Dateline, Bali

by Kate Donnellan

"So how DID it happen?" I ask Debe Campbell by email from sunny California. "How does a Texas-born American end up making a living by her pen in Paradise?" (I already know enough abouther international upbringing to realize that anyone with a background like Debe's -- born to the ex-pat life -- is more prone to adventure than the staid and stable among us. She had once been a student at the Jakarta International School, so Indonesia was already "home turf.")

"Actually, I inherited Kem Chicks World after it had a rocky start in its first two years. Jakarta's largest retailer to the ex-pat community, Kem Chicks, owns it, so you see where the magazine gets its name. It began as a simple give-away distributed in the store, but we built the free subscriber  mailing list up to 8,000+ through community group lists and a very successful monthly lucky draw. The prizes were trips to
one of Indonesia's 17,508 islands, so we picked up a lot of subscriptions that way.

"The magazine strives to be a cultural bridge and is intended as an extension of Kem Chick's original philosophy. When owners Bob and Sue Sadino started in business nearly thirty years ago, they would invite customers to sit round the kitchen table, drink coffee and chat, gleaning ideas for growth from casual conversation. That's when the store was just a one-room shop. Now it covers 1000 square meters and has a turnover of 3,000 customers daily, so obviously they've outgrown the kitchen-table method of doing business."

So from small beginnings grow big department stores‹and their media spin-offs. Even in Southeast Asia. "So what happened next?" I asked, ever  more curious about this colleague of mine living and working in Paradise. "Kem Chicks World tries to explain local culture and customs in terms ex-pats of all nationalities can understand. It emphasizes the overall beauty of  Indonesia, since many expatriates working in Jakarta rarely get beyond the capital  during their stay. It tries to make everyday life in a foreign country a  little easier, explain the unusual and build understanding, all the while entertaining and informing. Since taking over the publication nine years ago and supporting it with advertising, we expanded the product-base which generated additional funds and justified purchasing desktop publishing equipment. Thus, Andal Communications, a publishing services company, was born. Although I moved to Bali from Jakarta almost five years ago, I remain a consulting editor for the magazine and other Andal projects."

(Ever the geographical illiterate, I had to get out my atlas to figure out that the country of Indonesia is a long, string of islands spanning the width of the US and that Bali and Jakarta are not next door neighbors -- in  fact, they're more than 1000 kilometers apart. From her base in paradise -- nowhere near a big city -- Debe's writing life is as dependent on Information Technology as yours or mine.)

"Meanwhile, in March, 1999 under the auspices of the local government we launched a magazine here, Bali &Beyond. This 24-page tabloid is distributed free to tourists on Bali through star-rated hotel rooms. The magazine was launched with ZERO capital and has been a real management nightmare. However, it is the only publication officially endorsed by the provincial Department of Tourism. It is received positively by both its readers and the tourism industry; we print 40,000 copies monthly."

(Another advertising Golden Goose. I had it figured out: Debe was as much entrepreneur as she was editor.)

"Both publications are open to freelance contributions. Obviously, writers must have an accurate, in-depth knowledge of the entirely Indonesia- focused topics, and be up-to-date. As fast as things are changing in Indonesia -- politically and socially -- material and photos must be absolutely current. Unfortunately, economic factors make rewards for freelancers minimal. As a result, material for both magazines is largely generated by myself as editor and through relevant press releases."

(I recently learned the woes of currency exchange the hard way by selling an article in the Third World; writer beware of fluctuating dollar values when selling your material globally!)

"The only exception is generic material that's generally of interest to our readership. In the case of Bali &Beyond, the subject must be of interest to visitors to the island. For Kem Chicks World, topics include anything of interest to residents in the tropics, expatriate life in general, or something specifically aimed at the Indonesia-based reader.

"Other publications I edit and/or publish include a monthly newsletter to local public relations professionals in the tourism industry; a monthly electronic newsletter to worldwide travel media containing news and story-starters about Bali tourism; a monthly newsletter to members of Bali Skal Club, (an international, professional tourism industry organization); and a quarterly electronic newsletter to 1,200+ Asian-area Skal members in 33 clubs -- from Mauritius and Bahrain to Japan and Pakistan."

It all sounds rosy, but having lived and worked overseas myself for many years as a writer-cum-editor, I know there is always more to the story. Debe herself volunteered the dark side of paradise.

"Expatriate life is never easy but, after all, we choose it. Many ex-pats live and work overseas for the fat packages. I am on the local economy, which multiplies the challenges. Indonesia was an emerging nation until the "Asian Flu" struck. Its effects began in 1997 and continue to escalate. In the currency crash, we lost about eighty percent of our local currency holdings.

"But change -- bad or good -- breeds opportunity. It was in October last year that I started a tourism-oriented public relations business -­Travel Works -- with a local PR professional. We aimed to fill in the gap caused by the economic crisis since the local tourist industry could no longer afford international counsel. We are able to provide international caliber services at affordable, local rates.

"Censorship was another difficult issue until only recently. Throughout my stay in Indonesia I have worked as a travel-trade journalist for TravelNews Asia, Asian Hotelier, Travel Talk and Hotel & Motel Management magazines. I was careful to avoid political topics, and for a number of years chose to hold my working papers under Kem Chicks as a marketing director, rather than under the trade journals as a journalist. The press here always has been subject to scrutiny and censorship. Anything of offense, true or false, could land one in jail with no legal recourse. It is only since the fall of dictator and former president Soeharto on May 21,1998, that the press has found its voice. And it is rewarding to watch local colleagues discover the role of the press as watchdog."

The nature of her extensive business means Debe needs to communicate with free-lancers from all over the globe. "Email queries are the only way to go, in my book. Who has time to wait for mail and respond formally in kind? Faxes also are a time- and cost-consumer and often are returned with a scribbled reply, just because of the volume of paper that comes across the desk. And forget SASE's internationally -- our post office hardly knows what a business-reply envelope is, much less international reply coupons." (Her words are music to my ears. I have despised the SASE my entire writing life.)

Debe's advice to anyone with an eye to publishing in the English-language Asian market? "I think Asia remains an opportunity for the freelancer since the quality of locally-generated English copy is still pretty pathetic -- Singapore, the Philippines and perhaps Malaysia excluded. The downside is that the pay is abysmal, with the exception of Japan. But then, writing for publication there is also more competitive.

"I don't do what I do to become rich and famous, but because I fill a need and find it personally rewarding. I love writing but I don't get to do enough of the kind of writing I love -- which is out there in the village, struggling through an interview in a foreign tongue -- feeling, smelling, touching and tasting it all for myself and then trying to share the sensations from my perspective so that a reader can perceive the experience.

"I can't imagine starting out today as I did twelve years ago -- giving up a corporate PR job to set out to fulfil my dream of travel writing. It was exhausting then and I'm wearier now. Then, the global village was just being birthed. Communication and accessibility are so very different now. Yet, I can't imagine doing anything else -- unless it might be the luxury all writers dream of -- finding the time and resources to sit back and write that book!"

(Me, too! Especially if I could write it from under the shade of my own tropical palm...)

Find out more about Indonesia at:
http://www.expat.or.id/index.html
And look for Bali & Beyond online in the very near future. The site is currently under construction:
http://www.baliandbeyond.com

-- KD
©1999 Kate Donnellan