TNI Member Suddenly Becomes Wealthy: Rp5,000 Turns into Rp50 Billion
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Good fortune can arrive unexpectedly. This is what happened to a TNI soldier who suddenly became a new rich person after receiving a fantastic cash prize.
This incident occurred on 7 May 1991. At that time, Marine Captain Suseno was summoned by the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, Sudomo, to his office to receive a cash prize.
The prize did not come from military achievements, but from the Sumbangan Dermawan Sosial Berhadiah (SDSB) lottery that Suseno participated in. He only bought a coupon for Rp5,000, but luck brought him a big win.
According to a report in the Suara Pembaruan newspaper edition of 8 May 1991, Suseno successfully won the Rp1 billion prize from the 14th SDSB period. This victory instantly changed his life from an ordinary soldier to a billionaire.
Suseno’s success in winning the SDSB lottery directly transformed his life path, from an ordinary soldier to a billionaire soldier.
In 1990, Rp1 billion was a very large amount when converted to the current rupiah value. The price of a house in the elite Pondok Indah area, Jakarta, alone reached Rp80 million per unit. That means, with Rp1 billion, Suseno could buy 12 units of houses in Pondok Indah.
Then, the price of gold in 1990 was only Rp20,000 per gram. With Rp1 billion, Suseno could buy 50 kg of gold. Therefore, if converted through gold price equalisation (1 gram: Rp1 million), it is known that Rp1 billion is equivalent to Rp50 billion in the current era.
That means, with Rp1 billion in 1991, Suseno could enjoy life until the end without working.
Wealthy from SDSB
It should be noted that SDSB was an official lottery programme run by the Ministry of Social Affairs during the Soeharto government era and has been in effect since 1 January 1989.
This programme aimed to attract money from the public which would then be redirected for development. In return, the public received prizes from the government with the highest amount reaching Rp1 billion.
To participate in SDSB, the public only needed to buy a coupon and wait for the winner announcement. Winners were usually announced on Wednesday nights via radio broadcast.
If the purchased coupon matched the announcement, the buyer would receive the prize money. However, the chances were very small. From millions of participants, only 1-2 people would win. So, someone who won this lottery would have used up their lifetime luck.
The appeal of SDSB then made people compete to join, from farmers, becak drivers, to TNI soldiers. They sometimes consulted shamans to get winning numbers.
SDSB did prove to make many people suddenly rich, but this programme was no different from the gambling that is currently popular. Anti-New Order activist Sri Bintang Pamungkas in Ganti Rezim Ganti Sistem (2014) called SDSB gambling legalised by the Soeharto government.
Not surprisingly, when SDSB was popular, many people and organisations opposed it. In the end, SDSB ended in 1993.