4 - Crucial Links

Summary

Liem Sioe Liong never read Dale Carnegie, but for his ability to make friends and win the trust of influential people, he could have been a poster boy for Carnegie's best-selling work How to Win Friends and Influence People, first published in 1936, two years before Liem set foot in Java. Although he was not fluent in the language and knew little about Javanese culture, within a short time of his arrival, Liem was able to attract customers with his winsome smile and charming ways. As a supplier first to the independence fighters in the foothills of Central Java, then to the Diponegoro Division commanded by Suharto, Liem impressed his customers with his honesty and reliability. Among his Hokchia clansmen, he had a reputation for being trustworthy and discreet. Within a few years of his arrival in Java, he was entrusted with the responsibility of harbouring a political fugitive hiding from the Dutch when they were asserting their claim on the country after the Japanese surrender. It turned out that the fugitive was Hasan Din, a father-in-law to the republic's first president, Sukarno. Liem and Hasan Din became friends as well as business associates, of which more would be written about later.

Thirty years after Liem set foot on Java, he was scouting for big money to fund plans for his first huge venture, the flour milling business. Soon after, he needed fresh funds for the planned cement manufacturing. For this, Liem had to go beyond the country's shores to obtain it. Two overseas Chinese tycoons played important roles in channelling funds as well as expertise. For flour, he turned to Malaysian Chinese Robert Kuok; for cement it was Thai-Chinese banker Chin Sophonpanich, a self-made tycoon who knew a thing or two about the importance of having powerful patrons. But to get to that stage, where he could undertake the role of the country's first industrialist, he would have had to earn the trust of the country's new leader Suharto, who became full president in 1968. Although Liem and Suharto had been acquainted since 1949, the Chinese businessman did not have steady contact with the general until after 1966, when Suharto seized power. For Liem's “anointment” into the privileged position of a cukong, he had members of the senior military men belonging to a group dubbed “Financial Generals” to thank.