The Jakarta Report
The Jakarta Report
London ~ Dubai ~ Columbo ~ Singapore ~ Jakarta
25 hours, 3 transits and 7 aeroplane meals later Alex and I touched down in Jakarta on 9th March 2003 – greeted by a driver who, thanks to Diageo (Dan’s company), was at our beck and call for the duration of our stay and became an honorary ENCOMPASS team member. (PDF format)
Initial impressions of Jakarta were vague through the tinted windows and the darkness of the night, although we were acutely aware of the chaotic traffic jams, the constant hooting, and the heart stopping risqué driving weaving all around us – something one is only too familiar with in Asia – before we slipped into an exhausted slump in our seats.
Upon our arrival at Le Meridien, Jakarta, we were greeted by Heroe Soeprapto and his wife Bina Yuanita (two of the four strong Encompass team based in Indonesia). It was the first time any of us had met face to face and before we became too deeply involved with ‘business talk’, we – the weary travellers excused ourselves briefly for showers and fresh clothes before rejoining Heroe and Bina downstairs for dinner and discussing the agenda for the next 3 ½ days.
Eyeing the hotel pool enclosed in lush tropical foliage and the state-of-the-art gym we had every intention to make use of the hotel’s facilities and book ourselves in for a luxury neck massage to soothe the long-haul induced soreness – but as our sleep deprived minds and bodies were taking over we found ourselves drifting back to our rooms to get a few hours sleep before our early breakfast meeting with the full team.
Monday March 10th
The ENCOMPASS Team
At breakfast, we were joined by Heroe and Bina and introduced to the other half of the ENCOMPASS team based in Indonesia.
Dr. Ir. Kuntoro – Mangkusubroto Former Minister of Mines and Energy and Commissioner of UNILEVER. Chairman of WANADRI – Mountain and Jungle Explorer Association and MCC – Citarum River Heritage Foundation, and is also the Chief of The Board of Advisor of CBE – Centre of the Betterment of Education Indonesia. Kuntoro has been instrumental in securing Ministerial meetings during our visit.
Namang Rizali – The Chief of Board of Director for CBE – Centre for the Betterment of Education in Indonesia and is a member of the Student Outdoor Activist of University of Indonesia. Namang is the key in sourcing suitable candidates for ENCOMPASS.
ENCOMPASS ~ AGADIPHA Alliance
An important development of the ENCOMPASS Trust programme has been under discussion over the last few months with Heroe. We have come to realise that support for ENCOMPASS will be stronger if the programme is bi-directional, thus providing a truly cross-cultural experience.
Heroe founded and heads the AGADIPHA Foundation based in Indonesia. His inspiration to create AGADIPHA came from his involvement with International Raleigh in 1986 when the programme held a jungle training expedition in Indonesia. He was thoroughly impressed with the organisation and the way in which the youths who came from all over the world became a team. The programme had an immensely positive affect on the Indonesian youths who were recruited to work with the overseas group on the expedition and 80% have since become successful and liberal thinking adults.
AGADIPHA’s aim is to provide the ultimate eco-adventure with instructors who share their knowledge and skills with youths whilst they discover their full potential in a challenging environment which requires teamwork and involvement in a testing environment. AGADIPHA organises Eco-Adventures such as basic jungle survival training, volcanic hikes and coral reef conservation.
As the ethos of AGADIPHA closely matches that of ENCOMPASS it made sense to create an alliance where both land and sea adventures can be experienced in groups and youth come from all backgrounds and nationalities.
In addition to expanding and balancing the program, the ENCOMPASS team feels strongly that it is important to have an association based in Indonesia where youth who have already taken part in Sail Training voyages can continue to partake in activities which are multi-national and where they can keep in touch with other voyagers they have met.
The Eco-Adventures with AGADIPHA are currently in the planning stage and we hope and look forward to launching the first expedition in 2004.
Minister for Culture and Tourism – Republic of Indonesia
The Minister, I Gede Ardika, a Balinese man, was greatly affected by the Bali bombing tragedy and expressed his sadness and condolences that Dan and so many people had been killed and injured in his tranquil homeland.
