JP/17/PEGGY

JP/17/PEGGY

Something about Peggy

Emmy Fitri The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Clearly this is not girl that just wants to have fun. Her role requires something beyond acting, literally a natural act that only works well when in touch with one's inner self.

It is Peggy Melati Sukma, who hosts a television reality show called Rejeki Nomplok (Sudden Fortune) on TV7.

Peggy, who is a political and social science graduate from the University of Indonesia, deals with poverty. And that is a big issue here, a country where more than 135 million population of a total 230 million people live on less than US$2 a day.

This program, although not something novel in terms of theme, bears a degree of honesty and sincerity as it gives no condition nor challenges in order to "win" the prize of Rp 5 million for the needy on each episode.

Similar charity-style reality television programs on other stations put the potential recipient to a challenge in a bid to get an amount of money.

"I understand that the production house, of course, aims to gain benefits and the station also wants to get commercials, but I stress that the people out there must be our primary concern. So to me, this is a pure charity program."

"Therefore we don't give them challenges for the sake of making the show attractive," said Peggy, who is also part of the creative team.

Charity and other kinds of social work are no stranger to Peggy's daily life. With a bunch of local celebs or sometimes by herself, she could be found -- with hands full of donations -- when Jakarta was inundated with flooding or when fire engulfed homes in a slum neighborhood.

She was even there in Aceh after the tsunami.

Additionally, with top quiz presenter Allya Rohali, Peggy established a foundation that reaches out to school dropouts.

But for Rejeki Nomplok she takes to the streets and surprises the people who will get the fortune. An advanced team has researched the people -- without their knowledge, of course -- and then decides who is getting the money for each episode.

It is not her decision who gets the money, but Peggy plays nearly the most vital role, giving the soul to the program.

"Of course, once the producers wanted me to cry on screen, but I said no. I want this show to be natural. Even if I cry on screen, I always apologize for being unable to control my emotions. Sometimes things do not go as expected. A mother who got the money jumped up and down euphorically and shouted 'thank you' in a cheerful manner. I want to let people express the way they are," she said.

Somehow, this show also teaches her life values that she feels privileged to learn from the people whom she meets on the streets.

"I'm ashamed if I complain whenever I stumble over a problem, even over trivial matters, while we know out there many, many people are facing harder lives than us," she said.

"I always tell the people that they must not stop hoping because hope is more powerful than a dream. So people must believe in the power of hope."

So, it is better not to ask her what she thinks about people labeling her show exploitation of the poor or the commercialization of poverty.

"Yeah, I have heard people talking about that. But I also heard a lot how this show inspires people," she said.

In cyberspace, a blogger wrote how he was glued to the television every Friday night, watching Rejeki Nomplok because this show told more about the human side of the people getting the fortune.

Although he was skeptical about "the capitalistic motives behind the making of the program, he did support the idea to bring more of the reality of the poor people on screen."

"Today I learned a lesson from Pak Tompel Saefullah a Selendang Mayang (a kind of dessert made of rice flour and palm sugar) vendor since 1969. He has four daughters and two sons that he feeds everyday," the blogger wrote.

"He works night and day, sometimes he has to flee from security officers and public order officials who 'clean up' the streets from street vendors. He also has to deal with thugs, extorting money from him."

"Yet, after all the sweat and tears, he only earns Rp 10,000 a day," he wrote.

True to what Peggy desires, she wants to impress people with her spirit. "To be able to share (with needy people) is a blessing. So, why not start giving?"

Rejeki Nomplok is aired on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on TV7 at 7:30 p.m.