The pages are a work in progress. I’d love to hear your ideas.
During those early years of Reformasi, I was fortunate to be able to spend some time traveling to Papua - to Jayapura, Tembagapura, Wamena. It was a completely different world, particularly the highlands. The people I met were incredibly welcoming, even those who took to the streets to voice their frustrations.
I do not propose that I know much about China at all other than as a tourist and an admirer of Zhang Yimou films! I did not see one red lantern. But red I did see, on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai.
Back in 2002, scrutiny was focused on a group of militants who have now receded somewhat. The article I wrote below was controversial at the time. It does not seem so controversial today.
I spent about four days in Bangka, travelling through the island working on a hunch that a great story was unravelling. Decentralization would become the persistent fraying of the seams for Indonesia, as local governments squandered budgets and communities fall behind in terms of health and education outcomes.
Back in 2005, I interviewed Paul Wolfowitz, then at the Pentagon. I remember that Americans at the time reviled him. I for one could not muster extreme emotion. I found him friendly, articulate, amusing, cogent (though I was not convinced).
It became apparent that no one else relished writing about fashion or other realms of pop culture as much as I did (and do). So I patrolled that space where culture and commerce intermingled.
Smaller publishers try to draw in bookstores with sparse leaflets that list only titles and prices. Sales calls are rare, making it "difficult for buyers to be intrigued". Worse, titles are rarely reprinted. Distribution is limited to major towns and cities.
Coming from a country where corruption is regarded by the less scrupulous as a sport, reporting deeper on a persistent scourge was an important opportunity for me. I prepared the section on Southeast Asia, and the reporting took me to Thailand and Malaysia.
