Christine Hakim sets her priorities

Christine Hakim sets her priorities

Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When Christine Hakim's eyes glaze over and her voice trembles
when she talks about the conflict in Aceh, the first thought
might be, uh-oh, here comes a touch of the crying game to get her
point across.

She is a very good actress, after all, but she is also one
public figure who has done her best to keep the press at a safe
distance, setting her own parameters about what information she
wants to divulge and what she keeps for herself.

While she is undeniably warm and lacking in pretension, she
keeps her guard up. She has perfected her own version of the
polite brush off, offering a smile and a few carefully chosen
words to journalists before moving on at public events.

"It's irrelevant," Christine said about media snooping in an
interview in this publication in August 1992. "I would say that
90 percent of the journalists here aren't interested in my films,
they just want to know about my private life."

Today, that same defiance could be dangerous ground amid the
abundance of celebrity-obsessed tabloid and infotainment shows,
wielding the power to push up -- and then tear down -- public
figures.

But, at 46, Christine really has nothing more to prove. She is
undoubtedly the most accomplished Indonesian actress of her
generation, with accolades seemingly falling at her feet. She has
received cultural and acting honors from India, Japan, Singapore,
Taipei and, most recently, France, been named an "Asian Hero" by
Time magazine and hobnobbed with Sharon Stone and David Lynch as
part of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001.

Despite her marriage to Dutchman Jeroen Lazar three years ago,
her private life remains pretty much off-limits to the press.

"I always say, if this is really not in the interest of the
public, then let's not talk about," she said last week at her
home in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta.

"I think we have to keep some of the mystery."

Still, she is disturbed by the fervent interest in everything
about the lives of celebrities.

""Yes, they're celebrities, they're public figures, but they
also have a right, as human beings, to space for their private
life," she said.

"We all have problems, things that we wouldn't want our
parents to get involved in, let alone an outside party. They (the
tabloid press) don't have any interest in solving the problem,
they just add to it."

She is also taken aback by the media frenzy over gyrating
singer Inul Daratista.

"I don't really understand why the press isn't tired of all
the exposure. Maybe it's here that Inul's manager needs to be a
bit more selective. It's like we're overloaded by it already."

Christine has not entirely escaped the media's snipes. Her
batik attire at Cannes was roundly criticized as stuffy and old-
fashioned, more suited for a bigwig function in Jakarta than the
sun, fun and sex of a filmfest on the Riviera.

She is careful to couch her answers in palliative terms of
accepting input, taking the positive from the situation and being
grateful for the criticism. And then she gives as good as she
gets in responding to what could also be seen as a catty exercise
in cutting down to size the local girl who got to go to the top
and attend the big bash.

"I'm very grateful they (the critics) gave me input, it's just
such a pity they waited until I got back from Cannes," she said,
her voice rising.

"Nobody helped me before I went, it was only after that they
said, 'Christine, can I help you? When you have an occasion, let
me know, I'll sponsor you'.

"It's very easy to criticize people. It seems like they know
what they're doing, but they don't. I feel sorry for them, but I
also understand now what their real quality is ..."

At the end of the day, however, she said it was about being
true to herself.

"First, I have to be me. But I also realize I am contributing
to the reputation of Indonesia, and also Asia -- I'm an Asian
artist. I'm not going to behave like a Hollywood star. Why the
heck should I? I'm Christine, I'm proud to be Indonesian and
Asian.

"That's why I look up to Indian women. They are very proud and
confident -- it doesn't matter to them if someone says their
clothes are old-fashioned. And they are now inspiring Western
designers -- even Madonna is following it."

Marriage to a foreigner (although his grandmother was
Sundanese from West Java) has not been a problem, she said,
because of her own crosscultural background, born in Sumatra --
she also has Middle Eastern ancestry -- and raised in Java.

They have kept her husband pretty much out of the public eye.
"He doesn't want to be going somewhere and have people say, 'hey,
there's Christine Hakim's husband'... I understand that."

Although she does not rule out the possibility of children
("It's God's will ... my husband's mother had him at 48, so you
never know"), she has devoted her energies in recent years to
activism, particularly on education.

