Thereafter, Setjadibrata began collecting antiques, and the histories that surround them, piece by piece, and competing with scores of antique dealers from abroad who flock to Indonesia to buy its priceless antiques – and pieces of its history.

Tired of waiting to take the government’s medical exam and facing an unsure future in medicine, Setjadibrata entered law school in 1973. He then established his own law practice firm following his graduation in 1977. Setjadibrata’s endless search for cultural antiquities was never motivated by financial gain. It began as a quest, fueld by his youthful idealism, to learn the history of his country. In 1989 he built his first boutique museum hotel, Hotel Tugu Malang, in the East Java city of Malang to showcase his overflow of treasures from Java and beyond.

Despite being successful in business, Setjadibrata never forgot about the beloved Cupu Manik and continued to look for it through the years. Then one evening while visiting a friend and fellow antique collector he saw it – the very same Cupu Manik he had seen in the old professor’s hand. Through much effort and expense, he managed to procure the precious cultural relic.