After Being Given An Understanding By Sean Gelael, Jerome Polin's Real Support For Indonesian Automotive Sports Is Awaited

Jerome Polin Sijabat, his name is included in the list of the 30 most successful young Asian entrepreneurs in 2021 according to Forbes Magazine. (instagram@jeromepolin)

JAKARTA - Jerome Polin Sijabat is in the news. The cyber celebrity with 6.2 million followers on Instagram, 1.6 million on Twitter, and 8.83 million on YouTube went viral after his tweet on January 24, 2022, caused controversy. Jerome tweeted about the Indonesian racer, with a sentence like this: GILEE IS SO COOL! Are there Indonesian racers who race in international races? #IndonesiadiMotoGP.

Jerome included a photo of a young Indonesian motorcycle racer, Mario Suryo Aji, who is predicted to be the first Indonesian to race in the MotoGP event. Mario will race in Moto3 2022 under Honda Team Asia, and his debut will begin on March 6 at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Because it did not go into detail about the "Indonesian racer" Jerome questioned, the tweet elicited a response from car racer Sean Gelael. Sean, who has worked in the world of racing from karting, rallying, Formula 3, GP2, to the LeMans 24 Hours replied to Jerome's tweet with the sentence: “I think you can act smart, but obviously they don't teach you respect. People with influence should think more than just looking for followers and likes. @Jeromepolin we have flown red and white and made the nation proud.”

Sean Gelael's answer to Jerome Polin's tweet (Instagram @gelaelized)

As if realizing his mistake, Jerome then replied: “Hello everyone, Bang Gelael and I discussed this tweet earlier and I got a lot of advice from him. Thank you to all who have given advice, info, etc. Im sorry and will learn from this”.

Enter Forbes Magazine

The name Jerome is indeed on the rise. Apart from having many followers in cyberspace, this young man who was born on May 2, 1998 is considered good at doing business. The April 2021 issue of Forbes magazine included Jerome's name in the 30 Under 30 Asia list. It is a Forbes list of 30 young people under the age of 30, who are considered successful entrepreneurs, on various continents.

Apart from his activities as a virtual world celebrity, Jerome also has a tea shop franchise business under the name Menantea. This outlet is currently popular, especially around the Jadebotabek area. Jerome's tea franchise business has reached around 150 outlets throughout Indonesia. The investment value of the partnership is not cheap, because the potential partner has to pay Rp. 125 million for a standard type of partnership, which does not include machinery and equipment.

Hi everyone, Bang Gelael and I discussed this tweet earlier and I got a lot of advice from him. Thank you to all who have given advice, info, etc. Im sorry and will learn from this. 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/SXicCKeJRs

— Jerome Polin Sijabat (@JeromePolin) January 25, 2022

The contemporary tea franchise business is managed by Jerome and his older brother, Jehian. Jerome said that his business inspiration came from the Korean drama (drakor) Iteawon Class. He entered the culinary business today because his circulation as a content creator will not last forever.

"A career in the world of creator content won't take long, so I thought about having a business so I can still earn income when I'm no longer active as a content creator," said Jerome as quoted by Bisnis.com

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Meanwhile, Sean is also synonymous with the culinary business. Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise restaurant owned by his father, Ricardo Gelael or who is familiarly called Kadok. The fried chicken restaurant brand owned by the Sean family is also always brought along, wherever the man who was born on November 1, 1996 raced in the racing arena.

Outside of the fried chicken restaurant business that his father started, Sean is also busy taking care of KUY! Entertainment, a digital media platform that he built with celebrities Raffi Ahmad, Gading Marten, and Fachri Albar.

Sean Gelael celebrating victory on the podium of the 24 Hours of Le Mans racing series (sean-gelael.com)

When asked to comment on Jerome's tweet, Sean told VOI that he didn't want to say more.

"I think the comments on IG are enough, there's no need for more comments," said Sean.

Will Sean invite Jerome as a young entrepreneur to support automotive sports in Indonesia so that they can be faster in the international arena?

Again Sean only answered briefly.

"Two already support it," he said.

This year, Sean's role in the world of racing will be carried out in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) racing competition. Sean joins the Belgian racing team, W Racing Team and will take part in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class. The number of series that will be carried out is six series, with the first series starting from 1000 Miles of Sebring at the Sebring International Raceway Circuit, Sebring, Florida, USA on March 1-8.

What kind of real support will Jerome Polin give after being given an understanding by Sean Gelael about the role of Indonesian automotive sports in the international arena? Let's just wait.