Burhan Uray
Dato' Sri Burhan Uray (13 November 1931 – 2 October 2018), also known as Huang Shuang'an (Chinese:
Biography
[edit]Uray was born Huang Shuang'an on 13 November 1931,[1] into a poor family in Minqing County, Fujian, China. He moved to Sibu, Sarawak (now in Malaysia) with his parents at the age of six.[2] Having received little education, he worked as a logger in his youth.[3]
Uray moved to Indonesia in 1956, where he worked as a rubber tapper[4] before starting his own timber company. He established good relations with the government and acquired logging concessions and greatly expanded his business in the 1960s. Prajogo Pangestu, who later became another timber tycoon, had his start in the business as an employee of Uray.[2]
In 1976, Djanjanti opened PT Nusantara, a woodworking business near Surabaya, and Indonesian President Suharto personally officiated the opening.[2] Djanjanti acquired concessions in Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and Irian Jaya, totalling 4,000,000 hectares (9,900,000 acres). The group manufactures timber products which are exported to many Asian countries as well as to other continents. Uray became known as "the timber king" of Indonesia.[2] As of 2012, the Djanjanti Group is Indonesia's second largest timber company.[2]
Uray later diversified into other businesses.[4] In 1994, Uray sold 31.5% of Djanjanti to Malaysia's Karamat Tin Dredging Company, in exchange of a 25% share of Karamat. In 1994, Djanjanti started a fishery megaproject worth 1.5 trillion rupiah.[2]
Uray made many charitable contributions. He set up a fund in 1982 to help students in Sibu, and donated 1.5 million ringgit in 1992 to construct the Sarawak Liing Hung Wong Clan Association building.[4] He also made donations to his hometown Minqing to help its development.[2]
Personal life
[edit]Burhan Uray married twice. He had four sons with his first wife, and all were educated abroad and worked in his businesses. In September 1977, he married Betty Pai (Chinese:
Illnesses and death
[edit]According to the biography written by his wife, Uray was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1992 and had two operations in Singapore. In 2003, he received an operation in the United States for liver cancer. In 2007, he had a stroke while travelling in Japan.[3][5]
Uray died on 2 October 2018 in New York, aged 86. He was buried at Nirvana Memorial Park in Sibu, Malaysia on 7 October.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Suryadinata, Leo (2015). Prominent Indonesian Chinese: Biographical Sketches (4th ed.). Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 361–. ISBN 978-981-4620-50-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Suryadinata, Leo (2012). Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent: A Biographical Dictionary. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 1230. ISBN 978-981-4345-21-7.
- ^ a b c "
印 尼 "木材 大王 "黄 双 安在 美国 病 逝". China News. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-10-09. - ^ a b c d "Prominent businessman Burhan Uray laid to rest". Borneo Post. 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ a b Li Yuexia
李 月 霞 (2018-10-03). "印 尼 "木材 大王 "黄 双 安在 美国 病 逝". Zaobao. Retrieved 2018-10-09. - ^ Pai, Betty (2016). Love in the Forest with Burhan Uray. Gramedia Pustaka Utama. ISBN 978-602-03-3495-0.
- 1931 births
- 2018 deaths
- Chinese company founders
- Indonesian company founders
- Indonesian people of Chinese descent
- Businesspeople from Fuzhou
- Chinese philanthropists
- Indonesian philanthropists
- Chinese emigrants to Malaysia
- Chinese emigrants to Indonesia
- People from Minqing County
- Businesspeople in timber
- 20th-century philanthropists