KUALA LUMPUR, December 1 — Iconic Indonesian pop diva Krisdayanti is advocating a closer-to-home approach when it comes to educating on the subject of HIV/AIDS.
The 47-year-old singer who was recently awarded the Malaysian AIDS Foundation’s (MAF) Inspiration Award at the Sunway-MAF Red Ribbon Gala in October. has been actively working with people living with HIV for over 10 years now, pointed out that communication is a key factor and it goes beyond than just campaigns and advertorial efforts.
Krisdayanti, who was one of 14 local artistes among the 575 Indonesian Members of Parliament sworn in for the 2019-2024 period, said that a more personal approach and continuous communication are amongst the preferred methods and it is best to start from home.
“We have to realise even marginalised members of our community should be treated as family.
“We are part of their environment as well and sometimes, even our own friends or family members are part of the marginalised community.
“There are not enough dialogues on sex education, how to protect themselves, avoiding drugs. These are all matters best discussed in a heart-to-heart conversation,” Krisdayanti told Malay Mail.
She also shared how the heart-to-heart approach impacted a designer friend of hers living with HIV, to strive for healthier living.
Giving him the motivation to continue fighting, he is now back on his feet.
She added that implementing sex education in school curriculums is also important, however, the main focus at the moment should be breaking the taboo on the subject of sex education in general.
“This is how we can educate the people in our circles, our children, our family members.
“So that as they grow, they can also learn to better understand their internal organs and how to use it accordingly and setting up boundaries of their own,” she said.
She also believes that youths in universities can be a game changer when it comes to creating conversations on HIV and AIDS and they should use public spaces to spread awareness among their peers and the public.
In her three years time as MP in Commision 9 which also covers the health sector, Krisdayanti said that she has been able to cover more ground in meeting with not just the marginalised communities but also the underprivileged as well.
She said that her work with the marginalised communities has been going on since before her parliamentary debut and revealed that she also has personal experience with HIV/AIDS with a few of her friends and family members succumbing to it.
Her efforts for the communities includes fundraising through shows and performances as well as through networking and collaborations as well as opening up social centres for them.
On the Inspiration Award at the Sunway-MAF Red Ribbon Gala, Krisdayanti said that the award is a privilege to her to mark her humanitarian efforts and hopes that it could call out to more artists and influencers to want to work with the marginalised communities.
She said that more influencers are needed in the effort to create awareness and tackling the issues of HIV and AIDS.
Krisdayanti pointed out events such as the Red Ribbon Gala are the perfect opportunity for networking and coming together to create a much bigger impact for the marginalised communities.
“I hope that we could continue to give greater awareness to those impacted by HIV and AIDS as well as normalising the public to speak up against stigma and discrimination.
“Let’s come together and help lift their spirits and keep the fire burning because they are part of our families too,” she said.
