Revaldo -- Recreational Use or Addiction?

Some people never learn, and one of those who has not learnt his lesson after some prison time for drug possession is Fifaldi Suria Permana. Permana is a bit of a sinetron star and goes by the name of Revaldo (not to be confused with Ronaldo, either Christian Ronaldo or Ronaldo Ronaldo :D). This is the second time that Revaldo has been stung in possession of methamphetamines.

If Indonesia had a 3-strike rule he would certainly be on the bubble of a very long custodial sentence. Considering, the first time around he went for a 2-year stint in the slammer, a second offence so soon after teh first would seemingly warrant a longer sentence. At least, anecdotally, it would appear that Revaldo has a drug problem  that might be better handled with an rehabilitation intervention as opposed to another stint in the hole.

I am not a meth user, so I have absolutely no idea how much is a lot and how much is a little. However, the West Jakarta police allegedly caught young Revaldo with 50 grams of meth in his possession. Interestingly, the police revealed that they were tipped off about Revaldo heading out to meet his deal for a hit. The police followed him, allowed the transaction to happen, ans then pounced on their man. According to the police, Revaldo tried to make a run for it, but the car chase was over before it begun and Revaldo was arrested.

The police are referring to Revaldo as a three-dimension player. Apparently, a three-dimension player is one who enjoys some wacky weed, a few E, and then some methamphetamines to top it all off. Supposedly, this is a common thing in Indonesia as users look for increasingly better and more sustained 'hits'.

Yet, the kicker is in the police making public that they are watching 22 other celebrities. Now, if you are a celebrity and a user, you have to be wondering whether the police are looking at you...sounds like a good recipe for some paranoia!

So, is Revaldo an addict or just an unlucky recreational user who just seems to be prone to getting caught?

Manohara Odelia Pinot -- Part XVII -- The Prince to Make A Film

The Manohara saga just keeps getting more saga-y with each passing day. I know that I am having fun following the to and fro between the young Indonesia starlet in-the-making and victim of domestic abuse, Manohara, and her estranged husband, the Prince of Kelantan State, Tengku Fakhry. I am guessing that Unspun is also enjoying it. Unspun has been covering the whole story a little longer than I have.

However, Unspun does have the excellent idea of a soap opera shootout with the best soapy being crowned the crowd favourite, where Unspun and yours truly act as the judges. I am up for that. As 'Big' John McCarthy would say in the UFC, "let's get it on!"

As most of my loyal readers are aware, Manohara has kicked over her entry into the soap opera realm with her self-titled, Manohara. I have not watched it as it is not available in my neck of the woods. Although there are a few of us who are thinking about lobbying our local multicultural broadcaster to pick it up. However, some of the people I have alked to that watched it said it was only average viewing as Indonesian soap operas go. And, that Manohara did not have all that many lines. So, it is probably a good thing she is not getting paid by the word or the number of lines she speaks.

Not to be outdone by his estranged wife, Tengku Fakhry, has decided to tell his side of the story through a movie. It is being billed as his version of the Fakhry and Manohara love story. Yet, in recognition of the fact that the marriage was not all wedded bliss and peace, harmony, and love, the working title of the Prince's film is "The Stormy Love Story of the Prince" or in Malaysian "Kisah Prahara Cinta Pangeran".

The film is to be directed by Malaysian director, Kardi Syaid. Interestingly, the stormy relationship in the film is going to suggest that the love affair went off the rails because of a third party. It would have been better if the third party had been some adulterous stud who swept the young bride off her feet even though she was married to a prince. Unfortunately, the third party seems to be an interfering mother-in-law, who allegedly has enough legal problems of her own that she does not need to be getting involved in those of her daughter.

I have to say, movies with gratuitous violence and kinky sex are always likely to do good business in Indonesia. I am not sure how the over-bearing mother angle will work though. The film is sure to be interesting as the director has already suggested that the reporting of the "facts" in the case have all been one-sided and it is time that people learned the real truth.

I do not know about the rest of you, but I am kind of looking forward to a knock 'em down, drag 'em out bar fight through the small and silver screen mediums. The film is likely to have some authenticity to it as the prince has granted permission for the actual Kelantan State Palace to be used as the location for the shooting of some of the scenes.

I guess that the real issues will have to wait to see the light of day in the inside of a court room. It seems that the most pressing matters for these two former love birds is a grudge match on the screens of out living rooms and movie theatres. Sounds like fun!

Let the battle begin.

Manohara Odelia Pinot -- Part XV -- Learning Indonesian and Building Mosques

It seems that there are plenty of part-Indonesians in the news of late looking at learning Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) for one reason or another. For example, the recent winner of a Miss Indonesian pageant confessed to not being a fluent speaker of Indonesian and to a need to learn more (I wrote about this here).

It seems that Manohara, or Mano to her friends, is also looking to brush up on her Indonesian language skills before making her debut in a locally produced sinetron (Indonesian soap opera). The local Indonesian media have been following this unfolding issue and there is an article at detikhot on it, here. It is probably a good thing that Mano has decided to brush up on her Indonesian seeing that she is reportedly receiving at least IDR 1 billion to star in the soap opera that bears her name, Manohara.

Mano's story is certainly an interesting one. She has been at some point or other the one-time underage squeeze of Anindra Ardiansyah Bakrie, an under-age bride for a Prince from Kelantan State, and now a bona fide sinetron star. The story has some unsavoury undertones in that there are still outstanding allegations levelled at the prince that he was abusive towards her. This physical and sexual abuse was reportedly extreme. Nevertheless, Mano seems to have recovered sufficiently well to move on and take the next step in her evolution.

