An Indonesian influencer shows that online she poses, offline, she spits. Who is Una Dembler?

Una Dembler, right, in action. Screen shot: sabrinasimisal/TikTok

There are many things than one may find hard to keep to oneself, but saliva is often not one of them. Last Friday, at the Bruno Mars concert at the National Stadium, one Indonesian influencer, Una Dembler—who identifies as a “digital creator”—was caught in a video, spitting at an individual she was arguing with while apparently queue-cutting to get into the concert. As expected the capture was shared on social media and it went viral. Posted on TikTok by supposed victim of the oral expulsion, a sabrinaasimisal, who also goes by the alluring handle Professional Armpit Lover, it showed Ms Dembler, in one quick pout of her lips, expel a short stream of white and viscid spit at someone seated on ground level. As we know, spitting is an expression of hostility and disrespect, or both, and landing one’s spit on another person, especially the face, is an act of outrage, hatred, even contempt. Ms Dembler clearly knew how to use her spittle, and why.

As it turned out (but we cannot corroborate this), Ms Dembler was called out for allegedly cutting a line that had formed to allow concert goers to access the standing pit in the concert. Her opportunistic act was, as expected, not tolerated by exceptionally orderly concert-goers. When she was told to join the end of the line at the rear, she denied that she had, in fact, jumped the queue. Apparently, she was “waiting for a friend”. Why a better spot could not be picked is not clear. A quarrel ensued between her and someone seemingly seated on the floor (it isn’t known why the person would not stand up to speak to the soon-to-be spitter). And then nasi came into play. Ms Dembler could be heard in the video saying that someone had thrown rice at her, which the accused denied. “I can feel that,” Ms Dembler insisted. “It’s your rice, it’s your rice.” And, instantaneously, the visible and audible spit. COVID-19 be damned.

Una Dembler sharing a pose on Instagram. Photo: unadembler/Instagram

The news of her unhygienic outburst was picked up across the Singapore Strait. Indonesia media described Ms Dembler’s profesi as “influencer” and “penggila fashion ( fashion enthusiast)”. In the incriminating video, her concert-wear was a black baseball cap; a just-as-dark, off-shoulder, cropped top; red, high-waisted jeans; and pink Adidas Gazelle (which she pronounces as gay-zel). She carried a silver, ruched, leather, Miu Miu-looking crossbody bag (it’s her “collab” with Indonesian brand Bien, known for their lookalikes), and she tucked a pair of white-framed sunglasses in the right side of the waistband of her jeans. She gesticulated animatedly as she refuted what she was accused of and shifted the subject to the rice allegedly thrown at her. While she may have appeared to be togged in clothes that influencers typically wear to a pop concert on this island, it was not her get-up, which revealed inadequate tautness of her mid-section, that got Netizens excited.

As it turned out, Ms Dembler is a “trans woman”, as she calls herself. According to Indonesian media, Una Dembler was born Arjuna Dembler Septian Wibawa in the south-central Javanese city of Yogyakarta, male. She has mentioned her parents, a sister and an estranged brother, but very little is known about her past (except that she came into this world in 2000), or where she went to school, or how she became the influencer with a penchant to spit. The 24-year-old, who claims to love lagu indie (indie music. Hence, Bruno Mars?), apparently led her busy, sexy, digital-creator life unexposed until what has been described as a “gossip account” on social media brought Ms Dembler’s gender status to the open last year. It is unclear what the revealer’s intention was, but, apparently, Ms Dembler took the exposé in her stride. Although she initially negated it, she did, admirably, come out, even offering the additional tab “Trans Education” on her TikTok page.

Sexiness is the name of the game. Photo: unadembler/Instagram

From her social media account, it could be seen that Ms Dembler wears many hats. She helps promote brands such as H&M and Gentlewoman. She attends Jakarta Fashion Week and occasional product launches. She is also a “stylist” and a beauty advisor. She posts unboxing videos and not-extreme mukbang reels, and also shows off her trove of entry-level luxury bags and shoes, apart from her ho-hum OOTDs, worn to tease, and the occasional “grocery fits”, also pulled together for titillation. The usual, active influencer life. She does not reveal the source of her income, but did say in one TikTok post that she is “tulang punggung keluargaku (the backbone of her family)”. In 2017, she had wanted to start a fashion label—named Thallaxa—but it is not known what became of that. According to some Indonesian media reports, she currently dabbles in business, much of it online, such as the sale of crochet handbags under the Kiat label (it is not clear if she makes the bags herself), as well as pre-loved merchandise via IG, like other social media stars do.

As it turned out, once home in Indonesia, Una Dembler realised that her nasty expectorant behaviour on our island would do her no favours. Or, perhaps she remembered what her supportive mother once told her. As she shared on TikTok a year ago (in a post that explained why she does not go home for Eid), “berbuat baik sama semua orang apapun itu, dan kalau baik harus dibalas baik (do good to everyone whatever it is, and good shall be repaid).” She apparently reached out to Professional Armpit Lover to apologise. The PAL, in turn, accepted the apology. As with plots involving habitués of social media, there is a twist in the end. TikToker sabrinaasimisal, in a laudable show of sisterly love, not only pardoned the fellow concert-goer who did her wrong, but also urged Netizens not to reprove the Indonesian. “Let’s not criticise her nation, physical appearance, and gender,” she wrote. In the end, all is good. A social media rarity.