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Ricky Salim admits that he never stops thinking about money. As a child in Aceh, he watched his mom raise six children by selling cookies to neighbors. Ricky took her business acumen to another level, but it wasn’t easy. He had to go door-to-door in Sumatra before he made it in Jakarta.

Today, he tells us how burning green candles may bring luck and offers a little insight into why he doesn’t give change to beggars.

Tell us about your current company.

Thank God that as of today my company, PT Millennium Penata Futures, is still the top futures trading company in Indonesia with the biggest transaction volumes and the most branches. There are branches across Indonesia: Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Bandung, Makassar, Semarang and Palembang.

What’s a typical day like for you?

My daily routine is to get up close to noon and study market growth to see what looks promising. After that, I think about what else I can do to get more money. You see, I was really poor when I was young, so now all I think about is money.

You come from Aceh yet became successful in Jakarta. Tell us your story.

I’m always up until late, waiting for my God of Fortune to share his prosperity with me. Only then can I go to bed. If I don’t do this, I’ll miss out [laughs].

Could you be more specific? Let’s start with when you were growing up in Aceh.

My childhood consisted of helping my mom to bake cookies from scratch and sell them to our neighbors in Aceh. I remember my little hands would get really tired from mixing the big bowl of dough. While other kids would be wearing new Carvil sandals, I’d be hiding because I didn’t want them to see me in my cheap sandals.

Then when you got older?

I started working for PT Kao Indonesia as a door-to-door store adviser [a term Kao uses for its salesmen]. I became their top salesman for goods distributed and sold in Sumatra. At that time, I was still in college. My major was economics and I would listen to my lecturer talk about futures trading. Sometimes, I would object to the theories he taught us because I knew they couldn’t be applied in the real world.

How did you initially fare in futures trading?

I was on a three-month probation period and it was only as that time was coming to an end that I finally found a client who was willing to invest with me. I sat all day and night in front of my computer to make that client rich. Since then, my clientele has grown rapidly. The owner of the company was getting old and I offered to manage it for him. I began opening up branches in other cities and moved to Jakarta. I was totally committed to making it in the capital.

What is Jakarta like in the eyes of a broker?

It’s awash with money.

And what did it feel like when you became rich?

I didn’t know how to handle it when I was young. I would work like crazy on weekdays then spend everything going to clubs and staying at hotels on the weekend.

How do you handle the stress?

I sit silently and think about what caused the stress. Weird, huh?

You’re a self-made man and you’ve been through a lot. Tell us three lessons you’ve learned during your life?

First, that loving my parents gives me an instant feeling of gratification. Second, the ability to help others in need is a great miracle and a blessing that God has given to me. Last, never blame yourself or others if you’re born poor, but blame yourself if you die poor.

Tell us a funny story that has happened at work.

Eleven years ago I had a colleague who kept many candles in his drawer. The candles were separated into two colors: red and green. When he made a transaction to buy a certain currency, he would light the green candle very close to the computer monitor, and vice versa. When asked why he did it, he said the green candle helped the market go up. Luckily the Fed doesn’t know about him, otherwise they’d have recruited him [laughs].

As someone who grew up poor, what do you think of the poor in Jakarta?

The poor people on the street are mostly brothers and sisters of those who are working in Jakarta. When those working in the capital return to their villages during Idul Fitri, they tell their family members in their hometowns to move to Jakarta, telling them that they can make a lot of money here. What’s terrible is that many of those people don’t even have permanent jobs themselves in Jakarta! They just want to pretend in front of the villagers that they have made it in Jakarta.

Do you do anything to help them?

I’ve never helped those on the street because it’ll only make them weaker, make them think they can get money by begging. But I often contribute money to a foundation for people who are suffering from both physical and mental disabilities called Yayasan Panti Sosial Bina Grahita Belaian Kasih, in Kalideres, West Jakarta.