Media lifts lid on Tommy's love life
By Ahmad Junaidi
JAKARTA (JP): Ever heard the rumors about beautiful celebrities that Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra has dated?
When his father, Soeharto, was the dreaded president of the republic that's all they were, tittle-tattle confined to saucy word of mouth like bedtime stories of yore.
But now, with a euphoric media enjoying unprecedented freedom, the stories are printed and you can obtain copies freely on the streets.
Young, fabulously rich, famous, smooth and, in some eyes, handsome -- were characteristics that made Tommy a dream come true for young women looking to enhance their celebrity as well as enjoy a relationship.
Tabloids and magazines are no longer afraid of being charged with insulting the first family for printing the stories and paperboys in the streets don't worry about being arrested on the usual charges of distributing material considered offensive to the family.
Disclosures about Tommy's romantic escapades came hard on the heels of the recent revelations of Soeharto's financial fortune, estimated at anywhere between US$6 billion and US$40 billion.
Like those unraveling Soeharto's wealth, tabloids and magazines splashing Tommy's love affairs across their covers quickly became best sellers. And entrepreneurial newspaper boys were soon selling photocopies of the stories.
Sinar Pagi tabloid, Warta Ekonomi and Prospek economic magazines, Liberty gossip magazine and Sinar current affairs magazine, are among those which have cashed in on Soeharto's fall and run stories on the former strongman and his relatives.
Sinar and Liberty's recent editions on Tommy's love affairs with famous singers, film starlets and models all sold out and people hungry for the gossip were willing to pay between Rp 1,000 (6.5 U.S. cents) and Rp 3,000 for photocopies of the reports.
In their cover stories, the Jakarta-based Sinar and Surabaya- based Liberty, told of how Tommy, now 36, dated well-known celebrities before he eventually reined in his libido by marrying Ardia "Tata" Pramesti Regita Cahyani, from an aristocratic Surakarta (Solo) family, last year.
On the list of Tommy's conquests are, to name a few, pop singer Maya Rumantir, model Indira Sudiro, TV star Nadya Hutagalung, singer Nia Zulkarnain and film stars Kiki Fatmala, Jenny Rachman, and Tamara Blezynski as well as senior celebrities such as Ita Mustafa Gitty Srinita.
The magazines portray Tommy as a "good playboy" who would give his lovers "substantial presents", such as luxury houses and business projects, before they were dumped.
For example Sinar reported that Tommy entrusted Nia's company, PT Adini Prima Multimedia, to handle the advertising for his controversial Timor car project. Timor has practically gone bankrupt since the government revoked its tax privileges.
Ita Mustafa, according to Sinar, which has printed pictures of Tommy with some of his girlfriends, was helped with her bus-stop building projects.
In their interviews with the media, most of the celebrities have always insisted that their relations with Tommy were just "ordinary friendships" or refused to comment at all.
Nia has beaten around the bush. In a recent interview with the mass circulation Kompas daily, she said her affair with Tommy, whose name she flip-flopped into Ymot, ended after he married Tata.
The most saucy of all his affair was with Maya. The couple reportedly exchanged nuptials in Singapore and had a child but the then first lady Tien Soeharto refused to recognize the union because Tommy was a Moslem and Rumantir a Christian.
Newspaper boy Amat reported over the weekend he could make a profit of between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000 a day from selling copies of the magazines.
"But that was last month. There is no such 'good news' now to sell," said the 15 year old, who usually sells papers at Senen bus terminal, Central Jakarta.
He said his friends still copied the reports to offer to passersby.
"Many motorists prefer to buy the copies than the original. Probably, it's because of the monetary crisis," said Oji, who sells newspapers on a junction in Jl. Sultan Agung, South Jakarta.
Many newspaper boys are hoping that newspapers and magazines will report new saucy topics about Soeharto's relatives and (former) henchmen.
But, obviously, not everyone is impressed about such reports, which in the past could only be found on the Internet.
For example officials at PT Abdi Bangsa, the publisher of Republika daily was furious when Warta Ekonomi magazine reported that the company was partly owned by Soeharto.
The magazine later apologized for not rechecking the list it obtained from the Internet which was made by Soeharto critic George Junus Aditjondro, who is in self-exile in Australia.
Novi Rochyani, a corporate service employee of PT Astra CMG Life, said that she had known about Tommy's love affairs for some time.
"I've heard about them. Besides, the tabloid reports only consist of the celebrities' denials," Novi said.
She said one of her family members bought one version. Some of her friends also coughed up the cash for the gossip but found the pages of print contained little new information.
"However, it's good way to kill time," she said. (jun)