Dato' Sri Burhan Uray (13 November 1931 – 2 October 2018), also known as Huang Shuang'an () in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

and Bong Swan An or Bong Sun On in

Eastern Min Eastern Min or Min Dong (, Foochow Romanized: ) is a branch of the Min group of the Chinese languages of China. The prestige form and most commonly cited representative form is the Fuzhou dialect, the speech of the capital of Fujian. Geogra ...

, was a Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneur and philanthropist, known as the "Timber King" of Indonesia. Born into a poor family in

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

, China, he moved to

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

in childhood and then to Indonesia, where he founded the Djanjanti Group and turned it into the second largest timber company in the country. He later diversified into other businesses including fishery.

Biography

Uray was born Huang Shuang'an on 13 November 1931, into a poor family in

Minqing County Minqing County is a Counties of China, county in eastern Fujian, Fujian Province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the provincial capital. History Fire from the soldiers at Meicheng, Fujian, Meiche ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He moved to

Sibu Sibu is a landlocked city located in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It serves as the capital of Sibu District within Sibu Division and is situated on the island of Borneo. Covering an area of , the city is positioned at the conf ...

(now in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

) with his parents at the age of six. Having received little education, he worked as a logger in his youth. Uray moved to Indonesia in 1956, where he worked as a

rubber tapper Rubber tapping is the process by which latex is collected from a rubber tree. The latex is harvested by slicing a groove into the bark of the tree at a depth of with a hooked knife and peeling back the bark. Trees must be approximately six years ...

before starting his own timber company. He established good relations with the government and acquired logging concessions and greatly expanded his business in the 1960s. Prajogo Pangestu, who later became another timber tycoon, had his start in the business as an employee of Uray. In 1976, Djanjanti opened PT Nusantara, a woodworking business near

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

, and Indonesian President

Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...

personally officiated the opening. Djanjanti acquired concessions in

Central Kalimantan Central Kalimantan () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. It is the largest province in Indonesia by area since 2022, bordered by West Kalimantan to the west ...

East Kalimantan East Kalimantan (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo/Kalimantan. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the cu ...

, and

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Austral ...

, totalling . The group manufactures timber products which are exported to many Asian countries as well as to other continents. Uray became known as "the timber king" of Indonesia. As of 2012, the Djanjanti Group is Indonesia's second largest timber company. Uray later diversified into other businesses. In 1994, Uray sold 31.5% of Djanjanti to Malaysia's Karamat Tin Dredging Company, in exchange of a 25% share of Karamat. In 1994, Djanjanti started a fishery megaproject worth 1.5 trillion rupiah. Uray made many charitable contributions. He set up a fund in 1982 to help students in Sibu, and donated 1.5 million ringgit in 1992 to construct the Sarawak Liing Hung Wong Clan Association building. He also made donations to his hometown Minqing to help its development.

Personal life

Burhan Uray married twice. He had four sons with his first wife, and all were educated abroad and worked in his businesses. In September 1977, he married Bai Jia-li, a Taiwanese television presenter. In 2013, Pai published Uray's biography in Chinese, which was published in English in 2016 under the title ''Love in the Forest with Burhan Uray''.

Illnesses and death

According to the biography written by his wife, Uray was diagnosed with

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

in 1992 and had two operations in Singapore. In 2003, he received an operation in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

. In 2007, he had a stroke while travelling in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Uray died on 2 October 2018 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, aged 86. He was buried at Nirvana Memorial Park in Sibu, Malaysia on 7 October.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uray, Burhan 1931 births 2018 deaths Chinese company founders Indonesian company founders Indonesian people of Chinese descent Businesspeople from Fuzhou Chinese philanthropists Indonesian philanthropists Chinese emigrants to Malaysia Chinese emigrants to Indonesia People from Minqing County Businesspeople in timber 20th-century philanthropists