Lavish Living

Affluent Jakartans have never had it so good, able to plunk down hard and fast cash for the finest luxury goods at palatial malls around the capital and partake in an endless, glittering party circuit. Although it’s no sin to be rich, the emergence of a new brand of competitive conspicuous consumption shows the difference between class and crass. Bruce Emond reports.

There was a flurry of activity as ‘Ridho’ finally arrived late to a dinner party at one of the capital’s swankest restaurants. After de rigeur kiss-kiss greetings and amid the clink of champagne glasses, he explained the reason for his tardiness.

The scion of one of the country’s most powerful business families had just spent three days in the ‘islands’ – not Thousand Islands, silly, but the Caribbean – and had flown back specially for the dinner. On the way, however, he couldn’t resist a whirlwind detour to a couple of international shopping hubs to snap up a few brand-name bargains.

His friends chimed in, swapping stories about their own recent vacations to the world’s gorgeous playgrounds. But Ridho, on this night, had trumped all-comers in the one-upmanship stakes.

Ridho and his seriously wealthy friends are, of course, no new phenomenon in Jakarta. In a society where appearances are everything, and where style overshadows substance a lot of the time, the rich are in the designated express lane of life’s privileges. Gengsi (pride) and diligent image maintenance are major currency.

“You see how the rich are treated differently all the time,” says ‘Talia’, a 20-something PR executive who also grew up in a wealthy family. “Even with a parking attendant, he’ll go out of his way for a BMW over a Kijang minivan because the expectation is that his tip is going to be bigger.”

The wealthy get special treatment and respect, but often it is grudging. Out of earshot, they are objects of envy and backbiting about their perceived arrogance and Marie Antoinette-like lack of concern for the poor. While they do not have to care what others say – so-called ‘**** you money’ is incredibly liberating – others are quick to jump to their defense by pointing out that many rich citizens support charities and discreetly give back.

But Talia and others are disturbed by the growing prevalence of ostentatious displays of wealth, and its fueling of a bank-breaking competitiveness to outdo others with the latest US$5,000 bag or $50,000 limited edition, diamond-encrusted timepiece.

“With the ladies who lunch, it’s just a matter of time before one of them gets up to go to the restroom, pausing a moment so her friends can see the brand of bag that she has today,” Talia says, shaking her head. “And if she doesn’t have the latest popular brand, then she had better leave it under the table.”

Put it down to the modern embracing of consumerism in a big way and the influence of celebrity and society media in promoting the glamorous life of the glitterati. Greed really is good once again.

There are now at least six glossy monthly society magazines on newsstands, including the most recent addition, High End, run by the powerful MNC media group. Amid the recent phenomenon of ‘anak borju’ (literally bourgeoisie kids), the expensively outfitted, gadget-toting youngsters who get to enjoy a consumerist lifestyle that their parents never dreamed of in their youth, the group also produces High End Teen.

Luxury brands, some of which are so exclusive they are not found in most European or Asian capitals, have set up grand boutiques in Jakarta to cater to the wealthy. Event organizer to the stars Preston Bailey, whose calling card is lavish arrangements for Donald Trump’s nuptials and Oprah Winfrey’s 50th birthday party, is making the Indonesian capital the HQ for his Asian operations.

Today, the word ‘socialite’ (pronounced here ‘so-shi-lee-the’) has entered the Indonesian lexicon. Supplanting the more innocuous ‘orang kaya’ and ‘orang besar’, it is reserved for someone with money who leads a glamorous life and is not afraid to admit it.

If you’ve got it, you really have to flaunt it seems to be the pervading philosophy.

In the early 1990s, a daughter of a fabulously wealthy businessman told a local magazine that she only bought limited edition, Swiss timepieces costing several hundred thousand dollars each (the company conveniently sent a salesman over to show her the models). It was considered at the time to be a crass comment as most of her fellow citizens struggled to make ends meet; today, in even tougher times for most Indonesians, it would not raise many eyebrows.

