'I'm comfortable in my own skin'
Say "batik designer" and Iwan Tirta immediately comes to mind. Born Iwan Tirtaamidjaja, the 65-year-old bachelor studied law at the University of Indonesia, the London School of Economics and Yale before going into fashion. His home and studio is in Menteng, Central Jakarta, but he also keeps an apartment in New York City. Iwan told The Jakarta Post's Bruce Emond why he believes personal change is always for the better.
Question:If you had the choice, what would you be doing now?
Answer: Traveling; it's one of my greatest hobbies. You not only get to broaden your horizons, but you also get to know people. You appreciate what you have and it keeps you humble -- humility is so important.
Q: What trait do you most like about yourself?
A: I'm comfortable in my own skin.
Q: And dislike?
A: My impatience with people who are not intelligent. It's wrong because I realize not everybody is born equal.
Q: What do you know now that you wish you had known at 21?
A: That the greatest thing people can do is continually reinvent themselves... At 21, I was skinny, introverted, precocious and very unpopular...
I also now know that beauty is important but you also need brains... And that it's important to share your knowledge with others so they can have their place in the sun. I want to share my knowledge with people because, well, you can't take it with you.
Q: Whom do you admire?
A: Living or dead? I would love to have met Leonardo da Vinci. I admire creative people. I also admire President Clinton because he is the consummate politician; he knows how to swing those Gallup polls back up even in the middle of something like the Lewinsky scandal, and he is a survivor. And I think he's basically a very kind man -- you can see it in his eyes.
Q: What kind of clothes do you like to wear?
A: The most casual clothes if I'm working, but I like to wear very good, stylish clothes when the situation requires ... If I am going to meet lovers of batik, then I'll wear my very best batik. If it's a business affair, it'll be my best Savile Row suit.
Dressing well is like a strategy but it shouldn't seem like you put a lot of effort into it.
Q: Do you believe in God?
A: Yes...
Q: Do you believe in love?
A: We don't have a word for it in Indonesian. We have lust, compassion and affection, but love is really a western concept about two individuals. Here you get the whole family.
Q: What was the last book you read?
A: It was about Lady Hester Stanhope, who traveled in the Middle East. And also Memoirs of a Geisha.
I am a voracious reader.
Q: What makes you angry?
A: When people waste their lives. When they have looks, money, but they don't do anything for themselves or for anyone else. That is the greatest sin.
Q: What characteristics do you dislike in others?
A: Dishonesty and hypocrisy, they are part and parcel.
What three things would you take with you if stranded on a desert island for a year?
A good book, a little dog and a nice bowl of fruit.
Q: What makes you laugh?
A: So many things... badly translated subtitles are one.
Q: And cry?
A: Abject poverty. I've seen it in Latin America and India.
Q: Would you change anything about your appearance?
A: A better face, less angles, but I am comfortable with who I am so why change?
Q: What makes life worth living?
A: To be surrounded by beauty in everything; in people, surroundings, and to create beautiful things. And to have friends the whole world over. That is why I am often alone, but I never feel lonely.
Q: Do you have a favorite song?
A: A ballad which only Frank Sinatra can sing, For Once In My Life. And any good Puccini opera.
Q: And movie?
A: I like historical movies, like The Gladiator. And All About Eve.
Q: Do you ever worry about your weight?
A: No, because I am on a diet and my doctor will not let me go off it. But once a year I eat whatever I want.
Q: Would you ever consider plastic surgery?
A: No, although people are always accusing me of having had a facelift.
Q: Do you think we are alone in the Universe?
A: No.
Q: What is your idea of the perfect meal?
A: There is nothing better than a good salad in a beautiful Los Angeles hotel like the Bel-Air. Part of it is being surrounded by all the beautiful people.
Q: Do you have any vices?
A: In the past but not anymore. You name it, I've done it.
Q: Any regrets about your life?
A: I was born too soon. I should be 35, not 65.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: As a person who tried to save batik, as well other Indonesian crafts. As someone who contributed something, not just took.