Earth Mother
Social activist, humanitarian, mother of three, speaker, and entrepreneur… Is there no end to what Nadya Hutagalung can do? Maina A. Harjani finds out
Nadya Hutagalung’s nature for nurturing and nurturing of nature are all revealed here
Born to an Australian mother and Indonesian father, Nadya Hutagalung spent her childhood in the Australian countryside as an only child with her mum. Thus, from a very young age, Nadya was exposed to the beauty and wonder of nature, which, she believes, gave her the grounding that has made her the woman she is today.
“My mother spoke to me about the planet, sustainable living, the orang utans she rescued, and how we need to be mindful about the way we live and our impact on the earth since my early childhood days,” she tells Indonesia Tatler. “Most of my time outside school was spent climbing trees, building tree houses, or horse-riding.”
This brings us nicely up to date with Nadya’s current passion project: she has joined forces with a team of people involved in a scheme surrounding the welfare of Sumatran elephants. She is also currently developing story-telling content for a project that has been in the making for three years.
Down to earth and humble, this mother of three is now based in Singapore where she lives with her family. There, she begins her day with meditation and spiritual me-time before preparing her daughter, Nyla, for her homeschooling sessions.
“While Nyla works on her classes, I usually get my work done on the laptop,” says Nadya.
In the 90s, Nadya parlayed some 30 years of entertainment-industry experience to become one of Asia’s leading voices in the green movement. “I realised the power of a platform and a voice, and recognised that if used correctly, these can be used to effect great change.” It was the first time that Nadya spoke at an environmental conference and she has not looked back since.
Through her years in the entertainment industry and after, Nadya was able to truly
identify the person she aspired to be. With a voice in the country and a platform where millions of people were able to hear her out, together with her determination and perseverance, Nadya chose to also live her life while making a living. And because of this, she believes that one must never stop reinventing oneself to be a better person and ultimately, to give back to the world.
“I am incredibly grateful to be where I am today especially after realising that we need to constantly reinvent ourselves to take action when it really matters,” she explains.
Nadya also goes on to say that it was her children who drove her into involving herself in humanitarian causes, and, as the years passed, making a difference in the world we all share was what ultimately gave her a