To mark Tanoto Foundation’s 40^th year anniversary we are asking all Tanoto Foundation employees to take part in a video competition to share their proudest moment during their time in Tanoto Foundation. To enter, upload a 1 minute video of your proudest moment while working in Tanoto Foundation to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #MyTF40ProudestMoment.

There will be 3 winners from the competition, with a prize of a Rp 500,000 voucher each.

The competition runs from 3-17 September 2021.

Let’s show your pride, working with Tanoto Foundation!

Terms and conditions:

• – Your social media accounts must be public
• – Use the #MyTF40ProudestMoment hashtag in your caption
• – Post the 1-minute video on your Facebook OR Instagram feed (for Indonesia and Singapore employees)
• – The competition is intended for Tanoto Foundation employees only
• – Tanoto Foundation Corporate Communications team and employees of RGEI are not eligible to enter the competition
• – Follow the health protocols while you are recording (unless you’re alone or using pictures or videos that were taken before the pandemic)
• – There will be 2 categories. Most likes and comments and the most creative
• – There will be 2 winners for the most likes and comments category and one winner for most creative category
• – There will be a total of 3 winners in the competition
• – Each winner will win a digital voucher worth Rp 500,000
• – Voucher prizes are only eligible for Tanoto Foundation Employees in Indonesia
• – Winners from outside of Indonesia will win a set of special merchandise from Tanoto Foundation
• – By entering the competition, each contestant automatically grants permission for their materials to be used in Tanoto Foundation’s materials
• – The judges’ decision is final
• – The Competition opens from September 3, 2021
• – The video must be uploaded the latest on Sept. 17, 11.59 PM Jakarta time
• – The winners will be announced on September 24, 2021.
• – For Tanoto Foundation employees in China, you may enter the competition by sending us an email of the recording of your video on Weibo or WeChat and a screen shot of your video with the number of Likes, comments or engagement to german_wijaya@www.tanotofoundation.org

The definition of a leader might change overtime, but there are several fundamentals that endure: a strong sense of purpose and mission, the ability to influence and mobilise others, and stewardship over resources and people in order to deliver impact.

As the CEO of the National Youth Council, an autonomous agency under Singapore’s Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, David Chua is an authority when it comes to youth leadership.

In the latest episode of “Unlocking Potential – Conversations with Tanoto Foundation”, Global CEO of Tanoto Foundation J. Satrijo Tanudjojo discusses leadership in the context of Asia as an emerging region.

Leadership characteristics

For young leaders in a rapidly-changing world, David prescribes three characteristics. “I call it the ABC: agile, blended, and collaborative,” said David.

Agile is not only limited to the physical aspects, but also in terms of process and context switching. This means that young leaders must be adaptive and be quick to respond to situations.

Blended refers to today’s reality that many problems require multidisciplinary approaches. Overspecialization, which has become a recent trend in education, might have to give room for a more generalist perspective as leaders have to know a little bit of everything to have a holistic view.

Collaborative is related to blended. As we require more people with diverse backgrounds and specializations, we also need to collaborate with other organizations in other sectors.

Real world exposure

Asia is home to more than half the world’s population, so it’s important to nurture future leaders from the region.

According to David, that requires what he describes as “differentiation and deployment”. Differentiation involves a deep perspective of the region, understanding both the similarities and the ways in which countries and areas differ. Deployment includes helping young people to build regional professional networks and providing support frameworks through funding, coaching or mentorship.

This is where the private sector comes in.

“What the private sector, corporate and educational institutes offer is not just training and skills, but the opportunity to grow and to be exposed. Real world exposure is critical for growth,” said David. “And the more exposure points we can give to the young people in what the real world looks like, feels like, functions like, will put them in a better position.”

If the old adage says that it takes a village to raise a child, the task of developing future leaders depends on the whole nation: from family to the government.

Research by National Youth Council of Singapore finds that family matters much more than young people keen to prove their independence might care to admit. According to David, family is “probably one of the most underrated, but very critical stakeholders” as it influences our value systems.

In terms of grooming young leaders, the government is the one who can provide space and opportunity to learn policy-making. “There’s a bit of risk of involving young people, but let’s open up some things for them. Let’s work with them and let’s shape the future of Singapore in this way. Not all policies, but perhaps some,” said David.

Aside from the private and public sectors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also play a key role. According to David, NGOs can sometimes act with more freedom than governments or companies.

