Mover and shaker Pia turns 70

Mover and shaker Pia turns 70

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

"Challenges and setting up new systems are what I like most in
life."

Perhaps, as she wakes up on her special day, July 26, Pia
Alisjahbana might be wishing to have another big challenge to
start a new year, or rather a new decade. To make the challenge
even more exciting, she might wish to set up a new system to face
it all.

Today, Pia celebrates her 70th birthday. She may be senior in
years, but her energy levels easily match those of the young.
What makes her so special, though, is her drive particularly to
advance the lot of young Indonesians.

One is struck by the strategic wit and compassion that runs
as a red thread through the zillions of activities that she has
either founded, presided over or pursued in one way or anther.

Whether it's her ingenious idea to set up the girls magazine
Gadis -- the first and only one of its kind -- or to organize
contests to spur the quality of young Indonesian fashion
designers, organize the Indonesian contribution to the Concours
International des Jeunes Createurs de Mode annual event in Paris,
to found the American Studies Center, the Indonesian Fulbright
Bi-National Commission, the Worldwide Fund for Nature Indonesia
Foundation, or the foundation for the Indonesian National
Archives Building -- for Pia, all of that interacts in her effort
to raise the quality of Indonesia's youth and ultimately, the
future of the country.

In addition, she spends time with the young, and
"contaminates" them with her effervescent spirit, advises on a
variety of initiatives, generously assists the needy, and swims,
plays tennis and exercises for fun and fitness.

And so, instead of indulging in the good and easy life, as
many of her age might do, Pia is always on the go.

To help build a world that is free of war and violence has
always been her obsession ever since she wrote The World We Want,
which earned her a trip to the U.S. sponsored by the New York
Herald Tribune.

Her activities, filling six pages of her curriculum vitae,
demonstrate her zealous endeavor. The youth forum in which she
participated, thanks to her essay, had a lasting impact on Pia
who was then barely 15 years old. It was there that she learned
to socialize with the young from diverse countries and
nationalities.

Multicultural and easily adaptable, she pursues her vision for
the world of her dreams by also being a player in a large network
of art and culture. As an International Council Member of the
Asia Society New York she travels all over the world, and her
excellent command of English makes her a favorite speaker at
international forums.

As Pia, or Supia Latifah by her full name, reminisces on her
life, she realizes that much of what she is now is rooted in her
childhood. It wasn't all that rosy, she reveals. As her father
was a civil engineer building roads, bridges and irrigation
systems for the office of public works, his job took him and his
family all over Java.

"We moved very often," says Pia, which, in hindsight, taught
her to be flexible and adjust to changing situations. The
Japanese invasion tore the family apart. Her father had to leave
while she, her mother and her brother went into hiding. During
the turmoil of the Revolution, her brother joined the Students
Army, and was killed in action. Pia became an only child.

Growing up during difficult times makes one kind of tough and,
in a way, quite independent, says Pia. Made strong by the flow
of her youth, Pia then proceeded, without difficulty, for there
was nothing she could not overcome. She began to love the
challenge.

After she had graduated from the university where she majored
in English, she became a teacher in the English department of the
faculty of letters at the University of Indonesia, and climbed
the ladder from secretary to head of department, to executive
secretary of the Consortium of Letters and Philosophy, an
advisory body to the director general of higher education.

In this position, Pia had to coordinate 10 faculties of
letters from all over Indonesia, and worked out programs for
their manpower development during twelve years. Her marriage to
Sofjan Alisjahbana (1959) did not keep her from working outside
the home.

Today, Pia is a member of and adviser to numerous boards and
commissions, including the Femina group. She passionately
advocates maintaining cultural heritage and development of the
arts, and fervently fights against environmental degradation.

But it is her mother's legacy that she honors most. This
includes the Asih Budi foundation, which maintains a school for
slow learners. It started around her mother's dining room table
and soon moved to their garage.

Pia's mother was a teacher, who helped children with learning
problems. To keep the school going may be her greatest challenge,
and it wouldn't be a surprise if Pia were to challenge us all to
send a contribution to the foundation: The advancement of slow
learners is part of the world that Pia strives for, a world of
peace and equal opportunities. May she live to see her dream
fulfilled.