Yozua Makes and Dewi Makes are founders of Plataran - an Indonesian hospitality group with a clear identity of being a True Indonesian Icon.

Come from a unique background, aside from his involvement in the hospitality business, Yozua is also a Corporate Finance Lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in the practice areas of Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets and Investment Laws.

Born in Jakarta and having graduated with distinction from the Faculty of Law of University of Indonesia, Dr. Yozua Makes SH., LLM, MM pursued further education in various renowned international schools such as the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Asian Institute of Management (Manila), Harvard Business School, and successfully obtained a doctorate degree from the Doctorate Programme of the School of Law University of Indonesia and Maastrict University Netherlands.

His passion and love has always been the Indonesian culture and nature. The establishment of Plataran was accidently started in 2009 when spouses Yozua and Dewi converted their private villa in Canggu Bali into a small boutique villa resort tagged as “An Exotic Labyrinth of Balinese Luxury “,  which features a lush Balinese garden created by the legendary landscaper Michael White and inspired by the forgotten Bali concept, realizing that many hotels and resorts in Bali have lost the true spirit of Balinese culture and ambiance.

Being both educators, with Yozua lecturing at the Faculty of Law of University of Indonesia and University of Pelita Harapan and Dewi lecturing at the Faculty of Literature (French Department) of University of Indonesia, they believed that the fastest way to educate Indonesians through non formal education is through tourism in order to achieve their goal of creating Plataran for Indonesia and Indonesians.

Nowadays, Plataran is acknowledged as a True Indonesian Icon of Indonesia by domestic and international markets and has won many prestigious awards, Including Sustainable Destinations Top 100 by Green Destination Organization, World Best Luxury Resort and Spa, and Gold Winner in Resort Category by Real Estate Indonesia Excellence Awards (Indonesian Real Estate Association). Further, through Rumah Plataran Indonesia (House of Plataran Indonesia), Plataran engages in many social responsibility programs focusing on (a) Woman & Children, (b) Education, (c) Culture and Faith and (d) Eco Tourism Development.

“My number-one philosophy in life is all about happiness: doing what you like,“ said Yozua, in a recent interview with Indonesian Tatler Magazine. “Secondly, it is also very important to live life with a purpose; we are all given the same 24 hours, and they are absolutely not to be wasted,“ he continued. It is this drive and ambition that has led Plataran on a decade of growth and development, but Yozua is adamant that the most important indicator of achievement goes beyond the bottom line:

“While the conventional way of measuring success is a quantitative one, I feel that the qualitative side of success is much more essential,“ he said. “For me, the definition of that is to build something that many more can benefit from. That, to me, is my biggest success and what makes me the happiest.“

Yozua is a father of 4 children with 2 granddaughter, and has true passion for antique cars.