Ken Kawan Soetanto, professor extraordinaire

I read a forwarded e-mail last night that introduced me to this extraordinary man. His name is Ken Kawan Soetanto and below I'll tell you what's amazing about him.

• He was born as a Surabayan chinese in 1951. He has shown great interest and aptitude in electronics in his teen age.
• He studied at SD Kapasari, SMP Baliwerti and SMA Budiluhur, Surabaya.
• He worked 6 years in an electronic store after high school.
  
• He went to Japan when he was 23, with little money. He even could not speak Japanese at all.
• After struggling to live and survive, at 26 he got scholarship to study Electrical Engineering at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. (I am 25 when I am writing this) He also earned his master's degree at the same university with honors.
  
• He got his first PhD in Applied Electronic Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology when he was 34. He became a professor at 37.
  
• After that, he showed his brilliance in other different fields by earning three more doctorate degrees in Medical Science (from Tohoku University), Pharmacy Science (from Science University of Tokyo) and Education (from Waseda University).
• He is currently Professor at the School of International Liberal Studies and Associate Dean of International Affairs at Waseda where he is also director of the Clinical Education and Science Research Institute.
  
• He is the Founder of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and of the Center for Advanced Research of Biomedical Engineering at the university.
  
• He also taught at the School Medicine of the Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, at Derxel University, at the Toin University of Yokohama and at the University of Northern California. He is also a visiting professor at Venice International University, Italy.
• He is the member of supervisor committee of METI (Japanese Ministry of Economy,
  Trade, and Industry).
  
• He also contributed in the concept of shaping future Japan with the Japanese Government 21st Century Vision.
• He coined the term "Soetanto Effect", a concept in education well-known in Japan.
• He holds 31+ international patents.
  
• He received various awards, authored or co-authored publications and proceedings mainly in Bio-acoustics, Medical imaging and instrumentation, Tissue characterization, Pharmaceutical engineering, Drug Delivery System, Nanotechnology; Education and Psychology, Education technology, Motivation mechanisms and Field study on Higher education.
• What really amaze me is that he is still an Indonesian citizen, holding his Indonesian green passport despite his long years abroad. He refused citizenship offer from other countries like China and Japan.

What makes identical people achieve different result? What makes this man different than many other Indonesians, including me?

I remembered a conversation I had about a month with Pak Teuku Abdullah Sanny about the Japanese life values. He is a distinguished professor, scholar, scientist and engineer at Department of Geophysics Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, with doctorate degree from University of Kyoto. He told me that Japanese, like his professors, are used to live these habits:

• Japanese are typical hard worker (or workaholic?), working sixteen hours per day, arrive in office at 7 AM and going out of office at 11 PM.
• Doing one thing at a time and never stop doing it until it's finished. Focused mind is power.
  
• They seldom talk while working. They can sit and stare at their PC monitor for hours. That's why still office rooms are common phenomena in Japan. They work hard but play hard too.
  
• Very discipline and clean. They respect rules, laws and order.
• They put very high value to honesty and integrity.
• They show sincerity in helping others. He said that if you ask a Japanese where an address is, don't get shocked if he offer to take you there!
• They pay high respect to people especially those who show interest in their culture, even like speaking very little Japanese.
• They are very proud of the institution for whom they work. You may hear them saying this when introducing themselves: "I am from Mitsubishi Company and my name is Mauritz." That's why many Japanese may spend all of their productive years working for only a single company.

Given the same time and potentials, why some people achieve higher results than some others, having better lives and giving more contributions to society and the world? I know, it is what is inside them that really matters: their values, their habits, their mindsets, their characters.

If they can do it, so why can't I?
I can only if I am willing to imitate
how they live and work every day.
Only if I resolve to pay the price.

"The circumstances that surround a man’s life are not important.
How that man responds to those circumstances is important.
His response is the ultimate determining factor
between success and failure.
Character, not circumstances, makes the man."
Booker T. Washington