JP/DIAN KUSWANDINI

Ask Annisa Larasati Pohan about her fascinating celebrity career or becoming a mother and she will fire an encyclopedia’s worth of answers. But if you ask her about politics, she will pause for a while, smile and pick the right words.

Her reaction comes as no surprise. As President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s daughter-in-law, Annisa prefers to play down such conversations, especially at this time, when people’s political moods are swinging in many directions.

“Politics? I’m not interested,” says 28-year old Annisa.

“Besides, my husband is a military officer. He can’t take sides in any political party, so I’ll go along with him,” adds the wife of Yudhoyono’s eldest son Agus Harimurti, 31.

The answer is clear enough, so is the fact Annisa has become more careful about anything she says or does.

And this raises another question. Has her status as a presidential family member forced her to play the role of a good girl?

“No, not all,” she says, laughing. “No one tells me how to behave. There’s no burden. I feel relaxed,” says Annisa, who married Agus in 2005.

The word relaxing however doesn’t seem to be in her dictionary when she talks about raising her new bundle of joy, Almira Tunggadewi, who was born on August 17, 2008. Aira – that’s how everyone in the family calls the little chubby girl – has taken up all of Annisa’s time.

“Now, I think 24-hour days are just not enough for me,” she said. “I don’t even have time for my husband, which makes him angry with me sometimes,” she jokingly says while laughing.

Well, that one could be a joke, but Annisa turns out to be very serious when she says she hardly has time for herself.

While she acknowledges looking perfect is a must for a model and television presenter like her, pampering herself with beauty treatments is now unfortunately at the bottom of her priority list.

“Those beauty treatments are not in my schedule anymore,” Annisa says.

“I can’t even remember the last time I went to a beauty salon,” she chuckles.

And she has even lost interest in shopping, except for buying things for her daughter.

“I have totally changed now. I’m more interested in my baby rather than in myself,” Annisa reveals.  “I am constantly busy caring for her.”

The hectic juggling, however, has surprisingly led her to the most blissful moment in her life. Having finally found a new inner peace, she says she is now a more patient person.

“I found a new spirit and I have a clearer purpose in life: Raising my daughter.”

From those new qualities she describes, it’s easy to understand why she looks so calm, even though her father Aulia Pohan is now on trial for a high-profile corruption case. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has arrested Aulia, a former Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor, after naming him a suspect in the embezzlement of Rp 100 billion (US$8.3 million) BI funds.

“Everything is fine,” she says of the arrest of her father last

November.

“We‘re praying for him to come home,” Annisa, the second of three children, smiles.  

The new Annisa is very different from the one we used to know a few years back, as most of her attention was focused on her career. It was in 1997 the career of the Boston-born beauty began to flourish after she was named a finalist in Gadis Sampul, a well-known cover girl competition held by local teen magazine Gadis.

Four years later, she was crowned the winner of Gadis Tiara Sunsilk, a beauty competition held by hair care product brand Sunsilk. Her name became a byword for beautiful hair ever since, and she was asked to star in many commercials.

Besides modeling, Annisa began her presenter career as host on Radio Oz in Bandung, West Java. Her long-lasting involvement in TV football shows like Bundesliga and La Liga also built her reputation as a football presenter.

Now she barely appears on TV, many wonder whether Annisa has really left the showbiz world for motherhood.

Annisa says she never walked away from the glamorous world.

“Being married and starting a family were my own decisions. But I never walked away from showbiz,” says the economics graduate from the Bandung’s University of Padjajaran.  “My husband is very flexible too on this matter. He lets me work.”

However, she adds, she’s more selective with her time now.

“For example, I don’t take presenter jobs for TV football shows anymore, because they’re usually aired live late at night,” she says. “I just don’t want to leave Aira.”

“Now I prefer [taking on] presenter jobs for religious TV shows or outdoor events,” Annisa says, adding she’s also more into motherhood workshops like the one she just attended that evening, held by baby diaper brand Pampers. “Anything that can allow me to share my experience with other mothers,” she adds.

Sharing her motherhood experience also extends to sharing her with the public. For a batik line called Allure, Annisa posed with Aira as the brand’s icons.

“Aira is the icon for the line’s baby division,” she says, adding Aira could become a model like her when the little girl grows up. “Well, we’ll see,” Annisa curled her lips into a smile.

So, it seems that life shines even brighter for her now.

Between a solid career, a marriage to the President’s son, a cute little daughter and a plenty of rumors out there revolving around her family, Annisa proves a transition in life can really bring true happiness.

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