3/15/2015

Tahir – a pleasant and energising story of faith

One does not need to be in the government, in the seat of authority, to want to do good for the country and its citizens. One does not need to be the richest man in the world to start to give away his wealth, to share with the have nots. One needs not be the richest man in Indonesia to do that, to think of country and people. His wealth is reported to be US$2.1b, not very rich among the billionaires in Indonesia, not among the top 5 or top 10 in Singapore. But he is very rich in his heart.

His mission is to do good, not only for the Indonesians but also around the globe. His largest contribution is US$100m in a joint fund with Bill Gates to help the poorest in the world and to eradicate polio. He never forgets he is Indonesian and has set up many charitable organisations to help his people in the areas of education and healthcare.

His main thrust is to see no Indonesians working as maids abroad but as trained professionals in the fields of nursing and sales. To achieve this he has spoken to 5 governors to offer him buildings and training centres and he would provide the teachers, training programmes, food and lodging for the women trainees. This mission is not limited to the 5 governors he spoke to and could expand into other provinces. He is not in the government but what he is doing is what every government would be thinking and be doing, to do good for its people, to uplift their lives.

In God he trusts and he believes that God has provided him with the means and opportunity to give back to his country and people. He is grateful and he spends his time thinking about helping others, to share his wealth with the less privileged. He was not born rich, he made his own money but did not forget that there are many out there that need a little help that his money can make things happened for them. He helps others by giving out his own money. He does not talk about helping others with OPM or taking the money from the people he is helping.

His two Mayapada hospitals provide free medicare to the poor. The cost of a heart surgery is his hospital is less than $8, actually free. No subsidies needed, no govt grants needed.

The world is a much better place when you have rich people feeling rich by sharing their wealth to help others and not by counting the monies in their bank accounts and collecting properties after properties to show that they are rich. Rich people like Tahir have the blessings and approval of God to be what they are and to do what they are doing for the good of other needy people. God bless. Amen.

These are the concluding paragraphs of a Sunday Times article today. ‘He says people should pursue wealth as a means to do some good for the community or mankind, not as an end itself. The biggest and most glorious objective in life is to be a blessing to others, creating their happiness…Otherwise, like the Taiwanese say, you are so poor that money is all you have.’

Nevermind if this is too idealistic and the pragmatics would scorn at such comments when pursuing wealth is all they want to do, to be dignified with all the money they have acquired. See my million dollar cars and my mansions!

PS. I am not a Christian and not pushing for any religion. When believing in God can make a man to do good, that is all that matters. Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom. One can choose not to fear God or any gods.
Tahir is an Indonesia and Singapore PR, a Nantah alumnus.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

His main thrust is to see no Indonesians working as maids abroad but as trained professionals in the fields of nursing and sales.
RB

But I think that would be very difficult lah, as difficult as getting the Sinkie opposition ready to be a better govt than PAP. Or as difficult as getting RB to join the Sinkie opposition.

Anonymous said...

But I think that would be very difficult lah...
Anon 11:45 am

Agreed. And luckily too for Sinkies, so that they have cheap maids.

How to ensure no Indonesians working as maids out of a population of 250 million? It's not like making 60% happy and satisfied out of 5 million population, u know.

Anonymous said...

"His main thrust is to see no Indonesians working as maids abroad but as trained professionals in the fields of nursing and sales."

What about LHL?
What is his main thrust?
Is it to see that only PAP linked politicians and PAP linked managers work in PAP linked organizations in Singapore?
Can this be true?

Anonymous said...

What is our Singaporean dream under a PAP government?
Everything also cannot unless the PAP Millionaire in the ivory tower says yes.
Singaporeans - everything we get is a "subsidy" from the PAP government.
And is the subsidy real?

Do Singaporeans "own" Singapore?
Or does PAP "own" Singapore and Singaporeans?

Anonymous said...

Has he done anything for the needy of Singapore as he is a PR of this country?

Veritas said...

Before Kuan Yew, Singapore has a lot of philanthropist and humanist. In PRC, the greatest oversea Chinese remembered is not Li Ka Shing but Singaporean Tan Kah Kee.

Chinese open a lot of free hospital and TCM clinics. We open a lot of low cost schools for our kids.

The innate socialism of Chinese people is the reason we become prosper acing against our minorities, who have culture like Islamofascism and caste system, and forever cry discrimination.

Unfortunately after the ascend of Kuan Yew, a concerted program is carried out to make us shit people, to make us selfish. We are masturbated mentally everyday by PAP.

PAP try keep private entity from doing good. Those who disobey like Tan Luck Sye were made bankrupt.

Right now Chinese Singaporeans become more and more shit.

In additon, Before many Christian has character. Today City Harvest is a place to find boy girl to fuck.

Very few SG church offer free clinic despite they are wealthy. The one who open free clinic are buddhist.

Its time we kick PAP out.

Veritas said...

Health care should be very very low cost. It was hike up by elites, because scion of elites either become doctor if they have no interest in politics, business of academics.

