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As someone in the public eye, you might expect TV personality Daniel Mananta to try and be a good role model for young Indonesians. Were you to read his Facebook profile, however, detailing his regular partying, you could get the impression that he is far from being a paragon of virtue.

But, in an updated version of that old saying for today’s wired world, “Never judge a person by his Facebook profile.” Here we see a more serious, patriotic and determined side of Daniel.

You always look very cheerful and are known to party regularly. Is there a pensive side to you?

Of course! A side of me that not many people are aware of is that I really like to just hang out in my apartment, look at the view, read a book and listen to jazz. If the week’s been really hectic, I need one day where I become a couch potato. I can watch five DVDs in one day. I don’t mind at all.

Who do you usually party with?

Lately I’ve been hanging out with these Germans. They’re my party friends, but we talk about business, too. Here’s the thing. I always hang out with guys who like to work. We party and work hard. I don’t connect with guys who use their parents’ money and don’t work. The saying “birds of a feather flock together” is true. My friends are also very positive, none of them are into drugs, very few smoke and most graduated overseas.

Party people are perceived as smokers and drug takers.

Some are like that, but that’s not always true. Someone offered me drugs once. I threw them on the floor and said, “Doing the world a favor.”

So these are your party friends and business partners. What about your best friends?

I have had this best friend since second grade, Rikas. He’s far away, in Lampung, but we’re still friends. In fact, he’s coming here at the end of this week just to see Jakarta. I’m also very close with my parents and my brother, William. My parents are very open-minded, unlike many conservative Chinese parents. My dad is like my mentor because he’s been in the clothing industry for over 20 years and I now have my own clothing line. William is just hilarious.

Your clothing line is called Damn! I Love Indonesia. Why?

I use “Damn” because it’s short for Daniel Mananta, and at the same time it sounds very urban. On the shirts, we mix specifically Indonesian symbols with those of other countries, plus lots of psychedelic features to make them more urban.

What inspired you to start this?

It started because when I went to Australia for seven years, I really, really missed Jakarta. From gado-gado [a local dish] to the topeng monyet [buskers with monkeys] on the side of the street. When I got back here, I had a chat with a friend. This guy was so skeptical about Indonesia . He could identify every single crap thing about Indonesia, from the politics to traffic to the people. When I went home, I started thinking, if he could name all the negative things about Indonesia, I could describe all the positive things about the country.

So what are some of the positive things?

In my opinion, Indonesians are just as intelligent as other people in the world, if not more so. For example, the film “Hercules: The Thracian War,” which will be shown around the world in 2011, is based on a comic book drawn by Indonesia’s own Admira Wijaya. Another Hollywood movie, “Caliber,” which will be directed by John Woo and produced by Johny Depp, is based on the comic book of the same title, also illustrated by an Indonesian, Gerrie Gastonny.

You appear in an upcoming movie, ‘Rumah Dara.’

“Rumah Dara,” or “Darah,” as we called it in Singapore, got its Singapore premiere on October 8. It will be out in Indonesia on January 22, 2010. When I made some inquiries with Golden Village [cinema operator], I got a lot of good feedback. Prior to that, we had our Korean premiere at the Pucheon International Film Festival and leading actor Daanish received the best actress award. It’s my first movie and I’m so glad it’s showing around the world. In Germany, tickets were sold out. In Spain, the United States and Paris, they all love slasher movies. “Rumah Dara” is the first slasher movie in Indonesia.

What other things do you have on your to-do list in life?

I really want to make not just Jakarta, but Indonesia, a better place to live in. I can’t change the older generation, but I know I’m a public figure who can have a positive influence on the younger generation. Right now, I’m trying to show Indonesian culture to the world with urban toys based on Indonesian legends: Bagong, Petruk, Gareng and Arjuna. A friend in America knows the market and is very close with a toy distributor. We could distribute these toys worldwide. The boxes would say “Made in Indonesia” and describe the history and legends. When people see that these toys are very urban, very modern, they might just grow interested in coming to Indonesia to check it out.

What about your own personal ambition?

I want to go to the moon, that’s definite. If I can’t go to the moon, space is OK too.



Daniel Mananta was talking to Angelyn Liem.