Wonderful Indonesia

By Kim Cramer

Wonderful Indonesia — the country where my roots lie. Where my parents grew up until, at the ages of 10 and 12, they moved to the Netherlands by boat. An incredible journey, especially seen from a modern perspective. Without ever having travelled beyond Java, without any knowledge of their new home country from social media, both families — my father's and my mother's, each with the youngest children in tow — were forced to embark on an adventure.

With 5 and 11 children respectively, my grandparents left their beloved homeland behind after the war to settle in cold Netherlands.

My first holiday to Indonesia was my mother's first time back after 63 years. And how at home we felt. Although our roots are in Java and have nothing to do with Bali, that island too has captured our hearts. How wonderful that BR-ND gets to work on the branding of Bali! Our most recent work trip was truly special.

It started with a phone call from Alexander on the evening before departure. His passport didn't meet the requirement of six months' validity after leaving Indonesia. A new passport had to be ordered on Monday morning, meaning he could only arrive in Bali at the earliest on Wednesday evening.

Alexander, who has lived in Indonesia and speaks fluent Bahasa, was therefore not there to interpret for me during the first few business meetings… Most government officials and business people speak perfectly good English, but during the official large meeting in which I had a role as 'the branding expert from Europe', the working language was Bahasa Indonesia.

Fortunately I could follow the content of the presentations reasonably well because the branding terminology was in English, but during the open discussion I sometimes had to guess what exactly was being said. And it was rather the intention that 'Dr. Cramer' would contribute to that discussion!

Instructive, and actually quite fun, to be reliant on body language and intonation. And fortunately I had our partner Ermil from Eftelima to whisper bits of information to me here and there.

The meeting, incidentally, started with an elaborate rijsttafel — and before the first presentation began, with the singing of both the national anthem and the 'Wonderful Indonesia' song, one of the expressions of the Indonesia promotional campaign.

Ermil took me — and after his arrival, Alexander too — out to the best restaurants and the hippest clubs. I went from one surprise to the next, because despite three previous visits to Bali, I had certainly not yet experienced everything.

A mixed feeling, though — because the beauty and purity of Bali, the philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, must not be overwhelmed by Ibiza-style tourist attractions.

That was also the key difference between destination Bali and the other nine destinations that the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism has designated as focus areas: Bali does not need larger tourist flows. On the contrary — before long, Bali may simply not be able to handle the volume it already has.

Let Bali as a draw remain a gateway to the rest of Indonesia. As well as an example to the world of how to live in harmony with one another, with nature, and with spirituality.

A quota for Bali? It's not even such a crazy idea. But it requires a very different branding approach than tourism sales. That we get to think about this — together with local agencies and communities — feels like a privilege. I give a little something back to the beautiful country that brought forth my parents.

And although I sometimes can't quite believe they didn't stay in the tropics, where life seems so much more mindful, they did rather wonderfully meet each other in cold The Hague. How fortunate!

• Kim Cramer