Dewi Yull: An artist who adores teachers

Dewi Yull: An artist who adores teachers

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): You would expect an actress to admire another
actor, but not actress and singer R.A. Dewi Yull Pujiati. It's
not Madonna, Pavarotti or Pierce Brosnan she idolizes. Instead,
she adores special education teachers.

"I am really impressed with their great patience and
persistence in teaching the students," she said.

Dewi, one of Indonesia's favorite actresses and singers,
understands the difficulties of dealing with a child with special
needs because her 13-year-old daughter, Giscka Putri Sahetapy,
has problems hearing and speaking.

Despite her speech impairment, Giscka is a healthy, charming
independent teenager who, rightly, doesn't feel at all inferior.
Dewi is very proud of her daughter and her two other younger
children.

"She is sensitive kid, who is really smart," Dewi said last
week at a year-end lunch with journalists at Hotel Horison.

"She also has a lot of friends. I guess she already has a
boyfriend, something I did not dare do when I was her age," Dewi
said with a laugh.

Dewi always encourages her children to bring their friends
home. She prefers having lots of people in the house rather than
having her children go out. This way it is easier for her to
watch over them, a trick Dewi learned from her late mother.

Dewi was born on May 10, 1961 in Cirebon, West Java. Her
mother was from the Palembang royal family of South Sumatra, and
her blue-blood Javanese father was a prosecutor. Dewi is the
sixth of 10 children.

She started singing at the age of nine with the full support
of her mother. In 1975, when she was still at junior high school,
Dewi performed at a nightclub in her hometown. In 1977 she won
the West Java pop song festival. Later, she proved to be a good
actress.

Dewi's mother was her manager and was always with Dewi at
every performance. Her mother did not allow Dewi to go out with
her friends. Instead, she told Dewi to invite all of her friends
home.

"That's understandable. I was still at high school and Cirebon
was such a small town. If I stepped out of the line, the whole
town would notice," Dewi said.

Even though Dewi did not mind the way her mother kept her on
the right track, she admitted that she sometimes felt bad.

"When I felt bad, I smoked. That's how I coped with the
situation," Dewi said, while puffing at her cigarette.

Her mother did not mind her smoking, Dewi added.

Dewi smokes two packs a day, unusual for a singer. But she
can't stop smoking. Smoking has long been a need.

"That's why I don't smoke fashionable cigarettes," she said.

She smokes Gudang Garam merah, non-filtered cigarettes which
were popular in the 1970s.

"My husband likes to tease me, telling me not to put my
cigarettes on the table. He says I have to keep the cigarettes
inside my bag because they are so unfashionable. They are like
what the abang-abang (poor men) have," she said.

Dewi met Sahetapy, an actor, in her first movie, Gadis
(Virgin), in 1980. They married in 1981, shortly after her
mother's death. Dewi's other movies include Kembang Kembang
Kertas (Paper Flowers) and Penyesalan Seumur Hidup (Life Regret).
She was nominated best actress at the Indonesian Film Festival in
1985 and 1987 for the movies.

But Dewi is best known as sinetron (TV miniseries) actress.
Her first sinetron, Losmen (Inn, 1985) was a big success. People
adored her more after she played a warm-hearted general physician
who lived in a village in Sartika, her next miniseries.

She set up the Giz Cipta Pratama Audiovisual production house
in 1991 on her husband's suggestion. Ray himself is head of Oncor
theatrical group. In the first two years, the production house
made no money but is now in the black.

In June this year, Dewi hosted a talk show called Dewi Yull
Ekspose on SCTV. The new role didn't suit her, and several months
later SCTV axed the show.

But Dewi's popularity has yet to fade. In November she took
part in the Philippine International Music Competition in Manila
where she presented Kuingin Kay Hadir (Till We Meet Again),
composed by Anton Issudibyo and Darma Oratmangun. She came third.

Earlier this year her recording for the soundtrack of a
popular Chinese martial-arts series, Pangeran Menjangan, hit the
market.

Tonight she will perform at the New Year's Eve party at Hotel
Horizon along with a number of local and foreign artists.

"I haven't performed on New Year's in the past three years. I
was busy with my family, especially my youngest child," she said.

Now that her youngest is two years old, she has decided to
make a comeback this New Year's Eve.

"And then we will celebrate my husband's birthday on Jan. 1,"
she said.

Like many people Dewi has made her New Year's resolutions. Her
wish for the coming year is to become a better person.

"I won't think negatively about other people. I won't talk
about other people. I will be introspective, trying to be better
everyday," she said.

She is optimistic that she will be able to make her wish come
true.

"I have to be optimistic. Pessimism will lead us into trouble,
but optimism will help us solve problems in our life."