It's better to provide a fishing rod than fish'

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

One of the fondest memories Anggun Cipta Sasmi has of her late grandmother and hometown Yogyakarta is of women sitting on the floor, drawing batik patterns and carefully painting them with brownish wax.

"The scent of wax ... it always brings back images of eyang (Javanese for grandma) and the other old ladies and their hands moving graciously," said Anggun, no longer the small-town girl but international diva -- living in Paris and traveling the globe to sell millions of copies of her albums.

Eyang was the first woman microentrepreneur known to Anggun, the local star who moved to France in the mid-1990s and shot to global stardom with her hit Snow on Sahara seven years ago.

The 30-year-old singer did not follow her grandmother's footsteps by empowering women through home industry.

Nevertheless, eyang would have been proud to learn that her granddaughter is now a spokesperson for the United Nations International Year of Microcredit 2005.

Standing side by side with other internationally renowned artists -- Golden-Globe nominee Natalie Portman, West African tribal and pop rhythm star Angelique Kidjo, Senegal singer Baaba Maal and Algerian musician Souad Maasi -- Anggun is representing Indonesia, a country praised for its microfinancing success.

"Microcredit is important because it helps women to play a greater role in supporting their families' finances, as my grandma did," said Anggun on a recent visit here in her capacity as a spokesperson.

"It provides knowledge, motivation and, most of all, an opportunity for poor people to break away from poverty."

Alleviating poverty is indeed the main goal of the International Year of Microcredit 2005, which was launched in November last year at the UN headquarters in New York.

Microenterprises make up the biggest part of business communities in developing countries, such as Indonesia and Bangladesh, which both see a discouraging number of people living on less than US$1 per day. Such enterprises -- proven strong as they survived the monetary crisis in 1998 -- are seen as the answer to providing jobs and better income for most people.

However, many small businesses find it difficult to grow as they do not have the capital to expand. Borrowing from banks, with their strict prudential procedures that require collateral for loans, is not a viable option.

A pop singer may seem to some an unlikely candidate to be talking about microcredit. So far-fetched in fact, that the UN did not manage to contact Anggun through their widespread network but through her fan website.

"There were numerous messages in the web forum, basically saying that they were looking for me for a UN mission," said the down-to-earth diva, speaking in slightly odd-sounding Indonesian due to her time abroad.

"I feel so honored, but also afraid that I cannot fulfill their expectations."

However, with number-one hits and blossoming popularity, Anggun's presence in Indonesia had the desired effect: extensive media coverage, particularly from infotainment and television programs targeting housewives.

"My role is to talk as best as I can about microcredit. It's minuscule compared to those who work in the field," said Anggun humbly.

It will be the role of Indonesia's national committee for microcredit to come up with an initiative for the disbursement of microcredit with less paperwork and simpler requirements -- basically little or no collateral -- and wider access for microentrepreneurs when they seek assistance.

The singer, who went from regular teenager to international fame with her album Tua Tua Keladi (The Older The Better) at the tender age of 16, however, made use of the publicity to the fullest.

She studiously slipped in a message about microcredit and its importance amid the more commercially selling questions, like her marriage with her French manager, whether she was planning on having babies, and her upcoming new album in February.

"What I like about microcredit is the approach, that this is not charity," said Anggun in one of her many interviews that she always faces with a smile on her face.

"It's an ongoing effort. It's providing the fishing rod instead of the fish," she said.

To prepare for her new role, Anggun studied the materials provided by the UN and the national committee. "It feels like taking a test," she said, followed with a hearty laugh.

She also asked about a lot of things, particularly how businesses work, when she made a short visit to an entrepreneur in Sumedang, West Java, during her three-day stay in Indonesia.

Nevertheless, Anggun readily admits that she is not an expert, nor does she pretend to know all the figures, numbers or strategies.

"As I said, I'm no economist," she said.

"I'm just a post(wo)man, delivering the message, that microcredit is there, and that it works."