But after all is said and done, what’s truly important is giving the young leaders a chance. “In the Asian culture we still should give more space and voices for young people and be a bit more open to their needs and different ways of thinking. So advocacy continues to be something I think philanthropies should be able to do without fear of backlash or comments from other sectors,” said David.

This goes both ways. Young leaders also need to step up and rise to the occasions despite their personal limitations and challenges.

“My message for young leaders would be: Stay grounded, stay guided by your values and step up,” said David.

Amid the pandemic, parents’ role to help children to study at home is more important than ever. For parents who also work fulltime, this does not only require adaptation but also a new mindset and strategies as well.

Studying at home presents a new set of challenges for both children and parents, particularly when it comes to screen time regulations. Now that virtually every activity has been moved online, parents and children have to negotiate on screen time regulations to maintain children’s development while at the same time allowing them to stay connected socially.

In this episode of Bincang Inspiratif talk show, host Andrea Lee speaks with Happy Salma, an actress and mother of two, who shares her experience in helping her children learn from home while having to work.

This episode covers:
1. Tips on how to help children learn from home
2. The importance of a strong support system
3. Self-awareness as key to a stronger emotional bond with children

Helping Children Learn from Home

While the pandemic is hard for everyone, children might have a more difficult time due to their limited understanding on what is happening and the lack of social and physical activities at home.

Happy Salma encouraged parents to be more present and flexible while helping children learning from home. For instance, parents whose children are more active physically should not force the children to sit still during school hours. Allowing children to move around, during the class or between each session, might help them to be more engaged in the material rather than succumbing to boredom altogether.

As a learning companion, parents should also help children review the materials that they have learned from school that day. Happy said that she always asks her children to recount the day’s lessons. Not only does this help children remember the lesson, it can also provide visibility of what’s being learned so that parents can help.

A survey by Tanoto Foundation in 2020 found that parents admitted to a lack of patience and capability in helping children study. Out of 1,712 parents involved in the survey, 56% of parents with elementary-age children admitted to lacking patience and to feel weary in helping their children concentrate while studying, as do 34% of parents with junior high school-age children. The same survey also found that parents experienced difficulties in understanding and explaining the lesson for children.

“When the children are learning, we as parents should also learn as well,” said Happy.

Strong Support System

As children are staying at home, parents need to establish common rules and share this with other caregivers.

For instance, when it comes to gadget use or dietary restrictions, household assistants and grandparents are also responsible to enforce the agreed rules. Otherwise, children will be confused and the discipline that parents try to instil will not take root effectively.

The same applies with the schedule. Even though the difference between school hours, playtime, and rest might be blurred due to no physical separation for all the activities, parents and other caregivers should be mindful of sticking to the same schedule for children.

“Children need structure. Full stop. And what we’re all having to do, very quickly, is invent entirely new structures to get every one of us through our days,” said Dr Lisa Damour in an interview with World Health Organization (WHO). She suggested parents make a schedule for the day and encouraged parents with junior high school-age children to involve them in the process.

Parents should also support other parents as well instead of criticizing other people’s parenting style – as often happens nowadays on social media.

“We should stand together instead of putting each other down,” said Happy Salma. “There isn’t a single truth or theory when it comes to parenting.”

Creating a Stronger Emotional Bond

Despite the challenges of helping children learn, Happy argued that the situation presented an opportunity to create a stronger emotional bond between children and parents.

“Previously, we could outsource education entirely to teachers, but today we have an opportunity to create a stronger bond with our children,” said Happy. “This might be hard, but the opportunity to nurture and educate our children does not come twice. We have to appreciate our children and do as best as we can to take care of our children.”

For Happy, creating an emotional bond with children starts with having a sense of self-awareness and openness.

First, explain to your children about your activities as well. “Sometimes we can’t be there for our children due to work or other activities, I like to share with my children about my work so that they understand why I’m not around,” she said.

Second, have self-reflection and awareness when it comes to the values that we want to instil in our children. Then, walk the talk. “For instance, when we want our children to reduce their screen time, we also have to ask ourselves whether we too have a slight addiction to our gadgets. Do we compulsively check on our phone every now and then? Are we too busy on social media that we cannot be fully present when we are supposed to spend time with our children?” said Happy.

And last, do not hesitate to apologize and admit that you’re wrong. “We all are learning how to be a parent as we parent our children. There’s nothing wrong with apologizing and asking for forgiveness when we make a mistake. When we open up our hearts, our children will be able to understand us better as well,” she said.

Listen to the full talk on Instagram @tanotoeducation.