‘My greatest fear is failure’

Yenny Wahid has been a journalist, spokeswoman for her father Abdurrahman Wahid during his presidency, an executive of his Wahid Institute, adviser to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and recently was elected secretary-general of the National Awakening Party. At 32, the Harvard-educated Yenny is a sought-after speaker abroad for her perspective on Islam and Indonesia today (she was at the airport preparing for a speaking engagement in England when this interview was conducted).  Not bad for a woman who confesses she was not the most dedicated student in high school.

My first memory is ...
Oh god, I’m one of those people which pop psychology refers to as sanguine. So I don’t really remember things, especially sad things. I suppose it was when I was a kid and sitting on my dad’s stomach, and my dad’s not particularly skinny. I always loved the roundness of his stomach, it was so comforting...

My childhood ambition was ...
To become an animator. I wanted to create a cartoon movie, and make a comic book with me as the illustrator. Now I just doodle.

In high school I was ...
Not the most diligent student, and I tended to be late for many things. I wasn’t popular, but I had a great time nevertheless. I had close friends and we had fun.

My friends would be surprised if ...
I started taking life too seriously.

Under no circumstances would I ...
Lie to myself. I may do something that I don’t like but I can’t lie to myself.

My heroes are ...
My dad, and those people who gave great sacrifices for others; Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and this laundromat employee, Oseola [McCarty), who gave away her life savings to a university to support scholarships.

My last meal would be ...
Chicken satay and something from East Java,  probably rujak cingur (beef snout in spicy sauce).

My favorite song is ...
I’ve got so many. One of my favorites is Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. To me it tells the story of life, that no matter how bad life is it always gets better. I love Latin songs as well.  The Indonesian songs that I like are by Eros Djarot and Ahmad Dhani of Dewa.

I wish I had written ...
All the accounts of what happpened during my time in the palace. I should have written it down when I was there. After some time it all gets murky. And a book compilation of my father’s jokes.

I laugh when ...
I’m happy, or when things are so tragic that there is nothing you can do about it.

The last time I cried ...
Was when I visited the Lapindo site [in Sidoarjo, East Java], when I met with the displaced people. I was a bit embarrassed.

My best traits are ...
I’m fair, honest and very loyal.

My worst traits are ...
I tend to be tardy. I try to be disciplined, but it’s still a struggle. It’s hard when it’s part of your culture.

If I could do one thing to change the world ...
I would try to change the environment by educating people to do their fair share.

My motto in life is ...
Success is 1 percent talent and 99 percent hard work.

My favorite animal is ...
The tiger because it’s majestic, it’s not afraid of roaming the jungle alone.

Happiest journey ...
I went to Turkey and loved it so much. But I should say it is whenever I visit villages and meet simple people who have such disarming honesty and tenderness.

My greatest fear is ...
That my life will be useless, that I won’t make any mark in history.

I could never forgive ...
I suppose being a failure. And people who have been forgiven one time and then commit the same crime or betray you again. 

I want to die ...
Surrounded by my family, knowing that I have done what I wanted to do and left a mark in history.

My unfulfilled ambition is to ...
Become a dancer. Any dancer, but perhaps a Latin one. Maybe that’s for my next life.

+ Bruce Emond

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