Nike Ardilla's fame lives on in museum in her honor

By Bruce Emond

BANDUNG (JP): There is not much in the Nike Ardilla Museum, but then the singer was only 19 when she was killed in a car accident in her native Bandung, West Java.

The museum, housed in a rainbow-colored two-story building a few hundred meters from the Makro store on Jl. Sukarno-Hatta, was established by Nike's parents after her death in 1995. Pretty, doe-eyed Nike was hugely popular among teenagers, particularly young men, with fan clubs dotted across the country.

"We still get a lot of fans coming, especially on weekends," said the young woman at the front desk.

Known for soulful rock ballads, Nike's fame endures, with the cassette and CD The Best of the Best of Nike Ardilla released earlier this year. Several Nike lookalikes have tested the entertainment waters but none has been successful in winning over fans.

A short distance from a security post, the museum is the first building in the housing complex. Two flights of stairs lead to the poorly lit area showcasing the exhibits, with most of the space taken up by a reproduction of Nike's bedroom.

On show are the singer's collection of perfumes, several of her stage outfits, even her mobile phone and passport. Nike was also a teen magazine model and starred in several television series, and photos from throughout her career adorn the walls.

The most poignant part of the exhibit is the bedroom, which the receptionist said was moved intact after Nike's home was leveled to make way for a toll road. It is the regular teenage quality of the room -- the stuffed toys on her bed, a carton of floss, a scribbled reminder note pasted on a cupboard -- which are most affecting.

Nike was said to be obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and the room contains several framed photographs and a picture book of the American actress. There is also a painting showing Nike and Monroe together.

Nike's untimely and violent death brought huge media coverage, with some reporters speculating on the perils of fast-lane living for young entertainers. From a child singer in Bandung, Nike had risen quickly to stardom through her collaboration with songwriter Deddy Dores. She had toured the country as part of a group of "lady rockers" and secured a loyal fan base of her own.

Reporters pounced on the sensational aspects of Nike's death, dragging up rumors of drug use and lesbianism. Nike was said to have driven back and forth between Jakarta and Bandung on the Saturday night she died, visiting a disco and ending up in the early hours of Sunday at the popular hangout Kintamani near the Cilaki area of the West Java capital.

Nike left the restaurant shortly before dawn with a woman friend, Atun, and headed along Jl. Marthadinata. She lost control of the speeding car and slammed into a concrete wall, dying from massive injuries. Atun, in the passenger seat, survived.

Her death also ignited a wave of grief among fans, who embarked on Nike "retreats" in honor of the star. Her parents sold the wrecked car to the father of one young singer with designs on becoming the next Nike.

Deddy put together a collection of unreleased songs, titled Mama Aku Ingin Pulang (Mama I Want to Come Home), on a posthumously released cassette. An entertainment reporter for the Bandung daily Pikiran Rakyat wrote a biography of Nike, in cooperation with the singer's parents. It sidesteps the lurid tales of the singer's last hours, putting greater emphasis on her efforts to help the unfortunates through her Nike Ardilla Foundation and orphanage (entry to the museum is free but visitors are requested to give donations to the foundation).

The sordid speculation about Nike is dismissed by fans who grew up listening to her music.

"I don't care what they say, there was nobody who could sing like Nike," said Iyon, 24, who said he began listening to Nike in his early teens. "She had a melancholy quality in her voice which was unique."

Yet he is not averse to his own speculation about what led to Nike's death on that fateful morning.

"I've heard that Desy (Ratnasari) and Mita (Paramita Rusady) were jealous of Nike's success," he said of the two popular actress-singers. "They banded together to have a curse put on Nike so they would be popular. See for yourself how successful they are today."

Only 19 and at the peak of her career, Nike Ardilla left many questions unanswered. For her fans, however, her museum is a place to remember the way she was.