Traveller, musician, educator and author of two books on Borneo talks about life in Indonesia, his epic journey across the island and other past and future adventures.
Australian Mark Heyward is an unlikely travel writer and a jumble of contradictions. Generally reserved in nature, he is passionate when talking about Indonesia. Although he lived over 20 years in the country and holds a PhD based on research in Indonesia, it can be very critical of what he sees as flaws in the national psyche. The man is almost Indonesia, while remaining proud of its roots in Tasmania. He works as an international consultant in education, but is also a rogue musician and composer. Not exactly bookish, he is an avid reader and an accomplished author of two books on Indonesia.
Crazy Little Heaven (Transit Lounge Publishing 2013) is a lyrical record of Mark trip in Kalimantan, Indonesia three quarters lower part of the island of Borneo. But the book is much more than a travel book. The story of his expedition coalescence with more travel author in the complex heart of Indonesia. Coffee table book Looking Borneo (Creatavision Publishing 2014) is a remarkable collaboration, combining the already published writings Mark, stunning photographs of David Metcalf and original artwork by fellow Tasmanian Khan Wilson.
In prose and pictures, Looking Borneo is a celebration of the island of Borneo, its forests and its inhabitants. At the same time, it is a way to preserve this very special place. Nestled inside of the back cover is a copy of Mark CD, entitled Crazy Little Heaven , with 14 songs about life and love in Indonesia. Wearing a t-shirt and jeans, a shock of gray hair out-of-control, heavy-rimmed glasses and a wry smile, Mark recently spoke to me about writing, music, life and travel in Indonesia.
Well, lucky I guess. I was a school principal in Tasmania when the chance came to work in a small school in a mining town in East Kalimantan in 1992. I came to Indonesia the first time in search of adventure. Like many others, I am struck by what I saw and felt. I never really went home again.
What was your field of study in Kalimantan?
I studied how people learn about the culture in intercultural mining town. I noticed that some people seem to move easily between cultures, while others struggle. Some seem to understand the differences and intuitively know how to deal with them. Others complain about the apparent lack of reason and incompetence of the "other."
My question was how do some children and adults can learn to succeed in an intercultural context?
What skills, values, attitudes and identities that make the difference? And how international aid organization in school children can learn these skills, to become what I like to call "cross-culturally literate"? This was the basis of my doctoral research.
What keeps you in Indonesia?
It started as an adventure, but over time the things that were alien become normal. I learned the language. I learned the culture and the way things are done here. And before I realized what had happened, I was in love. A wedding, a new religion, a new career and ultimately a home and a family.
Why do you write?
Much of my professional life, my research involves writing. But I also like to write for fun. I am writing to myself. It is written on the life and writing on Indonesian culture, history, politics and my own spiritual and physical journeys in this country that I begin to understand it all. Writing is a way to control the experience. Such as paint or dance or architecture, writing is to make some sense of the chaos. This act of creation - make something out of nothing - is intoxicating. When I sit down to write, I never know what will finally appear on the page. I do not know what I think I wrote it down.
You are basically a travel writer, are you not?
A history of growth in understanding. Friendship, mateship, marriage and family. These are the things that motivate me. These are things that count. Travel is a way to tell this story.
And the music, where did that come from?
I grew up singing in a church choir and listening to the Beach Boys. My brother and I had a folk band. I write songs when I was a child. I still do. It's just another way to entertain me, to order things and to communicate something. My songs are ballads, stories, snapshots of life. I try to create an image with each song, something recognizable. There must be an emotional content. And I hope that the songs are entertaining. I had the chance to fall with a bunch of very talented musicians Lombok and Bandung. Together we made the CD. It may not be commercial, but it is genuine. The style? It was designated as "rock kampung".
What is the next project for Mark Heyward?
Well, I just keep putting one foot before the other. My wife and I are always making plans. They never quite worked. I plan to continue to consult recent years. It is important work - and it pays the bills. My two boys are in high school and it is a project, too. Finally, I would like to have more time to spend in Tasmania and Lombok. My wife has a beautiful ecological resort called The Studio on the heights of Senggigi. A perfect place for a writer.
So, can we expect another book?
I'm working on a book on traveling through the eastern islands of Indonesia. Nusa Tenggara is a fascinating area. I was living in Makassar for some years. I also lived in Flores. Lombok is now my base in Indonesia. And I made a number of trips on wooden schooners in the East. I write about it all. It is provisionally entitled "glass islands". But my first book took 10 years to write, so do not hold your breath!
Crazy Little Heaven and Looking Borneo are available Periplus (www. Periplus.com) and Ganesha bookstores (www.ganeshabooksbali.com).