GIDEON: LIVING LIFE IN GOD'S GUIDANCE
Life experience has taught many kinds of wisdom in human. These wisdoms guided Gideon to run his business.
Memorable life experience in the past, sometimes inspires someone to do the current profession. It also happens to Gideon Hartono. When he was in the 1st grade of high school, he suffered mumps that cause him to hardly open his mouth so that he could not eat, speak, and his body was in fever. However, with only a shot, in less than 10 minutes, the doctor he visited was able to help him released from those pains.
“At that time, I thought how noble doctor’s role is. Because, they can help people to get healed from any suffering that caused by disease and make people happy again. Exactly at that moment, I wanted to be a doctor,” said the chairman of PT. K-24 Indonesia. That goal was obviously not hard to achieve by the man who was graduate of SMA Kolese De Britto that always ranked first. With that rank, he could register to the public university through special line, which is now known as Interest and Competence Examination. In the other hand, Gideon also loved Physics. He and two of his high school friends had tried writing a book contained physics problem entitled The Green Book of Physics Problems. That is why he wanted to register at Science and Mathematics Faculty (F-MIPA)
However, like the quote, man proposes but God disposes, because one and the others, he failed to enter Medical Faculty, the only faculty he chose even though as the Paspal (now is known as Science) students, he was allowed to choose three different faculties. Therefore, F-MIPA that he wanted also lose from his hold. “After that, I felt like I was warned not to only believe in my own power. There is stronger power that I should believe, God’s power,” said the doctor that graduated from Medical Faculty of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. To kill the time until the registration on the next year, this man who is fifth child of seven siblings studied at PAT (Pendidikan Ahli Teknik/Engineering Expert Education, owned by Faculty of Engineering UGM, red.) “Because it is related to physics,” he continued, smiling.
In 1983, he registered again and accepted at FK-UGM. According to government’s regulation at that time, a year after owning medical degree (1990) he had to be civil servant under the Ministry of Health Indonesia. It could be understood if Gideon is an indigenous citizen, “Here, I felt lucky because at that time was New Order era,” said the man whose great-grandmother from both mother and father side was Javanese.
However, his luck stopped there. Even though he got full support from the people around him, this former Chief at Puskesmas (Community Health Center) Umbulharjo I, Yogyakarta, had to face failure again to take specialist program because of the Chinese blood in his body. He did not want to keep sinking in disappointment. Since he never opened practice at home and relied only on his salary from being the doctor at local health facilities, the man who was born in Yogyakarta 44 years ago tried to realize his plan B, which was opening small photography studio in the garage of his house named Agatha Photo. This business was developed to be more modern and being the side source of income.
Where did he get the capital? “Since I was in Junior High School, I love and interested in photography world. I have 30 trophies and medals that I got from various photography competition both in regional and national level. The prize money from those competitions and also money borrowed from my uncle were the capital I got to establish Agatha Photo,” said the man who had obsession as ophthalmologists. Next, he established Agatha Video with Inge Santoso, a dentist who later be his wife, “I made Agatha Photo as a family business which later the ownership I handed to my parents and my youngest brother. Meanwhile, Agatha Video is fully my business with my wife-to-be at that time. Now, both of those business improve well. Moreover, Agatha Video has branch in Semarang,” he added.
In order to improve his family economy, this father of two sons was also interested to pharmacy business that opens for 24 hours, but the price of medicine is the same with the ‘ordinary’ pharmacy. “I remember, it was so hard to find medicine in the pharmacy during midnight. Even if there is one, the price of the medicine will be very expensive.” said Gideon, who resigned from civil servant since last April because of his business.
Through the pharmacy business called Apotek K-24, he wanted to spread harmony in the middle of national plurality. “Pharmacy is the media for people from various background to meet. It can be seen from the logo of Apotek K-24 which is dominated with green color as the representation of Islam as the religion with the highest followers in Indonesia. Red means Christian, which is the religion with second highest followers. yellow refers to Chinese as the ethnic group that dominates country’s economy, and white to represent others such as Hindu, Buddha, and other ethnic groups in Indonesia,” explained the man who tried to join regional election as the vice major in Yogyakarta but failed. “Will I try again later? Well, I will just follow God’s plan,” he added. Yes, human lives are part of God’s plan.