Jakarta selects its new 'Abang' and 'None'

Jakarta selects its new 'Abang' and 'None'

JAKARTA (JP): The audience screamed their loudest when last
year's Abang (Mr.) and None (Miss) Jakarta announced the winners
of this year's competition on Friday night at the Jakarta
Fairgrounds in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

Mochamad Rizki, a 23-year-old who just graduated from Butler
University in the United States, is the new Abang. The new None
is Trini Agustini, a student of the Tarakanita secretarial
academy, who celebrates her 20th birthday today.

Trini was also chosen as the favorite None by the audience
while the favorite Abang was Yudhie Moeljono, from North Jakarta,
who speaks Spanish.

Runner-ups were T. Rizal Djohan and Siti Amalia
Kusumawardhani, and Arif Hudaya and Winur Wulan Winarti. The
runner-ups are to represent the Abang and None when the winners
are not available.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja and his wife crowned the winners in
the ceremony which was also attended by tycoon Sudwikatmono and
Roy Tirtadji.

They were chosen from thousands of Jakartans who registered to
be the capital city's representatives and beat 30 other
finalists.

The competition has become increasingly popular, with
applicants having increased from 835 last year to at least 200
from each of the five mayoralties this year.

This year the most applicants came from East Jakarta, with a
315 young men and women registering.

The successful careers obtained by several previous
contestants in the modeling and entertainment world may be one of
the reasons.

Ratih Sanggarwati, one of Indonesia's top models was None in
1983, and photo model Andri Sentanu was the 1989 winner.

The 1993 winner, Maudy Kusnaria, stars in popular television
series Si Doel Anak Betawi, as well as appearing in several music
video films.

The contest started in 1968 when the then governor Ali Sadikin
decided it would be beneficial to have a None to help him in
protocol tasks such as greeting guests. In 1971 the city
administration decided to find her partner, the Abang.

Now they act as the city's envoys and are expected to
understand the native culture and promote Jakarta to tourists.

Therefore, fluency in foreign languages, especially English,
is one of the most important criteria to be Jakarta's None and
Abang.

Some of this year's finalists claimed to be able to speak
other foreign languages -- French, Spanish, Japanese and Arabic.

Unfortunately they were not asked to show their abilities in
the grand final. The audience was also disappointed that the
grand final did not include question and answer sessions. (yns)