"Oh no! Where's my $1.2-million SGX share certificate?"

Just now, I caught my breath when a friend shared by whatsapp the image of an advertisement about a lost share certificate.

It was the value of the shares that elicited a 'wow'.

At $7.78 a share, which is the recent traded price, the 154,545 shares of Singapore Exchange are now worth about $1.2 million.

So, someone lost a piece of paper worth that much, and you can imagine him, or his family, frantically looking all over the house and office for it.

For most of us, the papers we might misplace would be some lousy school exam certificate. Or perhaps sentimental things like love letters. Anything but the million-dollar stuff.

Chances are, the person who lost the SGX certificate is some really wealthy bloke. And with a name like his, he's likely to be an Indonesian tycoon.

I Googled and, bingo, the search results listed several articles containing "Atmadja Tjiptobiantoro".

If he is the same Mr Tjiptobiantoro we are talking about, then this is a brief profile of him:

» Chinese Indonesian aged 73 currently.

» Retired at age 53 in 1996 from being President Director of PT Dwi Satrya group of companies.

» Sold all his shares in the group, including shares in ICI Paints Indonesia.

» Was also an architect (of some renown).

I did not find any reference to his investments but certainly his purchase of SGX shares have proven to be astute.

Let's assume he bought them at, or around IPO time in 2000.

The stock has gone up from the IPO price of $1.10 to $7.78 recently. And we have not yet counted the hefty cumulative dividends.

Makes you wish you had a piece of paper like that to lose, doesn't it?

"Oh no! Where's my $1.2-million SGX share certificate?"

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