The event, held at the lobby of Gran Melia hotel, was attended by famous Indonesian painter Suprobo, who exhibits his paintings at the hotel lobby. He also donated parts of the revenue from the sale of his paintings for education through this “A Dollar for Scholars" program.

In his speech, Elan Merdy explained that this program is aimed at broadening access to education of quality for Indonesian students through scholarships schemes. “We believe that all Indonesians, including businessmen, politicians, community leaders, and the general public share the same responsibility to provide education of quality for the children of this nation,” Elan said.

Through this program, each guest in the hotel will be able to donate one dollar for education in Indonesia. The contribution could be handed to the hotel receptionist or charged directly in their bill.  The funds gathered in this three-month program will be used to broaden Indonesian children’s access to education through scholarships that will be channeled by Sampoerna Foundation. “Gran Melia Hotel Jakarta is glad to support this program because Gran Melia Jakarta’s Community Involvement Program includes support for Indonesian children education,” said Manuel Locher.

According to the data from the National Education Ministry, 42,251,095 out of 84,158,700 Indonesian children aged between 5-24 have no access to education in 2004-2005. “50% of Indonesian children who should go to school are not given any chance.
50% of those who go to school are facing drop outs due to various reasons including financial problems. Imagine, every 5 minutes, 7 students have to drop out of school," Elan explained further.

He added that the Sampoerna Foundation believes that education is the most important aspect in national development. Education quality improvement will produce highly qualified human resources and it would accelerate the national development process.