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Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

Asiaweek Time Asia Now Asiaweek story

TREND MAKERS

NADYA HUTAGALUNG


WHEN MTV BECKONED IN 1995, Nadya Hutagalung came running. Music, travel, hey, this was a job that she could have fun doing. And she has. The 23-year-old video jockey has clearly struck a chord with young audiences in the region. Consider the mushrooming number of Webpages devoted to the Indonesian-Australian (just too many for us to count). She was honored at last year's Asian Television Awards, the Indonesian newspaper Bintang listed her as one of the top 10 stars on television, and Singapore's New Paper voted her the showtime personality of the year.

What makes her such a hit? Good looks and a spunky personality help. But the MTV presenter, known almost universally by her first name, reckons there's more to it. "I'm real," she says. "I don't just sit and giggle. What you see is me. If I don't feel like talking one day, then I don't. Other days I might feel like being crazy, throwing papers and stuff. So I do it." Perhaps there's an affinity for limelight in her genes. Raised in a theatrical family in Australia, Nadya was already performing in a local theater company as a child. At age 12, she was headed for Japan in pursuit of a modeling career. Her distinctive looks and vibrant personality brought plenty of work with top international publications -- and a confidence in front of cameras that helped plenty in her television career.

It's tempting to dismiss Nadya as a narcissist or an airhead. She's neither. In fact, the ex-model is something of a greenie. References to the dangers of over-fishing and destruction of coral reef pepper her TV patter. There's a degree of self-interest, of course. The star is a keen diver. Recently, she has even begun to lobby government support for protecting Indonesia's marine reserves (a relative is a member of the legislature). Nadya loves surfing too -- on the Web that is. The self-confessed Nethead is often found on chat-lines. And despite her raver's image, Nadya is definitely house proud. She is a single mother with a four-year-old son, and is happiest searching out art works and other unusual items for her new home in Singapore. A pet snake, for example. "Although I have to find out whether it's legal to keep them here," she hastens to add. Film offers have inevitably made their way to her in-tray. For now "MTV is my priority," she says. But she's dreaming of another way to mix work with play: her own dive center.

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