THE business empire began from a small shop in Belawan, North Sumatra, 40 years ago. At that time, Sukanto Tanoto was only 17 years of age. He was forced to drop out of school because he had to take over the family business when his father died of a heart attack.

To begin with, the young Sukanto sold car spare parts at the shop. From Belawan, this eldest of seven children tried to expand this business to Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra. I