A birthday message for Indonesian tycoon and philanthropist Stephen Riady was plastered across the right-hand-side third page of The Straits Times newspaper on June 15, 2020, in full colour.

Full-page ad for Stephen Riady's 60th birthday

The message was dedicated to Riady for his 60th birthday by his son-in-law, Andy Adhiwana, executive director of Auric Pacific Group Limited, which owns businesses and consumer brands such as Sunshine Bread.

Here's the digital version on ST's e-paper:

According to Singapore Press Holding's media ratebook, the base rate for an advertisement on a Monday costs roughly S$55 per column per centimetre (as of Oct. 23, 2019).

For a full-colour and full-page ad on the third page of the main paper, the price would range somewhere between S$30,000 to S$40,000.

Who is Stephen Riady?

The Indonesian tycoon's name may sound familiar to some, especially to students from the National University of Singapore (NUS), where the Stephen Riady Centre at NUS UTown got its name from.

Or perhaps students from the Singapore Management University (SMU) have heard of the Mochtar Riady Auditorium, named after the tycoon's father.

The executive chairman of real estate group OUE and the board of Lippo Ltd, Riady is on Singapore Tatler's list of 300 most powerful and influential people in Singapore.

He established the Stephen Riady Foundation in 2010, where the majority of its philanthropic causes go to educational needs.

The foundation has funded a number of educational institutions and scholarships in Singapore and overseas.

Top image: Pat Law/Facebook, Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg via Getty Images