ENCOMPASS was introduced to the Minister and his Deputy as a bi-directional programme where youths from Indonesia will be sponsored to partake in sail training adventures in Europe and youths from around the world will visit Indonesia as ‘Eco-Tourists’ for eco-adventures led by the AGADIPHA Foundation.
When ENCOMPASS asked what it could do to help the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Minister replied that his role was essentially to bring diversity together, fostering the development of understanding, tolerance, friendship and relationships between different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. He saw tourism itself as a multi cultural experience.
“We learn from the past, reflect and then develop the future.”
I Gede Ardika
Minister for Culture and Tourism
His very words embody the reason and the way in which ENCOMPASS has been created.The Minister continued by expressing ‘people- to-people co-operation’ was essential in developing the future and ENCOMPASS would be helping by linking up with the AGADIPHA Foundation in Indonesia, thus promoting people-to-people co-operation between two nations.
The Minister of Culture and Tourism officially gave ENCOMPASS his blessing and his strong support for the program.The Minister announced that the ENCOMPASS~AGADIPHA multi-cultural programme would be placed under the umbrella of the ‘Cultural Agreement’, a pact recently signed between Indonesia and the UK which aims to strengthen cultural ties and understanding between the two nations.
ENCOMPASS was advised by the Minister to build up an ‘Earn Your Trip’ scheme for youths who wish to participate in the expeditions. The scheme will make the experience mean more to the youths as they will have a sense of ownership, respect and a responsibility to make it as rewarding as possible.The question of what proportion of the true cost could be ‘earned’ has to be decided in the future.
The proposals of assistance to ENCOMPASS by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism includes:
- Exemption from airport exit tax for ENCOMPASS voyagers.
- Elimination of administration costs for obtaining passports.
- Assistance in involving ENCOMPASS with Garuda Airlines’ educational programme thus securing discounted air fares for ENCOMPASS crew.
- Support in approaches to other international carriers.
- The Minister suggested we hold a press conference and offered one of his rooms as a venue.
Interestingly, long term projects for both ENCOMPASS and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are coincidentally heading in the same direction.ENCOMPASS plans to build a sail training ship in order to take its voyages to South East Asian waters whilst the Ministry also has plans to develop ‘cruises’ in Indonesian waters.It was agreed that these separate plans may one day work in collaboration in an effort to bring diversity together.
“ENCOMPASS is widening the horizon of the life of people”
I Gede Ardika
Minister for Culture and Tourism
Tuesday March 11th
The British Embassy & British Council
The meeting with the British Ambassador, Richard Gozney, Deputy Ambassador, Paul Speller, Consul General, Allan Marshall and the Director of The British Council, Dr. Richard Phillips was invaluable in terms of guidance and practical advice.A huge range of topics were covered, from fundraising advice to building tall ships in Indonesia. As the ENCOMPASS mission is a fantastic challenge, the first piece of advice was to keep it simple and branch out once we have had success with the first voyage – and was very much in accord with our own planning.
“ENCOMPASS is a revolutionary idea for Indonesia”
Richard Gozney CMG
British Ambassador
“Connecting Futures”
“A new five-year initiative aimed at building deeper mutual understanding, learning and respect between young people from different cultural backgrounds, by working in new ways and with extended communities in the UK and overseas.”
The British Council
Integrating ENCOMPASS with the British Council’s ‘Connecting Futures’ programme is under development.
‘BritZone’ One of ENCOMPASS’ concerns is that the Sail Training Voyagers or Eco-Adventurers will complete their exciting adventures without a supportive network to keep the youth and their newfound friends in touch with each other. The idea is that the Trust becomes a ‘lifelong club’ where past and future participants can become a member of an “alumni club”.
An alumni club is another organization entirely, requiring substantial amounts of work and effort to keep the network alive and functioning properly.The British Council suggested it would be wise to use the help of an alumni club already in existence, such as their own – The BritZone
Press Conference – ENCOMPASS was told that this was essential and supplied with contact names and details for foreign press correspondents based in Jakarta.
Fundraising – Advice was given as to who and which companies to approach.
Tall Ship Building – Some digression into the idea that a traditional Indonesian tall ship sailing vessel could be built for less than £20,000 !! How ever attractive the prospect that the ENCOMPASS dream could be potentially achieved in record time and cost, reality and practical issues set in.
