Surya reaches out to tsunami victims

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Despite the severity of the monstrous tsunami that washed away large parts of Aceh and North Sumatra, it was business as usual for most private television stations here.

Dangdut shows (popular music blending Indian and Arabic elements) with seductive dance moves, talent scouting programs, ghost-busting and cheesy soap operas still ruled the airwaves, while information on the ever-increasing death toll and the plight that befell survivors were aired only during occasional news programs.

Only one TV station gave the calamity the coverage it deserved, commensurate with the scale of destruction it had inflicted.

A few hours after an undersea earthquake and giant killer waves struck northern parts of Sumatra, until the deployment of massive relief efforts and the initial reconstruction program in tsunami-hit areas Metro TV, the country's first news channel, reported the developments around the clock.

And aware of the fact that in a society where reading is not the primary means of obtaining information, Metro TV saw the opportunity to use the media effectively to pool resources for the tsunami victims.

One of the most visible activities carried out by Metro TV to help tsunami victims is its attempt to help families trace individuals who have been reported missing by showing them footage taken from its news program.

Another has been the collection of donations from its viewers through Dompet Kemanusiaan Indonesia Menangis (Indonesia cries humanitarian relief). As of Sunday, it had collected more than Rp 125 billion in its three bank accounts.

To give the program a boost, it has been expanded to include Media Indonesia daily.

The man at the helm of the two media enterprises, Surya Darma Paloh, said of the humanitarian efforts that they were nothing compared to the plight that befell the Acehnese.

"They are in desperate need of our help and we need to do something quickly," Surya told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

Surya moved quickly in reaching out to tsunami victims.

Four hours after the tsunami struck, he was in the capital city of North Sumatra, Medan, overseeing the distribution of immediate aid for victims in Aceh and Nias, an island off the province's west coast which lay close to the 26 Dec. quake epicenter.

Since Surya's arrival in Medan, humanitarian work carried out under his company's flag has developed into a fully-fledged aid program.

Now, a relief program under his Media Group commands 400 aid workers recruited from employees in his companies, including doctors and construction workers.

"I have told them to work very hard in the relief program and to see it as an opportunity to cleanse themselves of past sins," he said.

Surya added that they were in it for the long haul, through to the reconstruction stage. "We have earmarked 90 percent of the public donations for providing the future education of children whose parents perished in the disaster," he said.

It would be easy to view Surya's involvement in aid efforts, as solely related to his ethnicity as he was born and partly raised in Banda Aceh.

"The fact that I was born in Aceh may have slightly contributed to the effort, but the disaster is so severe and this is a humanitarian problem," he said.

Surya added that his affinity to the province was not as strong as people thought as he and his family left Aceh before his teen years.

His father, Muhammad Daud Paloh, took Surya with him to Seberlawan, a small town in North Sumatra, when he was promoted to local police chief.

It is from this small town Surya launched his business ventures, which also served as a springboard for his future political career.

He started off his business in 1965 by selling commodities such as salted fish, tea, tobacco and cooking oil to plantation workers, while committing himself to the anticommunist drive as a local leader of Indonesian Youth and Student United Action Front (KAPPI). At the same time he also chaired an organization for children of members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (PP-ABRI).

More than three decades later, Surya's business and political endeavors reached their peak. He now heads dozens of companies ranging from catering services, hotels and property to computer technology, with assets worth over Rp 1 trillion, employing more than 15,000 people.

His years of political experience were recognized in December last year, when he was elected chairman of the Golkar Party's advisory board after a bitter contest. In this capacity, Surya is entrusted to advise new Golkar chairman Vice President Jusuf Kalla on strategic issues.

Due to his position in Golkar, it is also easy to suspect that Surya has an ulterior motive behind the relief efforts.

"People must think that I harbor narrow and subjective interests. But the simple truth is that the Acehnese are our fellow countrymen who are now suffering and in desperate need of our help," he said.