As the best graduate in his batch, Agis could easily have had the opportunity to join a State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) and enjoy a stable and prosperous career, as soon as he finished school.

However, Agis chose the unconventional path of not joining a BUMN. Instead, he went back to his village, Waringin Kurung Village in Serang Regency, Banten in Indonesia, to try and make a change by empowering his local community.

A Tanoto Scholar alumnus, Agis was motivated by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto, the founders of Tanoto Foundation, who have always encouraged students to never give up without a fight.

This stuck with Agis, especially when he developed Jawara Farm, his community-based agro-industry business, in his hometown in 2014.

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“When I went back home, I was concerned about the farmers in the area who were not having prosperous lives, even though they had very good agricultural potential.

“This was the reason for me to establish Jawara Farm,” said Agis, who majored in Social Development and Welfare at Gadjah Mada University.

Agis was determined to promote the concept that farmers can live in prosperity by earning daily, weekly and monthly incomes – very different from the traditional concept that farmers would only usually be able to earn an income every three to four months during a harvest period.

Agis showed the farmers that there were alternatives to earning income, without having to rely solely on paddy harvests every few months. They could raise goats that can produce milk every day, or grow vegetables which can be harvested within one to two weeks, instead of having to wait for months.

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As this has changed people’s perceptions of agriculture in the village, interest in the agriculture and livestock industry has grown, especially among the younger population.

Agis teaches agricultural management to these young people, emphasising that the ability to cultivate produce, as well as the ability to sell it, is integral for any farmer.

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Besides increasing the farmers’ earning potential in his village, Agis has gone on to achieve international success. He regularly holds agricultural cultivation and management training sessions both in person and online, which are attended by participants from Indonesia and beyond, including from South Korea, Japan and Malaysia. Some of the participants have even personally visited Jawara Farm.

According to Agis, one of the keys to success in expanding his business has been a strong network, especially the Tanoto Scholars network. He often meets former Tanoto Scholars while conducting agricultural training.

Agis says he feels fortunate to be part of such a wide network of talent who have the ability to lead, as well as a penchant to care for others, in line with the message constantly conveyed by the Tanoto family to always pay it forward.

In most rural areas in Indonesia, a reading culture has still yet to be fully adopted by students. However, at SDN 173 Tanjung Benanak in Tanjung Jabung Barat, Jambi, things are different.

Although the school is located in an oil palm plantation area, students there have excellent literacy skills and high reading interest.

Among them is Mayla Arista Widya, a sixth grade student at the school. Mayla reads at least eight fiction works a month, including novels and graphic novels. In addition, she also consumes textbooks.

The students’ literacy skills are not just limited to reading, as Mayla and her friends are also capable of writing reports and creating posters, a remarkable achievement for students of their grade level.

However, this feat was not achieved overnight. Mutia Lafrida, Head of SDN 173 Tanjung Benanak, said that it took about three years to improve the students’ literacy skills – a mission which began in 2012.

“Initially, we received training and guidance from Tanoto Foundation in helping our kids to learn how to enjoy reading books. I saw progress after three years. Then, when the Ministry of Education and Culture launched the national daily 15-minute book reading activity, our students became used to reading,” Mutia said.

After increasing the students’ reading interest, Mutia began focusing on training them to actually understand the contents of the books, by using fun methods.

One example is a dice game, which gets the students to throw a die after reading their books. Depending on the dice roll, students have to answer one of six questions (what, who, where, when, why and how) based on the book they have just read.

Questions have to be answered either by the student throwing the dice itself, or by a student appointed by the dice thrower.

To further enrich the reading experience, Mutia has introduced a rolling book system at the school. Under the system, each student is required to have one story book at all times. When the students have finished their books, they then pass them on to their classmates.

The system works in the way that if a class comprises 28 students, then each student will have finished 28 books before the class passes, or ‘rolls’ the books to another class.

Tanoto Foundation’s PINTAR program continues its efforts to support the Indonesian government by raising literacy skills among schools in the country, through focusing on building good learning practices and improving school management and leadership.

Megawati Wijaya’s choice to study and work in industrial Korea is a calculated one. The former Tanoto Scholar has a strong aspiration to take the knowledge she gains in Korea back to Indonesia, and achieve her dream of developing a technology startup in her home country.

Megawati currently works as a software engineer at AKA Intelligence, an artificial intelligence and robotics developer based in Seoul, South Korea. Her main responsibility is to develop artificial intelligence software which will be applied in both daily and industrial activities.

Technology has always been a strong area of interest for the 28-year-old since her childhood days. It was the reason behind the choice to study Computer Science at the University of Indonesia, from which she graduated in 2012.

However, unsatisfied with an undergraduate degree, Megawati went on to take a Master’s at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

“I chose to study in Korea because of the rapid technological development in this country. I hope I can learn as much as I can from here and someday be able to apply my skills and knowledge in Indonesia,” she said.

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Megawati shared that there are a few advantages to studying in Korea over Indonesia.

“Students in Korea are encouraged to undertake research by acquiring government funding, whereas in Indonesia, students pretty much prepare to enter the workforce,” she explained.

“So as postgraduate students, we were required to enter labs here to work on research projects under the guidance of a professor. Plus, it was unique in that we were even paid for the research work,” Megawati added.

However, Megawati notes that the language barrier did pose a challenge during her studies.

“Korean is predominantly used in daily life and the office, so we were definitely required to learn the language,” she shared.

To improve her language skills, Megawati took up Korean language courses at Keimyung University.

Her diligent efforts have paid off as she now has a stable career in the Land of the Morning Calm.

However, Megawati intends to return to Indonesia as soon as she feels that her knowledge and skills are enough to establish a robotics-related startup there.

With it, she hopes to be able to contribute to her country in certain fields, including education by facilitating more effective foreign language learning for Indonesians.