Part of it was due to the drying up of local film production,
muscled out of business by the inundation of Hollywood movies.
While the film industry is doing better than 10 years ago, with
the emergence of young directors like Mira Lesmana and Riri Reza,
it still has a long way to go to return to the heyday of the
1970s and early 1980s.

"One thing that is good about the film industry is that it has
had regeneration, which cannot be said for this country, for when
Soeharto stepped down, there was no one who could replace him,"
she said.

"The new filmmakers have such great spirit and energy ... but
it's still difficult to grow in this situation. It's not
impossible, but support has to come from all sides ... We have a
huge market ... Look at the success of Ada Apa Dengan Cinta and
Jelangkung ... but it can't be done by Mira Lesmana or myself
alone ..."

She once considered Merriam Bellina and Nurul Arifin as her
successors, but, starved of film opportunities, the former now
picks and chooses TV series roles and the latter has gone into
HIV/AIDS activism.

"I see there are several actresses who have potential. But
doing one or two (films) isn't enough. Dian Sastro has a lot of
potential, but after Ada Apa Dengan Cinta, she hasn't had another
opportunity ... There is also Marsella and, if she doesn't go to
pop, Agnes Monica. They're all very clever.

Christine returns to the bigger problem of the leadership
vacuum in the country.

"Indonesia still has a big opportunity to develop our country
in the future, including the film industry. But the problem is
that we don't have a good leader -- we're in a leadership crisis.
It all depends on who will lead this country, it's very
important," she said.

"You can see for yourself how Malaysia has developed because
of Mahathir (Mohamad) ... Before their capacity as a leader, what
we need is a sincere leader who wants to sacrifice for the
country, putting aside their personal interests, those of their
party or group -- the interests of the people must come
first ..."

Education is her passionate cause: She is working with Plaza
Indonesia and private TV stations RCTI and Metro TV on the
Untukmu Guru (For you, teacher) program to improve the welfare of
teachers in rural areas.

"We need a leader who has a clear concept and view to the
future about where he or she is taking the people. And the number
one priority, aside from improving the economy, has to be
education and culture, no compromises," she said.

"How can you develop the nation when education is still not
considered important? It's the human resources who will run this
country, but how can you develop them when education is only 1.3
percent of the budget ... Look at Malaysia, 5.5 percent. Or
Bangladesh, a country that is so much poorer than Indonesia, but
it still has an education budget of 3.5 percent ..."

Now, there is the conflict in Aceh, a place close to her
heart. Playing the title character of the Acehnese freedom
fighter Tjoet Nja Dhien (1988), probably her most famous role,
Christine spent several months filming in the province.

In a corner of her living room is a stack of boxes, containing
milk supplements to be sent to the children of Acehnese fishermen
who have been unable to go to sea since the conflict started.

It is here that she loses her composure, tearing up when she
talks about the shame she felt when her Malaysian hosts told her
that the military operation had begun in Aceh.

"(U.S President George W.) Bush set a very bad example for the
people of the world (with Iraq). It's like he's inspired other
countries to do the same thing, to use violence as the way to
resolve problems. How can you make a better world when violence
is the means? ... It doesn't make sense ... and war is now a
commodity, a project for the 'post-Aceh' operation ... "

She realizes that, amid the current rally-round-flag
nationalistic ardor, speaking out against the operation could
cause misunderstandings in some quarters. She points out that the
milk distribution is being done in cooperation with the Army's
Special Force (Kopassus).

"My opposition to the military operation doesn't mean I
support GAM (the Free Aceh Movement). What I'm saying is that it
doesn't have to be like this. OK, sit down, make a deal, get it
done. As an Indonesian and a Muslim, it would be difficult for me
to accept Aceh as separate from Indonesia."

Despite her pain about Aceh, Christine is in a good place
right now. She will receive another lifetime achievement award,
this time from the Philippines, in August.

"I thank God for all I have. I have my health, harmonious
family relations and I've become more focused since I married.
Those things that aren't really that important but I used to
think were important, I've put them aside now," she said.