Tiffany Wan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Beauty queens don't always seem like the most approachable type. With their model good looks, it's easy to imagine a bit of prima donna behavior to go along with it.
But spending five seconds with the 2006 winner of Puteri Indonesia, Agni Pratistha, dashes any stereotype that has ever surrounded pageant girls.
A lean, towering figure -- even in flats -- Agni's unabashed honesty and warmth are immediately apparent. And this is a girl who won the Puteri Indonesia -- also known as Miss Indonesia -- while sporting some heavy-duty braces on her now flawless teeth. At 19, she's still young, but carries an air of maturity.
Perhaps this is because like many Puteri Indonesia before her, Agni gave up a year of her life, touring Indonesia as a social ambassador and conducting community service activities in her preferred humanitarian field.
On Aug. 3, Agni passed her crown to Puteri Indonesia 2007, Putri Raemawasti of East Java, and along with it, a legacy of hard work and months of humanitarian service.
In short, being Miss Indonesia isn't just about smiling and waving at crowds while donning a sparkling tiara.
"A lot of the girls want the moment of being crowned," said Agni at a press conference last month at the Hotel Nikko Jakarta, noting the fame that often followed Puteri Indonesia winners. "But the work is hard."
Winners of Puteri Indonesia train for nine months to compete in the Miss Universe contest, which is held every May in a different country.
According to Agni, Indonesian representatives have never had much luck at the Miss Universe pageant.
"Indonesia is a small Asian country, and we are still developing our country. For them, they do not think of us as a threat," she said of the other contestants. "Sometimes, I don't want to put too much hope for the next Miss Indonesia."
After receiving her crown last year, Agni attended mandatory classes six days a week to train for the international pageant, studying philosophy, English and dance, as well as Indonesian history and culture. She also set aside her Sundays to visit underprivileged schools in Bekasi to teach the students a variety of subjects ranging from math to biology and to history.
Winners need not only beauty, but also brains and public charisma, stressed Agni.
"We have to influence people and we have to do charity work," she said.
Agni likened her role as Puteri Indonesia to that of a "good-looking politician", explaining how she communicated with the government about the desires of ordinary citizens in the capital and across Indonesia.
"Every time I visit a part of the country, I always ask them, `Do you want me to say something to the government?' I'm like the postman," she joked of her role.
Evidently, much of Agni's post-Puteri Indonesia activities -- excepting the Miss Universe pageant -- have had little to do with her looks.
Still, pageants like Puteri Indonesia ultimately provoke the age-old question: What is more important, beauty or brains?
Three former Miss Indonesia representatives gave varying answers when reflecting upon their experiences. Agni and 2005 winner Nadine Chandrawinata don't quite see eye-to-eye with Indira Soediro, winner of the inaugural Puteri Indonesia in 1992.
For the most part, they agree that a big difference separates Miss Universe and Puteri Indonesia. The former is merely "a beauty pageant", stressed Agni, who was asked to lose 10 kilograms before participating in the contest.
Going into the experience this May with the hopes of finding out whether beauty really triumphed over brains, Agni was disappointed to see that those who weren't "pretty" or "hot" enough were pushed aside. She was also appalled by the amount of plastic surgery some of her fellow contestants had undergone.
"They're like a bunch of Barbies!" exclaimed Agni. "When I asked them about some international issues, they just (said), `I don't know, I don't know.' International pageants, sometimes they really put physique as number one."
She felt the opposite was true regarding Puteri Indonesia.
"The first thing they are really concerned with is brains," said Agni. She then described the demanding 10-day procedure for Puteri Indonesia finalists, who must take written tests about Indonesian history and psychological evaluations, not to mention attend seminars on politics and economics.
"My year, there were a lot of girls who were really much, much more beautiful than me," she said. "When I won, people said, 'Agni is not that pretty, how can she win?' You don't have to be that pretty, but you have to have that charisma to talk."
In an interview days before the Puteri Indonesia 2007 pageant, Nadine, 23, found Puteri Indonesia and even Miss Universe to be more of a revelatory cultural experience for her.
"(Puteri Indonesia) opened my eyes that we have a lot of different cultures in every city, and that makes us a unique country," said Nadine, who is now finishing her studies in advertising at the London School of Public Relations in Sudirman Park.
At Miss Universe, she was excited to meet women from all over the world, joking that they would soon be her personal tour guides once she got the chance to travel more.
But Nadine also stressed the importance of inner beauty in the Puteri Indonesia contest.
"All women have the 'Three Bs'," she said, referring to the pageant's motto of brains, beauty and behavior. "But to get our inner beauty out is difficult. Beauty pageants help us to increase our potential skills and to show we have inner beauty."
Indira, on the other hand, was more honest about the role of physical beauty in Puteri Indonesia.
"Of course it is a beauty pageant," she said candidly ahead of this year's contest.
She also criticized the decision of many former Puteri Indonesia to join the entertainment industry and discontinuing their humanitarian duties.
"You can see from the other Miss Indonesia winners -- after they were chosen, they worked as an entertainer or a model," said Indira, now 34. "Not for me. After Miss Indonesia, I just did whatever I was studying before."
Indira said only she and a couple of others had avoided the entertainment-modeling path. She went on to earn a Masters degree in music performance from the Royal School of Music in London, and is now self-employed while raising six children with her husband.
Meanwhile, Puteri Indonesia 2001 Angelina Sondakh is now a member of the House of Representatives and 1995 winner Shanti Manahutu is a prominent businesswoman.
Despite declaring Puteri Indonesia a beauty pageant, Indira also stressed that participants had an opportunity to shoot down the negative stereotypes surrounding pageants.
"I said to all these finalists that this is our duty to prove this is not only a beauty contest," she said. "You have to have the beauty, the brain, the behavior, and one more thing you have to be is bright, so people will see you not only as just a beauty queen, but that there is something more valuable in your life that you can do.
"After you finish your duties as Miss Indonesia, then you do something for the people," Indira said.
The writer is completing an internship at the Post
www.thejakartapost.com
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