Jakarta, IO – The Indonesian automotive world is proud to have had Astra, as one of the huge local automotive companies, and the history of Astra is inextricably linked to the figure of William Soerjadjaja.
William was born Tjia Kian Liong on December 20, 1922, in Majalengka, West Java, and is renowned for having been a hard worker, tenacious and unyielding in expanding his business empire.
William lost both parents when he was only 12 years old, and at the age of 19, he was forced to drop out of MULO School in Cirebon. He then sought to establish himself as a paper trader in that city.
In Majalaya, young William exchanged spun yarn, in addition to paper. Not long after, he began to trade agricultural products, such as peanut oil, rice and sugar. “Trading helped me support the lives of my brothers and sisters,” said the second child of five siblings, as quoted in biografiku.com.
After earning his success in trading, young William continued his studies in the Netherlands, at Middlebare Vakschool V/d Leder & Schoen Industrie Waalwijk, an industrial school that taught leather tanning. Returning to his homeland, Indonesia, in 1949, William set up a leather tanning industry, managed by a friend. Three years later, William founded CV Sanggabuana, a commerce and import-export company. Unfortunately, he was cheated by his partner in this business.
He was arrested shortly after starting his business on a bogus corruption charge. His good name was immediately shattered, and his business collapsed.
He immediately got back on his feet after leaving prison. He acquired an import company in difficulty, situated on #36A Sabang Street in Jakarta, with the help of his younger sister, Tjia Kian Tie, and a friend, Lim Peng Hong. The newly-acquired company was a shipwreck, with his small office often flooded during Jakarta’s heavy rains. The company was then called “Astra”, a brand proposed by his sister, named after an Ancient Greek goddess who travels through the sky and transforms herself into a shining star. Her sister hoped her brother’s company would enjoy the same destiny as the Greek Goddess.
Astra was founded on February 20, 1957, and began its business in the domestic needs industry. However, the first ten years were the most difficult for Astra, which nearly went bankrupt multiple times.
William and the corporation benefited from Soekarno’s downfall and Suharto’s accession to the presidency, with Astra’s success owed to the New Order administration, that provided a breath of fresh air for corporate development.
Astra was given permission to supply 800 Chevrolet brand trucks in 1968–1969, when the government was rebuilding a shattered economy. The trucks sold out immediately while the dollar exchange rate sank from IDR 141 to IDR 378 per US dollar.
