Mooryati, never too old to study

Mooryati, never too old to study

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Every time King Paku Buwono XII of Surakarta celebrates his
ascension to the throne, this woman will always be present in the
palace, seated in the very front row among the consorts.

In the center of feudalism like the Surakarta palace, the
social status of a guest is immediately apparent by where she or
he is seated.

Mooryati Soedibyo will always be among the kings's concubines
in the palace's formal functions. So there is no question about
her friendship with the king.

Mooryati, who has the royal title "Bendara Raden Ayu (BRA)" is
an entrepreneur and the president director of PT Mustika Ratu,
one of Indonesia's jamu (herbal medicine) makers.

She is one of the grandchildren of King Paku Buwono X and was
once betrothed to Paku Buwono XII.

"When I was young, I was once proposed to by Sinuwun (Paku
Buwono XII) but after some time I returned everything connected
with this marriage proposal. If I had married the sultan and
become his queen then, I would not be what I am now. Surely, I
wouldn't be able to run a business or even go to lectures again,"
she said in an interview with The Jakarta Post.

Of late, at close to 75 years of age, she often commutes
between Jakarta and Surakarta to attend lectures at Sebelas Maret
University in the old city.

"For the past two years, I have taken lectures at the
university for my master's degree. I've almost completed my
thesis. I need only the signature of one of my supervisors. I've
commuted between Jakarta and Surakarta for thesis guidance.

"I'm not ashamed about my age. I now have the time to study at
the university, so why be shy? Learning knows no age limit, you
see? If you are mentally active, you will remain healthy and feel
encouraged to make progress," she says.

The 200-page thesis that she will have to defend late this
year is titled "Fifty Effective Tricks to Maintain Your
Customers". It is an analysis of a number of English books on
tricks introduced by the world's most successful figure heads and
businesspeople.

"I enjoyed working on this thesis very much. The content is
closely related with my business. Effective tricks from the
world's leaders may be applied here and some are exactly the same
as the way we do business here. In fact, these tricks are no big
deal. They are just small things that usually escape our
attention."

Among her employees, the food supplement and natural cosmetics
industrialist is known to have a great concern with details. She
observes minute things that usually escape people's attention and
acts like a sales promotion girl and often does not hesitate to
act as a spearhead in the marketing field.

When recently PT Mustika Ratu introduced various traditional
drink products to hotel owners in Surakarta, she took this job
upon herself, explaining from memory various traditional drinks
from Indonesia, including the mixture of rice and greater
galingale, tamarind and palm sugar, or coffee mixed with ginger.

She began her career in 1973 as a vendor of Javanese
traditional herbal medicines, such as the mixture of rice and
greater galingale, in limited quantities at her home. She bottled
this traditional herbal medicine and sold it to athletes in
Jakarta.

She started her business as a home industry with two workers
but it has now developed into a fully fledged business employing
3,600 people.

At first she produced only a few bottles of the traditional
rice and greater galingale concoction but now her industry
produces 1,000 products, comprising traditional herbal medicine
and cosmetics. The products have been exported to Europe, Japan,
Russia and other Asian countries.

Her obsession is to introduce Indonesia's traditional herbal
medicines to the entire world. Why the Indonesian herbal
medicines, not the Javanese concoctions?

Because, she says, traditional herbal medicines are not
confined only to the Javanese. Besides, the materials are taken
from every part of the country. It is wrong, therefore, to call
these products Javanese traditional herbal medicines.

"Believe it or not, the biggest market share of traditional
herbal medicines produced by PT Mustika Ratu is North Sumatra. It
is popular among the Batak people, no longer just among Javanese.
That's why I prefer to call it Indonesian herbal medicines,
although the formula has been handed down to me by my Javanese
ancestors," she says.

Indonesia, she says, is home to the world's biggest biological
potential which can be used as the raw materials for traditional
herbal medicines and other drugs.

"I'm sure, Indonesia's traditional herbal medicine products
can be accepted worldwide because this medicine is prepared from
natural substances. If local herbal medicine producers can work
together to explore the foreign market with the full support of
the government, I'm convinced we can compete with China."

She is dismayed that, despite the huge potential, the Health
Ministry treats jamu only as an alternative medicine on the
grounds that its healing properties have not been proven
scientifically.

"We know that the formula, which has been handed down to us by
our ancestors, has been tested throughout the centuries. It is
now left to us to ensure that its packaging meets international
standards. Sometimes I wonder what the government is really
after?" she asks.

Despite her age, Mooryati remains active in popularizing jamu
through her organization, the Indonesian Association of
Indonesian Traditional Herbal Medicine Producers.

"I've taken lectures again, among other things, to ensure that
I will be able to keep on doing my job, thinking and innovating
for the development of jamu," Mooryati says.