Putri enjoys being her grandfather's 'heir'

Putri enjoys being her grandfather's 'heir'

By K. Basrie

JAKARTA (JP): Her childhood was tough enough. Her mother died
shortly after she was born, 38 years ago. Putri Wong Kam Fu was
then taken care of by her step-grandmother.

Putri was so poor when she was a teenager that she could not
even afford to buy a bra. After being warned continuously by her
teacher, she took her step-grandmother's unused brassiere and
tailored it with a string she got from a postman.

"That was my first bra," she recalled.

As a teenager, she also had no joyful moments. While other
girls her age in her neighborhood, in a small town near Malang,
East Java, were playing engklek (hopscotch), Putri, who was then
known as Pek Kiem Lieu -- her Chinese name -- alias Leony, had to
collect wood and grass in the woods, as asked by her step-
grandmother.

Her only joyful experience was when she saw her late
grandfather Pek Wong Kam Fu, once the country's famous
astrologist, practicing or serving patients.

"I liked to see him working, even though at that time, I
didn't believe what he was talking about," she said.

Today, using the name Putri (daughter of) Wong Kam Fu, she has
established herself as one of Indonesia's popular soothsayers and
astrologists. The fees for her services, ranging from palm
readings to ground-breaking ceremonies, run between Rp 100,000
(US$42) and Rp 15 million. She spends most of her time meeting
clients from all over the country and gives religious lectures.

"I never dreamed I'd be what I am today," she admitted.

Putri, whose Moslem name is Leoni Fatima, also participates in
many Islamic activities, such as giving religious lectures and
managing an ethnic Chinese Moslem organization in the East Java
capital of Surabaya.

During a business trip to Jakarta late last week, Putri --
accompanied by her eldest son -- was interviewed by The Jakarta
Post at a two-star hotel in Central Jakarta.

Here are some excerpts from the one-hour interview:
Question: What were you dreaming to be when you were a child?
Answer: Like many other poor girls, I had no big hopes. But I
often asked my grandfather whether or not I could afford to own a
house and a car, as well as go traveling overseas one day. When
he said "yes, you will get all those things," I felt really sad.
I stood in front of him, yelling: "What are you talking about?
You never say `no' to my questions, as if a poor girl like me
could afford everything in the future."

Slowly, he hugged me and told me to calm down. He explained my
bones were similar to those of German shepherd dogs. These dogs
were quite expensive, but they had to work hard. For example,
they had to guard their owners or their houses. What he meant was
that I would have a bright future, but I would have to work hard.
German shepherds differed from street dogs, which had to work
hard only to survive, or poodles, which were very expensive and
were merely fed and beautified.

Now I realize he was absolutely right. I have to work hard to
be what I am now, to own a house and a car and to travel
overseas.

(Her grandfather, who was also known as Pek Pang Eng, died at
88 on Dec. 31, 1984, in his home at the hilly tourist resort of
Batu in Malang. According to Putri, he was born on the Chinese
mainland and immigrated to Gresik, near Surabaya, when he was
still a young man. Although his grandfather was also a soothsayer
in their hometown, Pek Pang Eng only worked as a practitioner at
the age of 36, after he graduated from an academy in Hong Kong in
1932. Following this, he became the country's most popular
astrologist. He wrote in many newspapers until a few years before
he died. Besides being an astrologist, Wong Kam Fu also owned at
least several local news media, namely Tjermin, New Look, Bintang
Soerabaia, Paris, Indah and Tjerdas Tangkas. His news business,
which was established in 1950, was closed by the Indonesian
Communist Party in the 1960s.

Actually, the words "Wong Kam Fu" illustrate the mixture of
Javanese-Chinese-Arabic sciences used by Putri's grandfather for
his profession. Wong means "human being" in Javanese, Kam means
"gold" in Chinese and Fu means "money" in Arabic. For instance,
said Putri, the correct direction of a building is noticed
through Hong Sui (Chinese knowledge), the prayers are performed
in the Islamic way and other traditional activities are in
accordance with Javanese customs).
Q: You said you were a poor girl. What was your childhood like?
A: My childhood was unique, hard and poor. My father was my
grandfather's son from his first wife and my mother was a step-
daughter of my grandfather's second wife. Right after I was born,
I was cared for by my grandfather's third wife, because my mother
died shortly after giving birth. When I was at kindergarten, the
third wife passed away. Then, I experienced a hard life under the
care of grandfather's fourth wife. I had no time to play like
other children. Every day, I had to go to the woods to collect
grass for rabbits and wood for the kitchen. There were no other
Chinese kids going to the forest to collect wood like me at that
time. When I saw my lucky friends eating bakso (meatball soup)
with krupuk (chips), I ran to the woods to pick a certain plant
and to someone's field to take a handful of onions. Then, I put
all of them into boiling water. Before I ate my own homemade
"bakso", I always tried to imagine that I was going to eat the
real thing. I always smile when those memories come to my mind.

(Putri has a mixed dialect of East Javanese and Chinese. Her
face turned somber when she revealed her childhood, but she was
so enthusiastic when explaining her road to success.

She was modest in dress and appearance. During the interview,
she wore a green batik blouse without precious jewelry and wore
only light make-up.
Q: So, what's the main reason for your grandfather to bequeath
his capability to you? How did he do it?
A: I don't really understand. It might be due to my close
relationship with him, because I lived with him since my mother
died. Among his 20 grandchildren, I was the only one who took
care of him until God took his life. Also, I was the one who
always argued with him. I only changed my thinking after I came
to realize his prediction was right. He never directly taught me
how to read someone's fate. It was just learning by seeing and
doing.
Q: What were you before choosing this profession?
A: Before I decided to embark on this profession in 1981, four
years before my grandfather's death, I was a saleswoman for a
peppermint company in Jakarta. I started my carrier as a
house-to-house saleswoman and later advanced to a sales manager.
When my grandfather died, I took over his position as an
astrologist for several news media. It was my starting point.
Q: How did you feel upon becoming a soothsayer and astrologist
for the first time?
A: I really enjoyed it, because I could help other people
overcome their problems, even though I was only a high school
dropout.
Q: Do you have a plan to bequeath your skill to someone, such as
your children?
A: No. I always reject such an idea, although I have sometimes
considered it. I tell my children that graduating from a
university must be their priority. The future is only for those
who hold university degrees.

(Married to G.D. Mustar, Putri has six children. A few years
ago, Putri, who spent her childhood among the Moslem community,
convinced her husband and children to be Moslems. Following his
conversion to Islam, Mustar changed his name to Ahmad Muchtar.)
Q: What's your opinion about this profession and its competition
in this country?
A: I don't have anything to say about that, because I already
have many activities to do. So it is better for me not to comment
on that question.