Dewi settles in Japan as social critic<\/p>\n
Eric Talmadge, Associated Press, Tokyo<\/p>\n
After securing a quiet nook in the lounge of a plush Tokyo hotel-
\ncum-meeting-place, Madame Dewi spreads out a portfolio of
\npersonal photographs on the coffee table before her.<\/p>\n
There she is with the Gorbachevs. With the actor Omar Sharif.
\nYachting with the Kennedys. In one photo, she smiles brilliantly
\nbetween her late husband, Indonesian President Sukarno, and the
\nlegendary Chinese communist Zhou Enlai. In another, she poses at
\na royal palace with Cambodia's King Sihanouk.<\/p>\n
Like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis or perhaps Imelda Marcos,
\nRatna Sari Dewi Sukarno is one of those rare people whose lives
\nare, well, larger than life. She knows everyone. She's been
\neverywhere.<\/p>\n
And - to the chagrin of many - she loves to talk about it.<\/p>\n
"I speak too directly," she says, her modest tone balanced
\nagainst pearls the size of gumballs that adorn her ears and ring
\nfinger and a glittering golden butterfly that is pinned to the
\nlapel of her red Hanae Mori suit. "I can't speak diplomatically.
\nI think people are afraid of what I am going to say."<\/p>\n
Even so, back in her native Japan after 40 years abroad, Dewi
\nhas settled down into what may be her highest profile role yet -
\nas an outspoken, and often feared, social critic and television
\npersonality.<\/p>\n
In March, she will be hosting a concert for promising young
\nmusicians at New York's Carnegie Hall, and in May she will be
\npublishing her seventh book, Invitation to the Society.<\/p>\n
In a country where directly criticizing others in public is
\nfrowned upon, Dewi is an unusually frank figure.<\/p>\n
She dedicated whole chapters of her book, Allow Me to Say a
\nFew Things, published in 2000, to celebrities she deemed
\ndeserving of scathing critiques. The tabloids and TV gossip shows
\nloved it. She soon had a sequel out and, always ready to slam-
\ndunk a well-known entertainer, she became a darling of the talk
\nshow circuit.<\/p>\n
"I left Japan when I was 19, so my mentality was still a very
\nclassic Japanese mentality. When I came back to Japan I was so
\nangry," she said."The Japanese morality, education, the way
\nchildren think - it all made me so angry."<\/p>\n
"I think millions of Japanese shared my views, but they were
\ntoo afraid to speak out."<\/p>\n
But Dewi's appeal is more than just her sharp tongue - it is
\nequally the mystique of her life itself.<\/p>\n
Dewi - which is short for "Essence of the Jewel," her maiden
\nname is Naoko Nemoto - wasn't born into high society.<\/p>\n
Though she was raised in the poverty of post-World War II
\nJapan, she was living the lavish lifestyle of Indonesia's First
\nLady by the time she was 20. She won the heart of the 57-year-old
\nSukarno when he was passing through Japan in 1959 - she says they
\nmet at a tea party - and she became his third wife just months
\nlater.<\/p>\n
Before long, however, her husband was fighting off a revolt.<\/p>\n
"From 1966 to 1969, over one million people were killed, all
\nSukarno followers," she said. "In those days I was sleeping in my
\ntrousers every night and I counted how long it would take me to
\njump out of the window in the palace and run across the garden
\nand climb the fence to escape."<\/p>\n
Sukarno was overthrown in 1967, and died three years later.<\/p>\n
Dewi, meanwhile, became an exile in Paris, where she soon
\nemerged as the toast of the international jet set.<\/p>\n
"Parisian society loves exotic figures," she said. "I was
\nyoung, beautiful, I had a name, a certain wealth. People were so
\neager to invite me here and there."<\/p>\n
One highlight, she happily recalls, was a ball thrown by a
\nBolivian tin magnate at his chateau in Portugal in which guests
\nwere greeted by two elaborately decorated elephants. A red carpet
\nto the entrance was lined by black men wearing turbans and
\ndressed like Persian genies.<\/p>\n
"Back then, people would spend a million dollars a night on
\nparties," she said. "But the whole world has changed. You cannot
\nshow off your wealth like that anymore."<\/p>\n
So, with the balls and high life becoming tiresome, Dewi
\nswitched her attentions to raising her daughter, and then on
\nbecoming a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist.<\/p>\n
She went back to Jakarta only to find her old palace had been
\nconfiscated - it's now a museum. So she found another place, put
\nher daughter in an Indonesian school and worked as an agent
\nrepresenting major international corporations.<\/p>\n
"It was very difficult to work there because I had to deal
\nwith many of the government officials who used to work for us,"
\nshe said. "The first lesson of business was to swallow my pride."<\/p>\n
After 10 years, confident that her daughter had acquired an
\nidentity as an Indonesian, she moved to New York, where, among
\nother things, she worked with the United Nations Environmental
\nProgram and became the chairwoman of the Ibla Foundation, which
\nhelps promote young classical musicians and vocalists.<\/p>\n
Increasingly, she was sought out by the Japanese media for
\ninterviews.<\/p>\n
"There were so many that I was going back and forth between
\nthe two countries, and I finally decided to move back to Japan,"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
She admits there have been some odd moments in the three years
\nsince.<\/p>\n
Last year, she was embroiled in a highly publicized skirmish
\nwith tax authorities over 130 million yen (US$1.1 million) in
\nincome they claimed she failed to report. In July, she flew to
\nJakarta to testify at the trial of local magazine editor charged
\nwith assaulting her. The trial was part of an ongoing battle
\nbetween the two - he had been convicted of publishing racy photos
\nof her in 1998.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, her career as a celebrity continues to whiz ever
\nonward.<\/p>\n
She's been filmed wrapped in towel to critique hot springs
\nresorts, and featured on a panel of celebrity "referees" who
\nwatched troubled couples trade verbal attacks in a mock boxing
\nring on one particularly bizarre - and short-lived - TV program.
\nShe's even done commercials for cockroach spray.<\/p>\n
"If you want to buy that kind of exposure on television, it
\nwould cost you 150,000 dollars for a few seconds," she said,
\nadmitting that she is a bit worried about her public image.<\/p>\n
"But in a global way, I think it's a good idea to get the
\nexposure. Fame makes it easier to raise money for charity. Plus,
\nI have seven staff to support."<\/p>",
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