Over 100 guests comprising alumni from the Wharton School and Singapore Management University (SMU), as well as academics, industry experts and businessmen, participated in the Wharton-SMU dialogue on Monday, 5 March 2018. Supported by Tanoto Foundation, the dialogue featured a panel discussion on the topic ‘The New World Order: Implications for Asia and Global Trade’. The event was graced by Guest-of-Honour former Singapore President and SMU Honorary Patron Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam.

Tanoto Foundation has been supporting SMU students with the Tanoto Scholarship since year 2000. The Tanoto Foundation, together with its corporate partners, holds an annual Wharton-SMU Global Modular Course event, whereby Wharton and SMU students are invited to visit Indonesia to learn sustainable business practices.

Since 2013, through the Wharton-Tanoto Initiative, Tanoto Foundation aims to improve the quality of business education and research on ASEAN with a strong focus on Indonesia through research grants to Wharton faculties. Apart from research grants, the Foundation provides funding for Wharton faculty staff to travel to ASEAN to gain in depth first hand exposure to the region. Every year, the Global Faculty Development Program under the Wharton Tanoto Initiative brings selected faculty staff from Indonesian universities to Wharton for mentoring and training on how to get their research published in top tier international journals.

The panel consisted of leading thinkers from academia, politics and business:
• Professor Geoffrey Garrett, Dean, The Wharton School
• Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore
• Ms Chloe Cho, Moderator, Channel News Asia
• Mr Helman Sitohang, Member of the Executive Board, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse
• Professor Gerard George, Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University

The panel discussion saw some intellectual sparring amongst the panellists; while Prof Garrett was leaning towards a world led by geo-economics, Prof Koh was of a different opinion that geo-politics eventually override geo-economics, just as history has shown us before.

Prof George shared that the major global trends that we will see are countries competing over data, natural resources and technology innovation, whoever who wants to lead in this new world order will have to manage and grapple with these resources.

Climate is also highlighted as a huge deciding factor in how world trends will pan out in the future, which is currently not talked about enough, potentially affecting migration trends around the world. In line with that, Mr Sitohang shared that sustainability is a very current issue that he sees the corporate world being increasingly aware and involved in.

The world is not just a bi-polarity struggle between China and the US, but a multi-polarity tussle between the major powers of the world, not forgetting the likes of Japan, Russia, Europe, India and ASEAN. But there is clear power shift towards Asia and will continue to be even more so in future.

Watch the full episode here:

Muhammad Farid Yahya, a Tanoto Scholar from Mulawarman University, recently experienced success in two national business-related competitions in Indonesia, in the span of three months.

In September 2017, Farid emerged as the champion in a National Business Plan Competition organized by the economics faculty at Sriwijaya University in Palembang.

Two months later, Farid took second place at the Young Indonesian Sociopreneur Expo and Competition, this time organized by Gadjah Mada University in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Farid worked with two friends from the same faculty, Andi Faedal and Arie Anggara, during the competition. The trio created a snack product called Salty.id, which uses salted fish of the Jambal variety. They use Jambal to make the snack as it is tastier than using Tenggiri fish or Biawan fish.

Using Jambal is also a smart business move, as there is an abundant stock of the fish near where Farid and his friends live in Berau, East Kalimantan.

Farid explained that prices of the fish will be more reasonable if the fish is purchased directly from the fishermen, without any middlemen involved.

Farid and his team have even made innovations with their product. Now they don’t just do regular salted fish but they also have different flavors of their product, including Black Pepper, Sweet and Sour, Spicy Meat (Rendang) and Rica-rica (Indonesian seasoning).

Farid has also improved the packaging for the Salty.id products in a bid to attract more customers. Farid said he is currently trying to target younger people to buy his product, adding that the networks he has built through attending the Tanoto Scholars Gathering 2016 event will be useful in developing his business further.

As the Tanoto Scholar realizes that fish products in Indonesia have the potential to develop, Farid and his teammates are committed to continue developing Salty.id while they are finishing university.

For now, besides scaling up the Salty.id business, Farid plans to also continue his studies by taking up a master’s degree after graduation.

If you want to get a higher education but your financial situation is stopping you, don’t give up. As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome.

Many scholarship programs are available to the public – from elementary school studies to doctoral degree level. And one of them is the Tanoto Foundation Scholarship Program.

Tanoto Foundation strives to be a center of excellence in alleviating poverty through education, and providing scholarships is one of the ways it helps communities to gain access to education.

However, Tanoto Foundation’s scholarships attract many applicants – meaning that you will need to compete with thousands of people who want the same thing.

There are many stages that applicants will need to pass in order to get a scholarship from Tanoto Foundation.

Here are some important tips which could be the key to getting a scholarship:

1. Ensure that all required documents are complete

This is the most basic stage of any scholarship application – document submission. Double-check all the documents you need to prepare and submit. Make sure all of them are there, and correct.

Regardless of how smart you are, if you do not submit all the required documents, you will not pass this stage.

2. Rest up for the psychometric test

Some scholarship programs will require candidates to sit for a psychometric test. The most important thing is for you to be in the best condition when sitting for the test.

A psychometric test is not an exam so you will not need to stay up all night cramming for it. Get enough rest, and having breakfast should help you to concentrate better and stay focused during the test.

3. Show your strengths during the interview

During the interview stage, don’t be nervous! Stay calm and be confident. Show off your strengths and accomplishments. Talk about your vision for the future. Being clear about your plan for the future can help your interviewer form a better picture of you.