Martha Tilaar on beauty

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

"You are ugly, dark-skinned and fat. How can your beauty salon run so well? You must use black magic."

Such was the sentiment about Martha Tilaar, a beautician and owner of a beauty salon, in the view of a jealous competitor, who felt that she was much more beautiful than Martha and could not understand why people preferred to see Martha instead of her.

But Martha, who opened the beauty salon in the garage of her parents' house in 1970, has no hard feelings.

"Physically I am not beautiful. But I don't care. I sharpened my character and my attitude. If you have the inner beauty, you will look beautiful," said Martha, a devout Catholic.

Today, Martha and her PT Martina Berto company, with its back- to-nature concept, is a successful businesswoman who owns one of the biggest cosmetic manufacturers in Indonesia that includes the popular brand Sariayu. She also produces traditional herbs, Jamu Garden, while her beauty salon and spas can be found in many parts of the country. Her products are exported to many countries and she has opened her spas abroad as well.

She has also won many awards, including the Captain of Industry Award from the Asian Academy of Applied Business at the University of Malaysia, Sabah, which was presented just last month. In 2002, she went to New York upon the invitation of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to attend the Global Compact Forum, an international initiative that seeks to advance responsible corporate citizenship to make business part of the solution to the challenges of globalization

Having great concern for needy people, she has established the Martha Tilaar Foundation, which mainly works to improve the welfare of women.

Martha graduated in 1963 from the Teachers' Training College (IKIP) in Jakarta with a major in history. A few years later, she left the country to join her husband, H.A.R. Tilaar, a civil servant who was sent abroad to study in America. Martha then went to the Academy of Beauty Culture in Bloomington, Indiana.

Martha was born in Kebumen, Central Java, in 1937, and has four children, Bryan, Pinkan, Wulan and Kilala.

At the beginning of a recent interview, which took place at her office in the Pulogadung Industrial Zone in East Jakarta, Martha said jokingly: "I am 'HiTaChi'. (Hitam tapi Cina, dark- skinned but Chinese.) I do not look Chinese because a couple of my grandparents were Javanese. But I can say that a quarter of my blood is Chinese.

Below are excerpts of the interview.

Question: Your brand Sariayu means essence of beauty. What is your concept of beauty?

Answer: I learned history and then I became a beautician. So, I did some research about what beauty is. I did not want to copy from the West; I wanted to know what Eastern beauty is. And it turns out that Eastern beauty is the harmony of the inner and outer beauty.

In the West, it is said that everyone is born beautiful, that you can learn how to become beautiful, how to sit, how to talk, how to dress. That is the outer beauty. You can have a facelift with a variety of tools like detox treatment or injections. Those are all from the sciences in the West.

Therefore I learned about inner beauty. That's why you see the statue of Sarasvati in my room. She is the goddess of education and wisdom, with four hands holding, respectively, a tasbih (rosary beads), a sitar (traditional music instrument), a palm leaf and a lotus. They symbolize that a woman must have strong faith, must be good a communicator, must be educated and must be feminine. Women must take care of their face and must know their destiny as a mother. How powerful a woman is, if she is married, and remains a wife. She must be feminine.

Some feminists might not agree with the idea that women must be feminine.

If all women are tomboys, our beauty business would be ruined (she laughed), so women must concern themselves with their beauty and health. I don't know about feminism and politics; I am really ignorant of that.

How is the competition with other local cosmetics manufacturers as well as the foreign brands?

We (local manufacturers) need to join hand in hand because there are so many (foreign) competitors. We need to improve our quality, to create products that do not have any side effects. We are currently working on organic planting.

I used to think that everything from the West is the best. But it turned out wrong. When I was in the academy (in America), I had to make a paper about indigenous makeup in our country. I was shocked because I had never been aware about our own culture. My friend, a Japanese, helped. She suggested that I do a paper about geisha, while she wrote about kabuki. During the exam, I was asked where I came from and why I wrote about geisha. My professor said I should be ashamed of that. Indeed, I was ashamed because as an Indonesian I didn't know about my own culture. Then I prayed, if God allowed me to graduate, I would learn about my cultural heritage.

What I had in my mind at that time was in the mind of many Indonesian people today: everything from the West is the best. But after I lived in America for five years, I knew it is wrong.

So, I thought we should be brave and have a strong determination. Recently, I received the Captain of Industry Award from the Asian Academy of Applied Business, University of Malaysia, Sabah. I was asked by a colleague from Bangladesh, "How can you be successful because we, Asians, do not like Asian heritage. I convinced my wife not to use Western cosmetics, but she keeps telling me Revlon is the best, she doesn't want traditional cosmetics."

We have to be really committed and consistent. People used to say that I was sableng (crazy) because I studied in America, but I learned about jamu and believed in the power of jamu.

What made you believe in the power of jamu?

