JP/Indah SetiawatiWhen in love, two people overcome differences and stigmas to be together. Some are blessed to find love at first sight while others may fail, suffering heartbreak until they fi nally meet the right one. Two couples share their love stories and challenges that arose in the pursuit of their relationships.
At second sight Actress and singer Ussy Sulistiawaty went through a bitter divorce as her marriage to businessman Yusuf Sugianto fell apart.
However, the mother of two has recently moved on, tying the knot with fellow celebrity Andhika Pratama in a lavish red-themed last month. The road to romantic recover was not an overnight journey for the couple, who began dating in 2007.
Being a divorcée with children, and a full fi ve years older than Andhika, the 31-year-old actress said she faced social stigmas from the public who were “resistant to the idea of a divorced woman seeing a young bachelor”. Andhika was 22 years old when they started dating. The two became close after working together on a theater production. Ussy broke up with her boyfriend and began dating Andhika.
At fi rst, she also struggled to accept the new man in her life.
“I was sensitive, ashamed and not confi dent, but Andhika tried his best to show people that we had every right to be together,” she told The Jakarta Post. Still, the singer who popularized the song “Klik”, spent the fi rst two years of the relationship in tears.
She fi nally could let go of the fear of social stigmas by holding on to the principle that there was nothing wrong with them as a couple because they were both single and available when they began the relationship. “The fi ve-year age gap is actually not a problem for us because Andhika is very mature and does not overreact despite his young age,” Ussy said.
She said that when the couple fi rst started dating, they had to keep their relationship under wraps. It was a challenge to tame Ussy’s four protective brothers, but she said Andhika’s natural demeanor won them over. The actor and presenter also managed to get along with her two children and the rest of her family smoothly. “He is a very responsible and loving man. He loves not only me but also my children and family. So, I said to myself that I was ready [to get married to him],” she said.
She said they barely have arguments. If they do, it is usually about other men who approach her, which makes him jealous.
Being a romantic man, Andhika apparently knows how his way into Ussy’s heart. She melts at his attention to detail. He always remembers special dates, including their dating anniversary date, which is touching because sometimes she is the one who forgets it.
“On special days, such as Valentine’s Day or our birthdays, he obliges us to have a short working day so we can spend the rest of the day together,” she says. “We like visit places associated with sweet memories of our relationship together,” she said.
The work of destiny Emcee couple Fenita Jayanti and Arie Untung met when the latter became a guest trainer in her presentation course in Jakarta.
Fenita, who grew up in South Sumatra’s capital Palembang, was not familiar with Arie, already a popular presenter at that time, because she did not watch his performances as an MTV VJ on television.
She sat in the front row, unaware that the guest speaker was a regular in television channel.
“My friends were busy with their make-up before the class, talking enthusiastically about the guest speaker. I mistakenly thought the guest speaker would be another person,” said the 25-year-old, now the presenter of popular gossip show Insert.
The two met again at an event in Jakarta and quickly became friends. After an event in a mall in South Jakarta, Arie asked her to accompany him to pick up his belongings from his home. It was just a short visit, but his parents managed to get a glimpse of Fenita. A few months later, during another event in Palembang, Arie dropped by Fenita’s house for the fi rst time, and received a pleasant surprise.
“Out of the blue, her father said to me, ‘Arie, your mother has talked to me over the telephone. We both give our blessings, so we just wait for the process’,” said the 36-year-old Arie. The couple was astonished because they were close, but had not been in a romantic relationship.
For the fi rst four months, the couple took things slow, as they had both suffered recent heartbreaks. Arie had just broken up with a girlfriend that he had been dating for 8.5 years, while Fenita failed to tie the knot with a man she had been dating for a year.
But, believing that it might have been God’s plan, they set to get married, and quickly made the arrangements. Arie publicly proposed to her in a charity event in Aceh. “He got down on his knees and proposed. Of course I accepted because the wedding invitations had already been sent,” Fenita says. The couple got married in 2005.
Seven years on, and like any couple, occasional petty arguments surfaced, usually around Arie’s addiction to gadgets or his penchant for wearing shorts and an undershirt at home. “She will complain when she prepares a candlelit dinner for us,” Arie said, regarding his casual attire around the home. Dress codes aside, the couple said chemistry was the reason they are together.
Arie said Fenita was a complete and fl exible partner for him as she could be a friend, a mother and a working partner. He also has a simple formula to keep her close to his heart and vice versa. He has nurtured a habit that makes his wife feel lonely when he is away from home.
“He always kisses my forehead before bedtime. If he gets home late, he will still kiss me even if I am already asleep,” she said. The couple likes to surprise each other to make their special dates memorable. Not to be outdone by one another, they have a friendly competition to give bigger and bigger surprises at each event.
Arie said that for their sixth wedding anniversary last year, his wife asked him to come to a candlelit dinner in a restaurant. She excused herself to go to the toilet, and when she returned, she surprised Arie with their two children, who were wearing formal white attire. “It was a nice surprise,” he said.
