Guruh at ease with that imposing family name

By Bruce Emond

JAKARTA (JP): Fate dealt Guruh Soekarnoputra that double-edged sword of a resoundingly famous family name.

The youngest son of the nation's first president says he no longer feels he has to live up to his lofty lineage.

By his own account, he had a charmed childhood with his four siblings in the State Palace. Adult success followed as a choreographer, songwriter and, most recently, entertainment promotions manager.

He has also stepped into the political arena as a legislator but, both for the public and probably for himself, he is first and foremost a man of the arts.

But the burden of being born into -- and not choosing -- celebrity conjures up that claustrophobic nightmare of living in an unforgiving public fishbowl.

Coupled with that is the standard-bearer of a name -- and its associations with both the late president and Guruh's oldest sister, Megawati -- which may shut just as many doors as it opens.

Although admitting to being daunted by all the attention during his adolescence, Guruh at 45 is at peace with the sometimes costly price of fame.

"Questions can be silly or very personal, but that is all part of being a public figure," he said last week at the office of his entertainment and dance firm, PT Gencar Semarak Perkasa, better known as GSP, in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

"Just answer, and it is finished."

Disarmingly earnest, he admits to having had liposuction in the U.S. ("the doctor was my friend, so he gave me big discounts"), and he deftly turns the tables several times during the interview with his own pointed questions.

He is also not one to stand on ceremony or pull rank.

As a gaggle of 20-something office workers provide irreverent running commentary on a TV report on his birthday celebration held earlier this month, Guruh sits serenely unperturbed.

The staff may be deferential to the boss, but there is no bowing and scraping.

"I don't like old-fashioned attitudes," he said. "I don't like things that are too serious or conventional."

He does keep up a guard, however, evident in carefully measured responses.

This is not so much toeing the line as dealing with realities, whether they are straightened times for the arts or the changed fortunes of the country's first First Family.

Here are Guruh's comments on his professional life, childhood, parents and, briefly, the state of the country today.

Question: How is life treating you?

Guruh Soekarnoputra: Things are fine right now. Business is a bit quiet, but I don't know whether that has to do with the economic crisis, or more to do with Ramadhan.

We have finished our second album as part of the anti-Ecstasy campaign. I'm not sure when to release it; either in February or in March, after the General Assembly.

Will things get better after March? I don't know. But I am a positive thinker.

Q: What headway have you made in the anti-Ecstasy movement?

G: We have donated a small amount of money for fighting psychotropic and narcotic drugs. We also organize seminars and discussions. We cannot stop all of it, just eliminate some.

The problem is very complex. It's about economic, social and cultural conditions. What we've been doing is maybe a little contribution.

Q: Where should the big contribution come from?

G: Of course, it's the government. It has the most potential for (finding) a solution to handle this problem.

It takes goodwill and a very detailed plan. And also good cooperation from various institutions in this country. For instance, from the police, the government itself and the judiciary ...

It will be a long story to handle this ... they (users) are poor, so they don't know how to handle the problems, the problems of daily life. So they just go to Ecstasy or narcotics.

Q: But Ecstasy is not cheap...

G: There are ways to get it. I hear from the young people that they don't buy it, but their friends give it to them. They feel better taking it together so they share it.

Q: Some argue the fight against Ecstasy is misdirected because the drug does not cause aggression, and some people choose to use it responsibly...

G: Narcotics can have benefits as long as you don't abuse them. They can be used for medical (purposes), in pharmaceuticals.

Perhaps it (controlled drug use) is true for some people, but I think most people become addicted. Don't forget that there are so many people in the world, in this country, and people are different. Maybe some people can handle themselves, and they know the limits. But most people do not. That becomes a problem for the authorities.

Q: You are famous for organizing lavish dance performances in Swara Mahardika. Why haven't you had any recent shows?

G: I think it's because of the situation in this country that's not suitable. In 1992, the government said we have to tighten our belts because of a national recession. And now it is worse so it is not good for a big show.

Q: But is there an audience for these performances?

G: I think yes. From the letters I get asking me to do more performances. They are longing for them. But it's still difficult to make them because a few years ago, before the Jakarta Convention Center was renovated, we could still afford the price.

But now, after renovation, it is too high.

Q: What about sponsors?

G: Yes, that can happen, but the key is that we don't have representative theater buildings. The convention center is for conventions, so if we make a performance there we have to do the construction for the stage and the lighting ... costs are so high.

Besides doing productions, we also do launchings for events. And we are making a book on the 10 years of this company. It is about my involvement in the performing and fine arts.

Q: What was your childhood like?

G: Well, I was born in the palace. I think in Indonesia there are only three people who can claim that (two of his sisters were also born there). I lived there until I was about 14.

I was happy because of the way my parents educated me. They loved art so much. The educated me to have an appreciation of the arts. But I didn't like living in the palace because I was always watched by guards.

I became interested in dance when I was about 15 years old. Traditionally, all the children learned ethnic dances from various regions of Indonesia, like from Bali, West Java, Central Java and Sumatra.

But maybe I only did it because I thought it was our duty. I did it without any appreciation. But when I was about 15, I was conscious and realized that culture was very important. And I came to appreciate more about Indonesian culture. More deeply.

Q: Your father was recognized as a learned, intelligent man. What was your mother like?

G: I admire and appreciate her attitude as a woman, as a wife and mother. Her attitude was so motherly. It was always refreshing to be around her. The way she behaved was extraordinary -- and not just because she was my mother.

She was very talented. She played music and sang. And her voice was quite good.

Q: Did your parents ever discourage you from going into the arts?

G: No, they said do what you want to do. But they also said that we should try to be the best in our field.

Q: Which of your sisters is like her?

G: They are all, more or less. But we are all a mix.

My parents, we all feel, were very stubborn and very strong in their friendships. And we are also like them. Sometimes, I feel I am also very stubborn. But you also have to be rational and reasonable.

But my parents were very wise.

Q: Was your father a distant parent?

G: He always tried to make time for the children. Every morning before we went to school, we would have to kiss him. Every morning. Maybe once or twice a week, father would have lunch with the children.

Q: Which biography best captured your father's personality?

G: The one by Cindy Adams. It's the most original. Cindy Adams just wrote everything my father told her. Because I saw myself my father working with Cindy Adams. Almost every day, she would come to the palace and interview him. Actually, not so much an interview -- she would tape him and he would tell her.

Q: You lived abroad when you were younger...

G: I studied archaeology in Amsterdam for four years, and then I lived in Paris for one year. I enjoyed it because I was enjoying life.

Q: Like it or not, your name precedes you wherever you go. Is that a burden?

G: Maybe when I was a teenager, yes, maybe I felt it a little hard to be Sukarno's son. But it depends on the way of your thinking, or your attitude in life. You know, I feel happy now. I feel happy and proud of my father and mother.

Maybe this is because of my philosophy of life. Positive thinking. We have to enjoy what God gives us. I thank God for what he gives to me, for his mercy.

Q: But doesn't the relentless public and media attention, like the questions about when you will get married, become tiresome?

G: I think I have to realize it is a part of my duty to serve the people because I am a public figure.

Q: What do you think about the situation in the country now?

G: It is a very poor condition, very sad. We have to face the problems. I don't know what to say. I just feel there are 'beberapa salah langkah' (missteps) in the policies of the government in this country.

Q: You mean recently?

G: No, long term, since the era of the New Order.