Safety is paramount – especially onboard a Tall Ship training vessel crewed mainly by young and inexperienced seafarers.The ship must be designed specifically to accommodate inexperienced crew and thus planning, designing and building such a vessel is very tightly run and scrutinised operation done by professionals who are very knowledgeable in this particular field.But if the actual construction can be done in Indonesia at a much lower cost than in Europe and with Indonesian Government support, then this could be a viable proposition.
VISA – Visa applications for ENCOMPASS voyagers are to follow the strict criteria and process all applicants go through although the first group will be taken through a fast track system.
Minister of Communications and Transport – Republic of Indonesia
The Minister, Agum Gumelar, was visibly and genuinely moved by the death of Dan and was thoroughly impressed that through tragedy something as ambitious as ENCOMPASS has been created.
The Trust was given the Minister’s full support and we were immediately instructed to ‘blow up’ the story by organising a press conference.
His main concern was the culture shock youths from villages will encounter when they arrive in Europe and embark on a multi-national sail training program. The gap between their usual life and the experiences they will encounter will be enormous. ENCOMPASS has always been acutely aware of this potential culture shock, but as the aim is to widen the experience and views of youths who have very strict education and few mind expanding experiences – they are the ones we would like to reach out to. We explained this to the Minister and stressed to him that our programme would be of little use if we targeted middle class boys & girls from International schools. The Minister instructed Heroe to take exceptional care that Indonesia did not ‘export terrorism’ to the U.K through this scheme.
There was some discussion with the Minister regarding the value of improved nautical training as a beneficial side effect of this scheme. The Minister acknowledged that standards of safety in the Indonesian merchant fleet did need to be improved but told us about several new training initiatives and simulators being brought in. We asked if selected ‘voyagers’ could be offered places on these courses and could we visit them on our next visit to Indonesia. The Minister was affirmative on both subjects.
Sinar Harapan – Indonesian Daily Newspaper
As the ENCOMPASS team were being advised by all the Ministers, British Embassy and the British Council to hold a press conference we urgently needed good advice on how to prepare and hold a successful one. Help came from Aristides Katoppo, another mountaineering friend of Heroe’s and the British Ambassador and the editor of Sinar Harapan – a respected Indonesian daily newspaper. We talked about the story associated with ENCOMPASS, the aims and objectives of the Trust and the preparation of a press release and press packs for the actual day. That evening we dined with Heroe and Bina and accompanied by Aristides and his wife Mimis.
Wednesday March 12th
Internat Al Kausar
Islamic Boarding School
Heroe, Bina, Alex & Jun
The ENCOMPASS team were just climbing into the van to take us to Internat Al Kausar when a change of plan was announced by Bina who had just managed to arrange a meeting with the PR Manager of Le Meridien. The hotel was offering to host the press conference for ENCOMPASS. With such a generous offer we had to delay our departure in order to discuss the event.
As a result, what was supposed to be a two hour drive from Jakarta to Internat Al Kausar turned into a four hour journey as our delay meant hitting Jakarta rush hour. But every minute of the journey was used efficiently as the van carrying us into the depths of the countryside turned into a mobile press conference organisation centre with all the passengers using their hand phones to contact various foreign and national press correspondents as well as planning the agenda for the conference.
The staff of Al Kausar met us in a fantastic open air local restaurant set in the lush tropical jungle. We left the ordering in the hands of the staff, and throwing caution to the wind we persuaded them we could eat anything. Our slight apprehension of our blasé ballsy-ness was replaced with mouthwatering assurance. The dishes arrived steaming, sizzling, bubbling, delicious aromas wafted around, and it all looked amazing. The best meal of the week. There was a serious conflict of agendas as one tried to feast on the fantastic dishes, yet hold a conversation about our mission, hopes and of course the boys we were to meet later.
Once the lunch was over the Al Kausar staff and the ENCOMPASS team piled into their respective vans and headed out to the school. We had Laila, the school’s English teacher with us so she could direct the driver to the school. Our conversation turned to how and why ENCOMPASS was created and to our surprise she knew nothing of Dan’s death in Bali and our determination to bring good out of evil. Her utter shock at the story, and yearning to know more of Dan and the amazement at how much positivity has come out of the tragedy distracted her somewhat and to our amusement we ended up miles away in the wrong direction amongst the banana trees and rice paddies terraced on the hillside.