Mano is not taking her recent good fortune lightly and is going to allocate some of her sinetron earnings to establishing a foundation. Presumably the foundation will be for those less fortunate in there post-domestic violence lives than Mano. Even more of the earnings are going towards buying land and building a mosque. Maybe the foundation and the mosque building initiative are related.

When it is all said and done, I hope that she finds success and peace in her life. If starting an foundation and building mosques is what does that for her, then so be it.

Manohara Odelia Pinot -- Part III

The more I read about the Manohara (photo courtesy of The Jakarta Globe) case the more interesting it becomes in that slowing down as one goes past a car crash kind of a way. The story has all the ingredients for a TV movie, perhaps even a series or soap opera. It seems that these things are all possible with Manohara receiving numerous offers from local production houses in Indonesia. There has even been a suggestion that she will play herself in any movie of her story.

If the allegations of rape, torture, and other abuse is true, I really cannot fathom why you would want to play yourself and relive the horror. But, then again it is not me so I don't really know what motivates either Manohara or her mother, who seems to enjoy being in the spotlight. Although, reports suggest that Manohara is keen to continue her education in a business related field. Good luck to her on that front.

I strongly believe that an education is important. Let's face it, if your entertainment career does not pan out then at least you have other skills on which to fall back on to make ends meet.

No matter what happens, it would appear that Manohara is going to convert her new found fame as a result of her alleged trauma into an entertainment career, according to her mother they are still sifting through the offers and will ultimately choose one of them. Good luck to them both on that front as well.

Manohara's father is an American and her step-father is a Frenchman. Not too drama filled on that front. However, there is drama outside of Manohara's alleged abuse. The drama revolves around her mother, Daisy Fajarina, who it is alleged is subject to an Interpol warrant for her arrest relating to the abuse of a maid while she was living in France. It is being suggested that the reason Manohara and her mother fled France was not only the divorce of Daisy and her French husband, but the pending arrest.

If this is true, and there is a red notice with Interpol for her arrest then it does not make any sense for Daisy to be leaving the country. Also of interest is that the Malaysian authorities apparently know about this red notice. So, I would have figured they would have arrested her had she turned up on their shores.

Daisy would seem to be pretty safe in Indonesia as there is no extradition treaty between Indonesia and France. Nevertheless, the French want her for trial and I have no doubt would have broached the subject with their Indonesian counterparts both in Jakarta and Paris.

Somewhat ironic that Daisy is so vocal about her daughter being allegedly abused but not having too many problems about abusing others (allegedly).

The plot thickens.

Celebrities and Drugs -- Sheila Marcia Joseph

The attraction of drugs for some is just too powerful to resist and even more so when you are in a relationship where both people are users (abusers). Drugs and celebrities is not a unique phenomenon in that it is restricted to Indonesia, it can be found throughout the world of celebrities.

Yet, it is sad that Indonesia's younger celebrities are increasingly getting caught up in the world of drugs. The recent arrest of a young rising star, Sheila Marcia (photo), highlights the dangers of letting your demons get the better of you. Sheila Marcia had been making a bit of a name for herself in Indonesian horror films, such as Manggarai Ghost Train (Kereta Hantu Manggarai).

Sheila Marcia was arrested last week allegedly at a drug party in North Jakarta. The party was being held in the Golden Sky Apartment complex in Pluit in room number 8 on the 7th floor. This is the beauty of Indonesia where the information is always available in the scandal pages. I wonder how anyone ever keeps a secret in this part of the world.

Unfortunately, her boyfriend, Roger Danuarta, has gone to ground. It has been suggested that he is in drug rehab. However, this has been denied by his family. Roger is also a celebrity for his Indonesia soap opera appearances. Nevertheless, the going to ground is probably a smart move on his part because if he is using the police will find out. I am sure that this is small comfort to his young girlfriend who could probably do with some support from her man.

However, standard police practice in Indonesia with regards to drug allegations is to do a urine test. He is sure to take some flack for this as he probably will not be paying a visit to his girlfriend anytime soon or at least until any drugs that he has been taking have cleared the system. Although the police have said that they are not looking for him in relation to this case.

The sad part here is that Sheila is only 19 years old. The good thing here is that she is only 19 years old. If she wants to she should be able to recover from this and still have a career. It is being reported that over the last week in detention she has come closer to God. This is always a good ploy but if she really believed in God she probably should have considered getting a little closer a little sooner.

In Australia this offence would probably attract no jail time and perhaps a slap on the wrist in the form of a community service order. As a young starlet she could do a lot of good educating other youngsters about the dangers of drugs and the impact that it can have on your life and the lives of those around you.

Then again, it is Indonesia. I wonder how much jail time she will get?

Cinta Laura -- An Accountant in the Making

It would seem that Cinta Laura Kiehl's parents have her head screwed on pretty tightly. I have posted about her before and her cool accent and her inability to speak proper Indonesian and her desire to create a language of her own. The language of her own would resemble a mix of probably a number of languages including bits and pieces from Indonesian, English, German and perhaps some others as well.

However, this post is not about her language skills and her endeavours to improve it, but rather this post is on what she sees her future to be!

For Cinta, her education is her number one priority -- that is good! She wants to be an accountant -- some might say not so good. Some of my blogging colleagues really do not like accountants (see GJ and Stump).

Nevertheless, Cinta wants to study at Harvard (me too) presumably in pursuit of an accounting degree. It seems that acting is just a hobby that allows her to make lots of friends. I am guessing it also allows her to make some extra cash for her education fund. Harvard is not cheap.

It seems that Cinta Laura is a 15-year old with a future plan. Good luck to her in her pursuit!