CRISIS-COMBATING ENTREPRENEURS

Tempo selects eight owners of small-scale businesses to be its figures of the Year 2009. The two crises which hit Indonesia in 1997 and 2008 only toughened up their resolve. The number of entrepreneurs today has increased by almost 40 percent over the past decade. They employ tens of millions of people, especially during times of economic crisis when bigger corporations cut back on their workers.

December 22, 2009

BOB Sadino criticized the government’s term for people starting up small businesses. Sadino, owner of KemChicks supermarket who is famous for his “uniform” of short-sleeved shirt and faded denim shorts, disapproves of their categorization as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises—usually abbreviated as MSMEs. He also disagrees with the notion that many of them depend on government handouts and assistance. “I tend to call them PBBs or

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