CATEGORY

In the waning days of Dutch rule over Indonesia, a poor Chinese merchant bought the license to a bank named NV Nederlandsch lndische Spaar en Deposito (NISP) with his last assets and ran the bank successfully. By tradition, he was obligated to express his gratitude for his good fortune by paying homage to his ancestors’ burial place in China. Unexpected complications resulted in his return to Indonesia being hindered for sixteen long years. The responsibility for the bank, which had been ruined by senior managers’ embezzlement, fell to his son-in-law, Karmaka, a teacher with only a high school degree.Through die-hard determination and an honorable personality that ensured he gave respect to elders, remained true to his words, played fair with enemies, and had compassion for the meek, Karmaka overcame incredible calamities, including Indonesia’s economic turmoil of 1960 and the Asian economic crisis of 1997. The stress of these responsibilities coupled with grave threats to his health culminated in risky liver and kidney transplants. Karmaka and his resourceful wife not only kept NISP alive and thriving but also molded the characters of their five children, two of whom became the bank’s executives. A solid partnership with IFC-World Bank Group and OCBC Bank of Singapore has paved the way for NISP, recognized as the sole survivor from the past seventy years of Indonesian private banking history, to rise even further in the new millennium.

*****

“It has been a real pleasure and privilege to have Pak Karmaka as a very good friend and reliable partner for many years. We greatly admire his strong determination in saving as well as rebuilding Bank NISP and guiding the merger of OCBC and NISP. We have full confidence that our partnership in Bank OCBC NISP will be a truly successful one.” —Mr Lee Seng Wee, former chairman, OCBC Bank Group