JAKARTA: The city's glitz and glamour can be so tempting that some folks from humble beginnings will do just about anything to join the coveted world of the high society.

Jakarta's high society represents just a small circle of the nation's elite, or also known as "socialites", a word that originally referred to socialists, but now refers to those beautiful people who have the penchant for partying and wearing fancy clothes and brand names affordable only to the rich and famous.

Although everyone may at times aspire to join the club, not everybody, especially women, have what it takes to climb the ladder, one of the members of the exclusive club warned.

"These [socialite] women are very persistent, they know what they want," Agatha (not her real name), told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

Agatha said that there were two common methods used by aspiring socialites to reach their goals.

"First, they set a goal of marrying rich men. They just want to marry these men and have a family," she said.

Agatha said the second method was less savory.

"They decide to become the mistress of certain rich men or most of the time they try to ruin the marriage of their target before getting the ultimate prize of marrying the man," she added.

Agatha said that along the way there would be cat fights between the divorced wife and the much younger mistress.

Agatha was quick to add that in reality most of these mistresses, or second or third wives, were treated only like comfort women.

"Only a few of them actually achieve the prize of marrying the targeted man," she said. This results in a large number of women being relegated into subsidiary roles of mistress who form their own group during parties.

"There is the 'first wives' group, there is the 'second wives' group, and the lowest of all is the group known as the 'harem' group," she said.

Marrying a rich man, however is the first step to joining the elite club. Maintaining one's position in that group is more difficult, Agatha said.

"There was a case where a husband went bankrupt and then left his wife. The woman then tried anything she could to maintain her presence in the circle by becoming a mistress of another rich man," she said.

The intense competition has barred these women from having true friends.

"They invite each other to parties, but once the curtain is down, they often say bad things about their peers behind their backs," she added.

There are, however, women who earn their membership in the elite club.

Agatha mentioned Loemongga Haoemasan, a former model and presenter, whom she described as one of the brightest of the bunch.

Loemongga, who now manages a property company, recently talked to the Post in her gleaming office building on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.

Loemongga said that what she had accomplished was the fruit of her hard work.

"I started my career as a traveling saleswoman, then I tried my luck in the garment industry, and then ran a restaurant," she said.

Loemongga failed in all but that did not stop her.

Loemongga said that she finally learned that the property business was the right kind of business for her.

"When I started this business, I also went door-to-door asking families and friends to invest," she said.

Loemongga said that there was in fact other ways to reach the top without having to sacrifice friendship.

"Expensive brands are not important. They are not our primary needs. Sacrificing friendship for those things is stupid," she said.

"I believe that you can enjoy something more if you use the money you have worked hard to earn to pay for it," she added.

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