The close friend of 'Si Doel' goes home

JAKARTA (JP): Malaysian born Nand Kumar, 30, whose employment as a supporting actor in the local television serial Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Doel, the School Boy) was against the Indonesian Labor Law, returned to his homeland last night.

"Nand Kumar was ordered to leave Indonesia because he violated his work permit," Director General of Immigration Roni Sikap Sinuraya said yesterday.

Sinuraya said Nand did have a permit to work in Indonesia's film industry, but his temporary working permit was to work as a disc jockey at the Stardust Discotheque in downtown Kota, West Jakarta.

The law states an alien willing to participate in the production of a movie or a television serial is required to hold a permit from the Directorate General of Radio, Television and Film at the Ministry of Information, he said.

Nand, alias Adam, recently became famous because of his role as Hans in nine episodes of the television serial. So far, eight episodes have been aired by RCTI, Indonesian first, private television company.

Nand, who lives in Indonesia on a business visa, told reporters earlier yesterday he did not violate the Indonesian Labor Law on purpose.

"I really did not know about the rule, which states that to play in such a film serial requires a permit from the Director General of Radio, Television and Film," he said.

Nand said he once asked Rano Karno, the producer as well as the star of the serial, about the permit just before production started.

"You can join us in the television serial if you have a working permit as a disc jockey," he quoted Rano as saying.

Nand, a close friend of Rano, said he has worked as a disc jockey at Stardust since 1986 and never thought of becoming an actor. He said he had previously been a disc jockey in Taiwan before he came to Indonesia nine years ago.

"However, I have just begun to enjoy being an actor lately," he said, adding that he will be pleased if he is forgiven for his mistake and allowed to return to Indonesia, either as a disc jockey or an actor. (imn)