“During the Soeharto era, there were his children and their cliques who were reportedly living very large, but there wasn’t all the media coverage of it like now,” says journalist ‘Dina’. “After the reform movement, people were discreet about their wealth, because of a new political awareness, but now it (conspicuous displays of wealth) is back with a vengeance.”

A veteran fashion editor was stunned by the spectacle at a recent fashion show. “Women were literally falling over each other to get their photographs taken by the society magazines,” he says.

Another respected fashion veteran, who has witnessed the changes going on in high society over almost 60 years, says it is very different from the past because of the influx of the new moneyed elite. They have replaced those with inherited wealth from noble families who were known for appreciating the finest things in life but being discreet about it.

“It’s all very new this whole society thing we have today,” he says, adding wryly, “many of those with class don’t have money, and some of those with money don’t have class.”

It’s true that keeping up appearances by wearing the hottest fashions and accessories takes money. But today, even a cash-strapped socialite can make do.

“I was looking at the bags at one luxury store just to check out the prices, and the salesgirl came over and said, ‘You can just pay for it in installments, Miss, everybody does’. And then she went and named several very famous women,” says Talia.

Being privy to some very juicy gossip did not make Talia’s day.

“It’s saddens me that we’re trying to compete this way, doing anything to wear the most expensive dress or jewelry even when we can’t afford it.”

The sentiments of Talia and Dina could easily be dismissed as resentful, the envious attitude of the wallflowers looking on at the party. But both of them also have money, enjoy foreign vacations and hold good jobs. Talia’s photo often makes it into the “social gallery” section of the society magazines.

“I like to live well, too,” says Talia. “It’s just the feeling that things have got so superficial right now.”

There are also many wealthy people who enjoy a full social life while staying grounded. Many run charities or are sizable contributors to them. In 2007, a group of the city’s socialites set up Rachel House to fund a children’s hospice. PMR, run by three socialites, also organizes gala fund-raising events, most recently a masked ball in Singapore.

Still, while much of the world is tightening its belts, and there is the ‘young, wealthy and normal’ movement of affluent young people in the United States, lavish living is still where it’s at for some of the well-heeled here.

“I was in Australia, taking the bus, doing the laundry, just being normal, and then I came back to Jakarta and that pressure started again,” Talia says of the pervasive brand-consciousness. “I mean, can those brands keep you company when you go home after the party?”

Malicious Musings

It’s said that the rich have a different set of rules to live by than less affluent citizens. They have the means and resources to get what they want, and as well as not having to fret about bringing home a monthly paycheck, they also don’t have to care if they are liked or disliked. They have friends in high places.

But last August Jakarta high society was rocked by scandal. A blog, purportedly written by a society insider, started out by giving tips on “How to Be [sic] Socialite”. The first 10 “requirements” to make it in society – including wearing the most ostentatious designs, marrying rich and being accorded front-row seats at major fashion shows – were benign compared to what followed.

Very quickly things got nasty. In a camp, gleefully bitchy style mixing Indonesian with choice smatterings of English, the writer (it was never clear if it was a he or she, an individual or a group) went face by face through the photos in a society magazine. The poison pen laid bare alleged affairs, dark family secrets and other indiscretions, and, most shockingly, named names.

A supposed “friend” would prod the writer to tell more (again it was never clear if the friend existed, or was none other than the blog writer), and the venom continued to pour forth. From tycoons to entrepreneurs to the children of former national leaders, nobody was spared as closets were flung open and dirty underwear (most likely silk) was washed in public.

News of the blog spread, and it was briefly one of the top 10 visited blog sites in the country. It was copied and sent by email around the city, followed by socialites and also those from the outside looking in at their world.

Eventually, the blog author went a bit too far and dished too much dirt. The dignified silence of those who were being attacked, and their friends, ended. Angry posted comments speculated on the identity author of the blog, and also made threats to “silence” him or her if the viciousness continued. After initially refusing to back down, the writer caved and pulled the blog (copies of it reportedly still exist in cyberspace).

The blog and its author created a lot of waves in a brief two-month period. The writer is still unknown to this day. But if anything, the sordid, scandalous episode demonstrated that the rich do stick together in times of trouble. And they get their way.

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