The Tanoto Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Tanoto family. Established in 2001 in Singapore by entrepeneur and philanthropist Sukanto Tanoto, it is a non-profit organisation focused on giving back to impoverished and disadvantaged communities and alleviating poverty through education, empowerment and enhanced quality of life.
Both Sukanto Tanoto and his wife Tinah Bingei Tanoto were unable to complete their formal education. Realizing he would need to master the English language in order to expand his business internationally, Sukanto Tanoto taught himself English later in life by using a Chinese-English dictionary to learn to read English written magazines.
As the founder of the Tanto Foundation, Sukanto Tanoto strongly believes that education is the most effective way to reduce poverty, and therefore in a new strategy to improve education in rural and impoverished communities in the Pangkalan Kerinci area, the Tanoto Foundation is recruiting English speaking educators and Indonesian workers whom have worked abroad for a certain amount of time and are therefore fluent in English.
One such Indonesian worker, Sarifah, spent six years working in Singapore where she learnt how to educate and care for young children in addition to learning English. On her return she was offered a job by Asian Agri, founded by Sukanto Tanoto, to teach English in the schools surrounding their palm oil plantations. Currently she teaches English to children in five different areas in the New Overseas territories, Pangkalan Kerinci, spending one day a week in each area teaching up to 30 children at a time.
“All around us there are still many people who are constrained in accessing quality education. Often, poverty is the cause of this. They do not have the opportunity to empower themselves and break away from the chain of poverty, ” – Sukanto Tanoto
The Foundation is present in Indonesia, China and Singapore, which are the countries where Sukanto Tanoto’s company, Royal Golden Eagle (RGE), has based its various operations.
For more information about Sukanto Tanoto and the Tanoto Foundation please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/SukantoTanoto