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Being the most beautiful
To carry the title of most “something” in this country is not always easy, especially if that title puts you right in the public eye
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o carry the title of most “something” in this country is not always easy, especially if that title puts you right in the public eye.
To be the most powerful person, like the president, or to be the most beautiful woman, like Miss Indonesia, does not guarantee that you will have an easy life. Being a public figure means that you are ready to be judged by the public – especially in a country like Indonesia where strong tradition and religion rules – and your role as the most powerful or beautiful could be made a living hell.
On beauty: Contestants in the Miss Indonesia 2011 pageant line up onstage behind the new Miss Indonesia 2011 and Miss Universe Leila Lopes. JP/Jerry Adiguna
However, this doesn’t stop many Indonesian beauties from participating in the Miss Indonesia beauty pageant every year.
With their youthful and energetic idealism, most of these women only seem to see the benefits this pageant can have for their futures. Of course they are not entirely wrong. Just look at what their successors have become.
To name a few: Vena Malinda (Miss Indonesia 1994) and Angelina Sondakh (Miss Indonesia 2001) are now members of the House of Representatives; Alya Rohali (Miss Indonesia 1996 – 1999) is a successful TV presenter; and Artika Sari Devi (Miss Indonesia 2004) and Nadine Chandrawinata (Miss Indonesia 2005) are now successful film actresses. But, their success stories have also come with controversy.
Vena Malinda’s constant showcase of bad fashion as well as her notorious out-of-place comments are more recognized than her achievements, while both Nadine Chandrawinata and Nadine Ames (Miss Indonesia 2010) were harshly criticized for their lack of Indonesian language skills (or even English in Nadine Chandrawinata’s case). Angelina Sondakh has also been in the hot seat lately for her suspected involvement in a corruption case. Yet, each year the Miss Indonesia pageant proves to be in high demand, from both the participants and the audience.
The Jakarta Post was invited to the Miss Indonesia pageant this year and tried to determine why the pageant is still so highly anticipated. Held at the Jakarta Convention Center Plenary Hall, the Miss Indonesia finals is a prestigious event – there was an amazingly large stage with a high-tech multimedia backdrop and live TV recording, and over 1,000 invitees and supporters added to hype the evening. A gigantic kris on the stage as well as various batik motifs displayed on the multimedia backdrop added to the ambiance. And, like the Miss Universe pageant, the Miss Indonesia arrangement was quite similar, minus the swimsuit competition.
All 38 finalists, from Aceh to Papua, came out in batik first before changing into their evening gowns. From the beginning, certain strong contenders emerged to shine throughout the night. Finalists such as Sabrina Chairunnisa from North Sumatra, Maria Selena from Central Java, Dinda Rizky Hutari from Yogyakarta, Liza from East Java and Andri Tenri Natassa from South Sulawesi proved to be the strongest contenders, even making it to the big five.
It was a thrill to see Saskia Florencia from West Papua make it to the final 10. Although she offered a great response to the judges’ question, she unfortunately wasn’t lucky enough to make it to the final 5.
If the judging was based solely on SMS polling and the live audience, then Andri Tenri Natassa from South Sulawesi could have been the winner this year. She gave solid answer after solid answer, consistently. Unfortunately, her final clichéd response in the final three questioning seemed to be her downfall.
The question was: “What is the secret that brought you to become who you are now?” Andri Tenri Natassa and Liza from East Java both answered God and their parents, while the winner, Maria Selena from Central Java, nailed the question by saying experience. She said she believes that if one can learn from experience and failure then one can become a better person.
And so Maria Selena from Central Java was crowned Miss Indonesia 2011.
Looking at the hype of the event from the live audience and on Twitter, it is apparent Indonesians look forward to watching and supporting the Miss Indonesia pageant. But, we couldn’t help ourselves from asking the chairwoman of the supervisory committee of the Putri Indonesia Foundation, Putri Kuswisnu Wardani, about the challenges that every Miss Indonesia faces after winning the crown.
“I think the biggest challenge here is to create enough attention and to make their voices heard, especially on issues that have become their duties and issues that they personally care about. They need a certain level of communication skills in order to do this. Secondly, at the Miss Universe competition level they need to attract attention without being overly done,” Putri Kuswisnu Wardani said.
The burden is definitely now on Maria Selena’s shoulders to bring Indonesia to the finals of Miss Universe next year. It has been quite a long time since Indonesia (with Artika Sari Devi) made it to the Miss Universe semifinals.
Putri Kuswisnu Wardani said that aside from the three B’s (Beauty, brains and behavior), our Miss Indonesia should also mentally prepare to survive three weeks under the pressure of the Miss Universe contest quarantine.
“The Putri Indonesia Foundation can only prepare them. How they use all the training is still up to each of them. We show them basic rules and it is up to them to use and improvise accordingly. Indonesia is still quite new to this industry compared to Latin America and candidates from India who usually prepare for no less then three years at the least. Regardless of all the obstacles, the Putri Indonesia Foundation will continue to try to improve our coaching program in all areas.”
Miss Indonesia brings hope and pride to the people, and it is our dream to see Miss Indonesia obtain success and make us proud as Indonesians in the world. And to show that beauty can also bring empowerment.
Let us hope that Maria Selena can make us proud, just like Leila Lopes made Angola proud in the Miss Universe pageant this year.
The Miss Indonesia winners:
Miss Indonesia 2011: Maria Selena from Central Java
Miss Indonesia 2011 1st Runner Up: Liza from East Java
Miss Indonesia 2011 2nd Runner Up: Andi Tenri Natassa from South Sulawesi
Miss Talent: Andi Tenri Natassa from South Sulawesi
Miss Congeniality: Herllyn Paula Mambai from Papua
Miss Audience Favorite: Andi Tenri Natasha from South Sulawesi
Miss Intelligentsia I: Asri Silva Shorea from East Kalimantan
Miss Intelligentsia II: Annisa Putri from DKI Jakarta 2
Miss Intelligentsia III: Rizky Fitriyani Rustam from Southeast Sulawesi
