TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Obituary: Pepeng, former host of 'Jari-jari' dies at 60
JPFerrasta Soebardi, the popular television host and comedian better known as Pepeng, died on Wednesday at Puri Cinere Hospital in Depok, West Java
Change Size
JP
Ferrasta Soebardi, the popular television host and comedian better known as Pepeng, died on Wednesday at Puri Cinere Hospital in Depok, West Java. He was 60.
While Pepeng ' famous for his funny lines while hosting the television quiz show Jari Jari (Fingers) on RCTI during 1990s ' had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for the last 10 years, he had also been hospitalized for an enlarged heart in 2013.
Bens Leo, a cultural observer and friend of the comedian, was with the Pepeng at the hospital.
'I was there when Mas Pepeng drew his last breath,' Bens told The Jakarta Post. 'Before departing, he had the chance to recite some Koranic verses and said 'I love you' to his wife, Utami Mariam. It was such a heartbreaking scene.'
Bens said he arrived at the hospital after his wife, a practitioner at Puri Cinere, called to tell him that Pepeng had been admitted at 2 a.m. 'When I got there, he was in a poor state. He greeted me with a very soft voice.'
Bens described Pepeng as a man who never gave up on his creative works even when ill.
'He pretty much did all his creative works from his bed, including a talk show that was aired on tvOne some times ago,' said Bens, referring to the series Ketemu Pepeng.
Pepeng ' the name is a portmanteau of pemuda pengkolan, or the guy on the corner ' was a familiar face on television. He was often seen discussing his multiple sclerosis on talk shows and even with stand-up comedians.
He first came to fame with Krisna Purwana and Nana Krip after the men won a stand-up comedy competition for students in 1978.
The three later joined with fellow funnymen Sys NS and Muklis to present 'Sersan Prambors', a comedy show broadcast on Prambors Radio in 1986, where the men sang songs and told jokes.
The group also presented their shtick to live audiences.
Pepeng also appeared in several films, including Rojali dan Juleha (1979) and the comedies Sama-Sama Enak (Mutual Pleasure, 1986) and Anunya Kamu (Your Anunya, 1986).
After 'Sersan Prambors' ended, Pepeng took an office job until he returned to the spotlight as the host of Jari-Jari.
Multiple sclerosis did not stop Pepeng from completing a master's degree in psychology ' or from creating community radio station YESS FM 88 Sumurugul in the remote village of Purwakarta, West Java.
As a member of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Pepeng unsuccessfully ran for office, hoping to represent his hometown of Madura, East Java.
Meanwhile, Bens has one pending project regarding Pepeng that needs to be done. 'Some time ago I permission of the late Pepeng to publish a book that contains various caricatures of him with some quotes from the cartoonists themselves about their works on Pepeng.'
Pepeng is survived by his wife and four sons.