Internat Al Kausar school was impressive. The boarding school was built by a wealthy industrialist who wanted to provide an educational establishment which would offer places for underprivileged youths. This was the most ‘liberal’ of the three schools from which we are recruiting for this first voyage.
There were eight boys waiting in the hall for us, wearing black and white batik shirts – a rather trendy school uniform we thought! The ENCOMPASS team were shown to their seats whilst the boys filed in taking theirs opposite us. The meeting started with Alex explaining the aims and objectives of ENCOMPASS.Afterwards, we asked if there were any questions.
The boys blinked back in silence, and as we quietly gazed at them we became unsure how much information had been understood. Heroe leapt in with the Bahasa version and after we showed a short film of Tall Ship sailing provided by the STA (Sail Training Association) the boys finally came forwards with questions.
“Why is ENCOMPASS starting with Indonesian Muslims?”
Student
“Will Halal meat be available?”
Student
“Are you coming with us?’”
Student
Individual interviews followed which was a good way to get a feel of each boy’s character and allow him to express himself. Their spoken English was fine and we were able to have quite a few laughs with some of the boys.
The answers to some of our questions made us realise how different their education, upbringing and exposure to the world is compared to youths of the same age in the UK. When asked ‘who do you admire the most?’, the replies were always ancient Islamic figures until we restructured the question so they had to name a living person. The most admired became an admired modern day Islamic teacher or for some, the former Indonesian President Habibie. Not a single sports superstar, singer or actor was named which accentuated how serious and central to their lives their faith is. This is quite unimaginable when thinking of a typical British youth.These boys seemed more like young priests in training.
To gauge their knowledge of the UK, the boys were asked “Can you name a well known person from Britain?”. This question often drew long pauses, furrowed brows, and eyes searching in the distance for an answer.
“Anne”, answered one boy.
“Anne? Who is Anne?” we asked.
“Anne was my old English teacher.”
“Ah, right,” we replied.“erm…..know anyone famous?”
“Mmm…..no.”
Fair enough. Alex and I realised quite ashamedly that we couldn’t really name any famous Indonesians ourselves if put on the spot! One or two boys named the obvious – Beckham, one named the Queen, one mentioned Margaret Thatcher and one boy named Robbie Williams?!
It was very clear that the boys were very serious about the programme and extremely keen to be selected as an ENCOMPASS voyager. None of them had ever left Indonesia and we weren’t even sure if they had ever left the island of Java. As we reflected on the meeting and interviews with the boys whilst heading back to Jakarta we realized that this chance we were offering, to fly to Europe and partake in an adventure with youths from other nations is an unbelievable once in a lifetime offer, and it was in our hands to decide which three boys would be selected. This decision was so serious and to choose from a group of boys who were all impressive, enthusiastic, polite and charming made the task excruciatingly difficult.
An unbelievable dream. What would be the equivalent for us? A return ticket to the moon sponsored by NASA.
Before we left, one boy spoke for the others and eloquently expressed their sympathy and regrets for the loss of Dan in Bali and said that whoever was chosen by us, the others would be proud that someone from their school was on the scheme and representing Indonesia.
Thursday March 13th
Ministry of Security and Politics – Republic of Indonesia
The Minister, Susilo Yudojono, had previously endorsed the aims of ENCOMPASS and pledged his support. The Ministry’s main concern was that the ENCOMPASS voyagers are selected with the utmost care as the very last thing anyone wants is to ‘export terrorism’.
The Ministry regarded ENCOMPASS as a promising mission that has moved forward at an impressive pace and committed their full support for the Trust.
The Ministry regarded the following points as the ideal criteria in selecting the candidates.
- Real Indonesian Muslim programme
- Able to explain Islam in social interaction
- Agree that terrorism is the enemy of Islam which never protects such people
- Must be able to spread and share their experience and education to others upon their return.
The long term plan of building a Tall Ship was greatly supported although the programme must be kept separated from the Voyage and Eco-Adventure agenda.
