Establish Soccer School to Accomodate Hobby and Passion in Law

When did you start getting interested in legal practice until you finally took the legal profession?

Talking about when I started getting interested in law makes me flashback to earlier times when my parents were working as teachers. Since I was a kid, my siblings and I was brought up to be discipline in following the rules and to be commited to rules that have been agreed together. I also have always loved reading and always interested in anything about rules, either religious rules or other kind of rules. When I was in senior high school, I really liked history subject and always got the best scores. Finally, I decided to take social study major. My favorite subject was state organization and administration in which I learned about the laws and government regulations. I was so happy when it came to learning a lesson related to rules. When I graduated from high school, I was accepted at Padjadjaran University in law faculty, and until now I still continue to be on the path that I like. Essentially, my passion since my childhood year was in the field of law.

How did you join FORU?

When I graduated from college, I wanted to deepen my knowledge in law by joining one of the big law firms in Jakarta for a lot of learning. After working in a Law Firm, I moved to one of the private companies as an internal lawyer. Since April 2003, I joined FORU until now, so I have been working here for 11 years. At that moment, I viewed that FORU was a limited company whose industry was unique and different as it engaged in the field of communication, the field that I am not familiar with. That reason made me want to learn about the communications industry and I was sure there would be many things that I could get and give in this industry.

As a Corporate Legal Manager of FORU, would you tell us what you actually do in your job?

I am currently responsible partly for the job of Corporate Secretary especially in Legal practice and GCG. I assist Corporate Secretary to coordinate all matters related to the stakeholders and the implementation of Good Corporate Governance (GCG) of the company; while the Legal job is mostly related to treaty, law administration and advocacy (counsel / litigation) with many concerned parties both internally and externally

Making agreement with clients is one of the tasks that you do. By far, what obstacle do you most frequently encounter when dealing with clients?

Legal practitioners always have their own working patterns and considerations; these too are applied to every client working with FORU. Usually, if the clients have their own legal officers they sometimes have a reversed pattern in order to protect their companies. If the clients are fun type of people, then we can have a good discussion to achieve a win-win solution. But there are also some companies, usually governmental companies, which make tough discussions. Although the deal is wrong and unfavorable, they still do not want to change it. When there is a loss, the company would blame FORU. Therfore, since I joined FORU, I learned that everything must always have proofs and I also get used to archive all the data that would be useful if something like that happens one day.

As a busy Legal Manager and also the head of the family, how do you manage both roles?

Weekend is time for family, so I do my best not to do anything dealing with the office activities on weekends. I had ever accepted an offer to become a lecturer at a university, but as my children were growing up and required more of my time, I decided to quit teaching. I was also very grateful when the office moved to Galaktika because the distance between work and home is getting shorter, so I can have more time with my family. So, I can manage my job and the time for my family well.

What activities do you do when you are not busy with office work?

I like cycling and swimming. I have two daughters and I always ask them to go cycling with me around the housing complex. I also really like playing football because my friends and I establish a soccer school named Soccer School Indonesia Arsenal (SSIA) in Ciputat. Actually, I am a Liverpool fan but since Arsenal has more fans here so the soccer school was named under license from Arsenal. There I serve as an advisor and licensing administrator and my friends are responsible to manage the school. In addition, the presence of the soccer school enables me to gather with friends more frequently and I can take my children there.

What are the most memorable happy moments in your life?

There are three happy moments in my life: it was when I graduated from senior high school, got married, and became a father. Those are three moments that have ever made me cry.

Who has inspired you in your life?

My father is the man who has inspired me until now. As a teacher, he taught me to live a simple life. He also taught me that property is not the only thing that makes us happy. One more thing that he always said to me is that we should never chase the world, because if you are on the right path, the world will chase and follow you. That is the message that I remember up to this day and that I try to apply.

Having long been in the law field, negotiations with clients have certainly become commonplace for you. What negotiation strategy do you use to get a favorable decision for both parties?

Suggest some alternatives.  Why alternatives, because clients usually insist the decision they have made, through some alternatives we may change their thinking direction.

Nurfurqan

Corporate Legal Manager