Inside a room of a four-star hotel in South Jakarta, Helmy Yahya religiously observed the taping of the reality show Penghuni Terakhir (The Last Occupant). He gave an occasional smile whenever contestants of the show made funny comments.

Penghuni Terakhir is the latest in a long line of reality shows produced by Helmy, which is expected to air on private station ANTV in the near future. Helmy expects that with this show he could once again set the trend in reality television, something that he has done in the past two decades.

The premise of the show is picking a winner in a set-up requiring contestants to undergo both physical and mental tests. And just like most reality shows of today, it is the viewers who get the final say over which contestant wins the top prize of the Rp 1 billion house.

The current installment of Penghuni Terakhir is a rehash of a similar show, which had huge success five years ago.

“We decided to begin new episodes of Penghuni Terakhir because people want it back. We auditioned contestants in five cities: Palembang in South Sumatra, Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, Yogyakarta and Surabaya in East Java.”

For Helmy, the production of Penghuni Terakhir will also mark the return of his signature style of a grand-scale, intricate and emotionally-charged reality show, something that had won him a huge audience and put his name on the map of the national television industry.  

In fact, he’s the one who was responsible for bringing reality shows to the small screen in the early noughties. The vehicle is his production house company PT Triwarsana. Today, the parade of reality shows on television is in fact the derivative of his early works.  

With all that achievement he was crowned the mogul of reality and quiz shows, taking away the mantle of leadership from his mentor Ani Sumadi who took him under her wing and groomed him in the productions of legendary quiz shows such as Berpacu Dalam Melodi (Racing in Melody), Aksara Bermakna (Meaning of Characters), Siapa Dia (Guess Who) and Tak Tik Boom.

Early in his life, working in the entertainment industry would have been unthinkable. His aspiration was modest; he just wanted to be a civil servant.

Born 47 years ago in Palembang, South Sumatra, from a poor family with five kids, Helmy always studied hard to get good grades.

After graduating from a high school in his hometown, Helmy went to the Bogor Agriculture Institute (IPB), without having to sit through an entrance test.

His parents, who worked as street vendors, even had to mortgage their only house to pay the tuition fee for Helmy and his older brother Tantowi.

Helmy left IPB to study at the National State Accounting Institute (STAN), which offered him easy access to plum jobs at government offices.

Helmy would have been a civil servant had it not been for his meeting with jazz musician Ireng Maulana.

The meeting marked a turning point in his life.  

In the late eighties, Ireng hired Helmy as his accountant after his brief stint with the musician, keeping his book for a number of shows.

After a while, Helmy was introduced to Ani by Ireng. At that time, Ireng led a band of musicians who worked as a home band for Berpacu Dalam Melody.

“I met a few times with Bu Ani before she offered me a job at her production house. I was very surprised because I never thought she would offer me the job. It was a dream come true,” said Helmy.

A quick learner, Helmy absorbed all the lessons during his participation in Ani-helmed productions of television shows.

“Bu Ani is my mentor. She has taught me many things because there was no formal school for doing television back then. She opened the way for me, introducing me to the television industry and many people there.

“Back in the day, people knew her reputation as the number one quiz producer in the country. I thanked her for taking me with her every time she had meetings with television producers.”

After about a decade working with the master, Helmy quit his job at Ani’s production house and started his own company.

He started coming up with his own shows. His first program, first aired in 1999, Kuis Joshua (Joshua’s Quiz), hosted by child singer Joshua Suherman, was a hit.

“Since then, I was no longer known as Ani’s assistant. I proved to other people that I could stand on my own two feet,” he said, adding that he later received many orders to make quiz shows.

But Helmy’s big break only came from the quiz show Siapa Berani (Who Dares?). The show put him in the limelight and won him the title of the country’s king of quiz shows, a title that he wants to disown. He just wants to be known as the “prince” of quiz shows, as he did not want to take away the mantle from his mentor.   

“Don’t call me the king of quiz shows. We are dealing with the seniority issue here. My mentor Bu Ani is the queen of quiz shows, so it would be better if you called me ‘the prince’,” he said.  