Minister of National Education – Republic of Indonesia
I had to race back to the hotel at this stage to finish preparing the Press Packs and check on the technical ‘stuff’ for the press conference, so Alex went to meet the Minister of Education, Prof. Abdul Malik Fadjar with Heroe, Bina and Kuntoro.Again, welcomed warmly by the Minister with his senior civil servant.After explaining the scheme and receiving the Minister’s approval and official endorsement, he explained a little more of the education system in Indonesia. It transpired that in addition to the Islamic Boarding schools from which we are currently recruiting, there is a separate group of Maritime Islamic Boarding Schools drawing its students from the coastal fishing communities which are very separate from the farming and urban communities. There are under the administration of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and we would need to approach that Ministry to visit and recruit from these schools (a job for our next trip!).
In addition to his endorsement, the Minister offered practical help by providing hotel accommodation in Jakarta for the ‘voyagers’ on the night before they fly to join the ship.
The ENCOMPASS Press Conference – Le Meriden, Jakarta
It’s at times like these when we speak out to Dan and ask him what the #&%$ has he gotten us all into. Half an hour to go before an international press conference sponsored by Le Meridien, with the BBC, CNN, Reuters, FT, numerous Indonesian national press, camera men and photographers attending. There is a stage, a sofa and two arm chairs, microphones and a coffee table as the centre piece. Above the stage is a huge professional looking ENCOMPASS sign flanked by the AGADIPHA and Le Meridien logos – all created by the hotel’s PR creative team.There are rows of seats for the press, a screen with a projector and a computer link, and a luncheon buffet set up with drinks for the press, not only hungry for news.
As press conference virgins, our mouths are dry, our hearts are palpitating and our stomachs are churning. Alex is scribbling down last minute notes and testing his voice in a quiet corner, Heroe and Bina are pretty relaxed as usual, and I am quietly fretting about my own little part which is to introduce who Dan was, and still is – for us, and get the technical ‘stuff’ – presentation, film, photos – to work smoothly, seamlessly at the right time. The prior test run was perfect which boded well.
As the press filtered in picking up copies of the press release I had rushed to put together in record time a few hours before, a feeling of pride started to radiate as I looked around and realised what we have started, what Dan has inspired us to do<- what bright energy still flows from him, what ENCOMPASS holds for the future for so many youths and how people have been affected by ENCOMPASS and have come forward to help in so many ways, and are arriving now to listen and spread the news.
The press conference went very, very well. ENCOMPASS was introduced by the editor of Sinar Harapan, Aristides Katoppo, who we had met the previous day and who had helped us with the Press Release and by inviting the Indonesian Press and T.V. on our behalf. Alex and Heroe explained the aims and objectives in English and Bahasa, the press treated us kindly (at Alex’s request!), cameras whirred away, photographers clicked and flashed their way through rolls, and we were prepared for the questions. There was a sticky moment with the technical ‘stuff’ as the computer refused to show the STA film, threw a tantrum and crashed, but as pros we went on with the show.
Afterwards some of the press such as the BBC stayed behind for personal interviews – I thought this was my chance to get quoted by the Beeb, but before I could make my way, I was introduced to Indonesian Tatler and spent most of my time chatting to them! No photo was taken though – I might add for those who peruse society mags – although the likelihood of coming across Indonesian Tatler is pretty close to nil on British soil. Shame.
With the press conference over and done with Alex and I rushed up to extend our check out time in order to do some manic packing and final round up meeting with Heroe and Bina before dashing off to the airport. Although I was not there to witness it, apparently Alex was conducting a final meeting whilst taking his pre-flight shower – Heroe and Bina listening to his list of ‘things to do’ through the bathroom door whilst they sat on the hotel room sofa. Alex – he’s not one for wasting a single minute.That was the pace of the whole trip to Jakarta in fact.There wasn’t even a spare minute to take a dip in the pool or work out in the gym – or even the luxury neck massage.Honest.
We checked out and said our good-byes to Heroe and Bina who had been more than excellent and are now officially part of the ENCOMPASS team along with the invaluable help of Kuntoro and Nanang.
Exhausted, but excited by the success of the Jakarta trip Alex and I boarded our London bound flight – just <25 hours, 3 transits and 7 aeroplane meals to go.
London ~ Dubai ~ Columbo ~ Singapore ~ Jakarta
Posted Wednesday March 5, 2003