Che Guevara was a monster who murder a lot of people, but the people he saved are far more numerous. When Che took over Cuba, very thing he did was to destroy the medical cartel by increasingly the number of intake.

Healthcare cost for cuba is low and she even has better infant mortality vs USA. That is despite of USA sanction against cuba, depriving her of essential medicine.

The rich in USA, prefer to see people die, in order to preserve their own prestige.

Cuba has so many good doctors that she even export them to venzuela, saving countless life. Hugo Chavez was too pussy or he could did a Che Guevara, breaking the country medical cartel.

Most of the time, the biggest criminal of the world is the rich and elites. The wealth are derived by the death of many.

This Tahir is defintely a corrupt businessman but so light of humanity still in his heart.

Anonymous said...

Its time we kick PAP out.
Veritas 1:17 pm

Hahahahahaha.

But due to the Sinkie opposition not being ready to be govt, 60% are very scared to even accidentally vote PAP out, u know.

Because if they are not scared, they would have already voted PAP out in GE 2011, no need to wait for next GE to do it.

And this one PM Lee knows, WP Ah Hia also knows. So much so that Ah Hia even said it aloud and publicly, just in case some daft Sinkies still didn't know.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

He reads the Wanbao whenever he is here to look out for hardship cases he can help, and doing this anonymously for years.

In the past 10 years he donated millions to universities here and abroad, $30m to Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, $2m to SMU scholarship funds, scholarships for Spore table tennis players and many unknown recipients of his generosity.

Veritas, your are very unkind to say bad things about this man. All businessmen are there to make money. You do not know how he made his money so it is unfair to tarnish him by a broad brush. At the very least, he is taking out hundreds of millions of the money he made to help the people that needed help.

A genuinely God fearing man is a good man. Ignore the hypocrites. You know when you see one.

patriot said...

'A genuinely God fearing man is a good man'.
Does this mean a pious Buddhist must certainly be One with conscience and propriety?

Anyway, me have came across good pious folks. BUT, they are just a drop in the Ocean, MOST gOD FEARING MEN, are greedy for heaven on Earth, more vain than most atheists who long not for the Imagined Land.

patriot

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hi Patriot, the key word is 'genuine'. Many are fakes.

Anonymous said...

Is it true?
In order to be a "correct" charitable organization, we have to appoint a PAP linked individual to be a board member?
Otherwise, these non-PAP linked charities can become a grassroots organization that can rival the PA?
True or not?

Anonymous said...

Veritas raised an important reminder. Singapore was not always as self-serving as it appraes today. Successful businessmen had a conscience and made genuine efforts to take care of others. Tahir may be just doing likewise possibly because Indonesian mentality has not got to this point of uncaring selfishness that seems to characterise much of the Singapore `pragnatic` outlook

Anonymous said...

uncaring selfishness that seems to characterise much of the Singapore `pragnatic` outlook
March 15, 2015 5:32 pm

Or do you mean:
uncaring selfishness that seems to characterise much of the PAP "pragmatic" outlook.

Or
uncaring selfishness that seems to characterise much of the LKY `pragmatic` outlook.

Is any of the above description fair or even true?

March 15, 2015 5:32 pm

March 15, 2015 5:32 pm

Anonymous said...

Not true. Singaporeans are religious, holy, selfless, good hearted, caring and always thinking of helping the people by confiscating the people's money and say it is to help the people.

Anonymous said...

POLITICAL JOKE
----------------
How to measure the height of greatness of PAP?
By measuring how deep the hole PAP has dug for the rest of non-PAP Singaporeans.

Anonymous said...

'When you sell a building that you own. And you commit to rent the building back for the next 30 years.
You have not really changed your financial position. You have reduced your measured debt, but then you have an obligation to pay rent for 30 years"
Larry Summers at Davos Debate 2015.

Do you think this also applies to our PAP government appointed paper General at NOL?
He has sold the NOL Building.
He has sold the only profitable business unit NOL has which is APL Logistics.

As for me.
I would have sold all the loss making business units at NOL.
And I would have kept the NOL Building and APL Logistics.
And I would have rebuilt NOL from scratch around these two assets.

Anonymous said...

@ March 15, 2015 6:32 pm

Maybe this is same strategy as replacing the PAP old guard with all these 3G PAP Leaders of LHL and LKY?
Is this a correct question?

b said...

A lot of 'charities' and religious organisations exist by making people feel guilty and promoting that they have to fork out money to feel good or become good. The owners of these organisations are just unscrupulous businessmen or women like those fund managers. Doing good never involves money. God never charge a cent for creating this world.

b said...

"Unfortunately after the ascend of Kuan Yew, a concerted program is carried out to make us shit people, to make us selfish. We are masturbated mentally everyday by PAP."

- many are willing participants. I still think LKY is a much less evil politicians than many politicians in this world given the assumption that all politicians are evil.

b said...

- except for an endless list of things (coe, housing, cpf, ns etc) he put in to disadvantage us, he is less evil than many others before him.