In the wake of Siapa Berani’s success, Helmy was unstoppable. He began creating a number of tear-jerkers, reality shows that dwell on emotions of the poor and the disadvantaged after being given a fortune in the form of shows, such as Uang Kaget (Easy Money), Nikah Gratis (Free Marriage) and Bedah Rumah (Home Makeover). In total his company has produced a total of 120 shows.

Helmy said these shows were a part of his altruistic drive. “I just want to help other people. I’m happy doing this,” he said.  

Responding to a barrage of criticism that he exploited the misfortunes of others for entertainment, Helmy only said: “People only watch the show and criticize us, but they do nothing. There are many poor people around us and they need our help.”  

Helmy said that his team did not just find random people on the street to hand out money. His team carried out field research before deciding on which families were featured in his production.

“We have to be sure that we lend our hands to the right people,” he said.

His success in the entertainment industry left him with no time for his teaching job and Helmy left his job as a teacher at the State Accounting Institute (STAN) in 2008.  

“Both have been rewarding jobs. But I believe that I could do more in the television industry. Besides, people would not consider me a good civil servant for appearing on television too much. So I had to choose,” he said.

Ever since, he focused only on producing television reality shows. Currently, concurrent with Penghuni Terakhir, he is working on the production of a number of shows that he considers will be a game changer in the television industry.  

“It’s still a secret. I won’t tell you. Just wait and see. If I tell you now, someone could steal the idea,” he said.  

But he had nothing to hide about a new musical project in honor of songwriter A.T. Mahmud, who died on July 6. It is a project that Helmy had emotional attachment to. “I was very close with him. I want to produce a musical wherein his music can be used. I’m writing the script, but I won’t be the director,” he said.

Helmy decided to do the musical because that type of entertainment is in short supply these days. “The most popular musical is Petualangan Sherina (Sherina’s Adventure) and it’s been years ago since it was showing,” he said.

Other than producing a reality television and quiz show, Helmy is also known as a television presenter and host. In 2005, he won an award as a favorite television presenter. In spite of the praise, Helmy does not consider himself a guy who talks too much. “I believe that good presenters don’t have to be talkative. I don’t speak that much. The most important thing is for a presenter to have knowledge about current issues so that he would have enough understanding of the situation.”  

The high point in his career as a presenter was when he got the job of moderating a presidential debate last year involving three candidates: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Megawati Soekarnoputri and Jusuf Kalla. Probably because of that gig, earlier this year he was hired to host the launch of a book written by the President.

“That was highest point of my career: hosting an event at the State palace.”  

Helmy has also tried his hand at politics. In 2008, he ran for governor of South Sumatra but failed to get enough votes. Later he ran for regent of Ogan Komering Ilir and also failed.

He may have overstated his public persona, but what drove him into politics in the first place were the people who wanted him to run for public office.

“It’s because people wanted me to run for public office. I also thought that politics could be a good place to contribute to something for this country. But I then realized that I had to go through a complicated political process to get into it,” he said.  

Eventually, Helmy learned that politics was not the right place for him.

“It’s too dirty. People do whatever it takes to win. Money talks.”

Helmy took a lesson from the failure but he never regretted a thing. “That was amazing competition. I don’t care if I win or lose.”

Concerning his future political career, Helmy leaves his options open.

When asked if he would run again in the future, “Well, let’s just see,” he said.

Recently, Helmy was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. He grabbed headlines among gossip tabloids after filing for divorce from his wife of 20 years, Harfansi.

“We did try to fix things in the past three years prior to the divorce, but that did not work out. If we have to be separated, so be it. I believe it will be settled amicably,” he said. Currently, Helmy has custody of his three children.

During the divorce trial, Helmy hosted a reality show, Masihkah Kau Mencintaiku (Do You Still Love Me), a Jerry Springer-style talk show in which couples tried to sort out their differences.  

“The show’s rating went through the roof [when I filed for divorce] and people said this to me; How come you want to save somebody else’s marriage when you can’t even save yours? I just said to them that this is the good thing about the show,” he said.

Helmy said that his divorce only added a sense of urgency to the show. “It’s a lesson to learn because I can learn from somebody else’s failure.”  

Helmy remarried to Febriyani Sofyan earlier this year.

He could not be more enthusiastic when asked to talk about his marriage to her.  

“I’m very happy. I really enjoy my life. I am more focused now. Sometimes I pick my wife up after work, then we eat out and watch a movie together.”

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