ 280 million 
38. Husain Djojonegoro US$260 million. 
39. Bachtiar Karim US$ 250 million. 
40. Kris Wiluan US$ 240 million.

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