Surya Paloh – Indonesian Media Tycoon

Surya Dharma Paloh is the owner of the newspaper and Metro TV station Media Indonesia. His company is a 24-hour international new television network that runs across the country.

Paloh is also very active in politics and was the former Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Golkar Party, which is the largest political party in Indonesia. For 43 years, he was a member of the party and had been developing his position from being a common member to leading the youth wing, to finally becoming the chairman of the advisory board.

He also founded the National Democrat mass organization that later gave rise to the Nasdem Party or the Partai Nasional Demokrat. However, his membership in the new party was a threat to Golkar and he resigned. Paloh stated that Golkar no longer meet his progressive ideas or high moral values and was being abandoned by its many followers.

Afterward, he focus on the Nasdem party and dedicated himself to their views. In 2016, Paloh was named one of the 20 most powerful and influential people in Indonesia by GlobeAsia magazine.

The masculine name Surya means “sun” in Sanskrit. The name is used in many places, including Indian, Hinduism, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, Narathi, Indonesian, and Nepali cultures. The name is also the name of the Hindu god of the sun. In fact, Surya also connotes the solar deity in Hinduism, especially in the Saura tradition. Surya is also one of the nine heavenly houses in the zodiac system in Hindu astrology.