Doctors said I was infertile. I had seen doctors in Switzerland, the Netherlands and America, but they said I could not have a baby. My grandmother happened to know about jamu. At the age of 37-and-a-half I started to drink jamu, smearing traditional formula on my stomach with traditional massages. When I was 41, my menstruation stopped. I went to see a specialist, an expert in fertility, and he said it was pre-menopause, that I could not have any children. I cried and told my husband he may marry another woman because I could not give birth to a baby. He took me to the library, telling me he already had a second wife: his books.

I visited the doctor again and he said that I should wait for 120 days. After 120 days, the doctor checked my stomach and he said, "Congratulations, you are pregnant." Later, I even gave birth to my second child. Both my children grew well. They are smart and beautiful. The first one graduated summa cum laude from an American university, and the other one has just got her MBA from Harvard University, magna cum laude. (In addition to her two biological children, Martha has two foster children).

Another blessing from God is I have a hidden treasure. I have a plot of 10 hectares of land, which I bought many years ago at a low price, and I didn't expect that the land would be located in Lippo Cikarang, near factories like Samsung, National Gobel and Kimia Farma. I want to dedicate it as an oasis of the city. It will also be called Jamu Garden. Here, I want to teach poor people about jamu, how to grow the herbal plants and the formula to make jamu. And also to educate people about the environment. There will be buildings with traditional architecture: Javanese and Menadonese, for training, seminars and also yoga, tai chi, daya putih...

Basically, I want to preserve our national heritage.

I am already 70-years-old; before I die, I want to do something.

Jamu is good and cheap, especially if you grow the herbal plants yourself. It's better than the expensive food supplements from America.

Look at my face, I am 70 years old, this is natural, no facelift. (She showed her face, which had nary a wrinkle).

About the Jamu Garden in Cikarang, I want to work together with many companies, which are located nearby. I don't think I can realize it myself, I'd like to invite companies to establish a joint venture.

How about foreign investors?

What a pity. I want local companies to rule in this country. Now foreign investors have been involved in state-owned enterprises. I am really sad. I want to work with local firms.

Who is the target of your (beauty) products? Do you also serve men?

Yes, considering that now there are many metrosexual males. We used to serve women only (in our beauty saloons and spas) because I worried about prostitution. In a spa, you have to take off your clothes. So, people said that Martha Tilaar was old-fashioned. I said 'I don't care'. Now we also serve men, but they are taken care of by male employees.

What is your philosophy in life?

We have to be creative and innovative. Don't wait for the ball, you have to run for it. Besides, you have to improve research and development, and the quality of the products.

My late father once said: "If you want to change the world, you have to change yourself first". Don't blame the situation, the government the competitors, we have to focus and then do something. Have a big dream but start small and fast.

Who are the people that influence you the most?

My father, my grandmother and of course my husband, who is the best; he is very kind.

I am sad to know that many people get divorced.

How can you maintain your marriage?

We have to accept each other as we are. We have chosen someone, so we have to accept both the good things and the bad things in that person. Everyone has their weaknesses and strengths.

We have to respect one and another. I can earn a thousand times more than he does. But I am not bigheaded, I am still his wife because I already have the commitment. Commitment is necessary. You have to respect your husband regardless of how poor he is. But now people are so materialistic. They even have the pre-nuptial agreement to protect their wealth.

Some people would do anything to look beautiful. Your comment?

I have a different perception. Some people will do anything to look beautiful physically, they are willing to suffer and to spend so much money. Like Michael Jackson. I used to like him, when he was small, so cute, black with curly hair. I think the outer beauty will be seen if one has the inner beauty. I do not have physical beauty, but I do not care. I sharpened my character, my attitude, my emotional control, my spiritual function.

What is your favorite hobby?

I am like my husband, I like reading, and I also love movies, any kind of movie, including Harry Potter.

What things don't you like?

Politics.

How long do you spend in front of the mirror every morning before you get ready to go to the office?

Not long. In the morning we pray together, then we have breakfast together. And I check things to do; the petty cash, if there are things to buy, do some gardening, I like details. I give the domestic helper money to buy food for a week, but I decide the menu. I make the menu for one month. I also buy cookbooks (for the cook). My husband likes Manado food while I like Javanese food like gudeg (jackfruits stews), oseng-oseng (sauted dishes), tahu (tofu) and tempe bacem.

Don't you like Western food?

I do. We eat Western food if we are in the West or in a restaurant. But at home, we eat traditional food. Krupuk (crackers), peyek (crackers with nuts), oncom (fermented beans), batagor

How about dieting?

I am fat. Frankly speaking, I like eating. Be yourself. If I am dizzy because of my cholesterol, I will have a diet, but I don't want to be too much under pressure. If we realize that we are fat, then let it be. On the other day I met Ibu Meutia (Minister for the Improvement of Women's Role Muetia Hatta) and she called me an icon of beauty. I told her it was wrong, I am not an icon of beauty, I am a mascot of beauty. (She burst into laughter). So, I know my place. I have to be self-confident because we can have the inner beauty. We should not be arrogant, be friendly, low profile, have compassion, talk to people and smile.

It must be hard to smile all the time.

It needs practice. Sometimes at home, when I am alone in my bedroom, I smile to myself. Just joking. I like humor.