SINGAPORE – Professor Stuart Cook, a cardiologist and researcher here, has been awarded the Tanoto Foundation Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine.

Prof Cook, who is the senior consultant at the department of cardiology and distinguished clinician scientist of the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), has done extensive work in areas such as human genetics, heart muscle disease and cardiac imaging.

“His research focuses on identifying new ways of diagnosing, stratifying and treating patients with cardiovascular diseases, ” said the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre. “His work in Singapore is particularly relevant as the genetic makeup of Asians differs from other genotyopes indicating that research focusing on the Asian population is needed to better understand and develop treatment… more suited for them.”

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In March 2016, Central Connecticut State University released its result on “World’s Most Literate Nations” survey.  In a survey that ranks countries based on the people’s reading behavior and supporting resources, developed countries such as the United States and England were ranked the 7^th and 17^th place, respectively. Out of 61 countries that took part in the survey, Indonesia was ranked on the 60^th place. This shows that the reading interest and habit of most Indonesians is low if compared to that of other countries.

In the United States and England, it seems that people read not because they must. Reading has become part of their daily activities.

In England, many examples about how a culture of reading is nurtured and supported can be easily found. For example, schools hold reading day every week. Further, one can find reading corner at children centers and schools where a large variety of books are nicely placed on easy to reach shelves.

Another important factor in nurturing and maintaining a good reading habit is library. In England, libraries are usually big in size and managed well. In addition to many copies of the same book, these libraries usually hold different types of books, covering all kinds of subject matter. For the young readers, they also hold regular free story telling sessions.

Considering that Indonesia’s literacy rate is still low, efforts to improve the situation must be appreciated. One example of such initiative is the Pelita Pustaka Program by Tanoto Foundation. Founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto, Tanoto Foundation through its Pelita Pustaka Program promotes the library as a comfortable and at easily accessible place for students to regularly visit and obtain different types of books.

Pelita Pustaka also encourages students to develop a strong reading habit since they are young. To do so, teachers from Tanoto Foundation’s partner schools are trained in small library management system. Further, to enable students to have a wide variety of books to read, schools are encouraged to take part in book rotation system with other schools in the surrounding areas.

Through Pelita Pustaka, Tanoto Foundation has renovated and established 186 school libraries, donated more than 32,000 schools, and trained more than 1,800 teachers in library management in rural areas of Riau, Jambi, and North Sumatra.

Editor’s Note: Taken from Dewi Nur Aisyah article “Indonesia and Culture of Reading: Let’s Learn from Scandinavian Countries.” Original article can be found here: https://dewinaisyah.wordpress.com/2017/06/01/indonesia-dan-budaya-membaca-mari-belajar-dari-negara-skandinavia/

Tanoto Foundation has been working with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania since 2013. Together with this international institution, Tanoto Foundation aims to improve the higher education quality in Indonesia.

Supported by Tanoto Foundation, lecturers from the Wharton School are able to visit universities such as Universitas Indonesia and Universitas Gadjah Mada and carry out general lectures in topics such as “A Delicate Balance: The Role of the State in Innovation,”  and “Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century”. Further, professors from these two Indonesian universities are sent to the Wharton School to be trained on how to get their papers published in first-tier journals.

Another activity of this initiative is Global Modular Course. With this collaboration, students from the Wharton School regularly visit Indonesia and other ASEAN countries to learn first hand about business opportunities and challenges in the region. In May 2017, a total of 42 students from the Wharton School and Singapore Management University visited Pangkalan Kerinci, Pelalawan District, Riau. During the two day visit, they learned about the commitment of Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group business to implement the Group’s 5Cs value: Good for Community, Good for Country, Good for Climate, Good for the Customer, and Good for the Company.

In addition to these activities, the students also met with batik makers who were supported by the Group. During the last day of the visit, they visited Kuala Terusan Village to meet with the local villagers and tasted some delicacies.

“Through this collaboration, we hope that more people will learn about the good practices of the Group.  We are also hopeful that this initiative will open more opportunities for Indonesia to collaborate with other countries or institutions in topics such as improvement of communities’ economy or integrated efforts among relevant stakeholders to support sustainability,” said Sihol Aritonang, Head of Tanoto Foundation’s Executive Board.