Mentawai Islands Siberut: languages and catchments Land Use Map Mentawai A sjhort segment from the story Accustomed as I was to the wide Mahakam River, journeying up the Rereiket River from Muara Siberut to Rokdok village was more like travelling up a mining sluice. It was a raging turbid torrent of sediments and tree trunks … Continue reading Siberut and the Simple Life
Author: maximos62
Author, teacher, researcher, maintaining a strong interest in Augmented Reality, e-learning, Asian studies, Australia and restitution of cultural property. Latest book "Beyond borders: conversations across boundaries"
A little project I completed while suffering from Covid19
Readings for January 2022
Kenyah Dayak grandmother from Rukun Damai. Mahakam River, East Kalimantan 1989. (Go directly to the readings for February) During this time of pandemic many people have been isolated, confronting numerous problems. Some have lost loved ones, or like me were separated from them by great distances, others endured the challenge of separation imposed by state … Continue reading Readings for January 2022
‘Going Down’ & ‘Garam Masala’
My apartment block in Singapore The spice seller In my latest book Beyond Borders: conversations across boundaries, there is a suite three stories about Timor L’Este. Some elements in these stories are a little confronting. In the interests of relieving the tension for readers so once readers I decided to use a light tone for … Continue reading ‘Going Down’ & ‘Garam Masala’
“Can you Help Me?” – A story
Background to the story This story was inspired by a recent visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and an encounter with a stranger. Descending from the observation deck of the Petronas Twin Towers, I was ambling around the central business district. Without any particular destination in mind, except a vague notion that I’d like to find … Continue reading “Can you Help Me?” – A story
Memories of Fires Past
A peatland fire My next zoom reading is from my story Memories of Fires Past. This story was inspired by three events. An encounter with the fires of 2003 that surrounded and enveloped part of Australia's capital city, Canberra. Travelling to Riau Province, Indonesia with a group of people from the Singapore based environmental group … Continue reading Memories of Fires Past
Ancient Belonging Places
The title of this story was inspired by Kathryn, a friend and colleague, a Kaanju/Birri woman from Queensland, responding to my Facebook post. The idea for the story came from this encounter with birds in flight. https://videopress.com/v/3c210Frr?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&posterUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fvideos.files.wordpress.com%2F3c210Frr%2Fcorellas-in-flight_mp4_std.original.jpg&preloadContent=metadata Ancient Belonging Places - the story Sulphur crested cockatoos massed above the Canary Island Palms and spreading Moreton … Continue reading Ancient Belonging Places
Unravelling Crossie’s Past
This story is from my latest book, Beyond Borders: conversations across boundaries. The book is a multimedia work, first published on the Apple Books platform but after numerous unsuccessful attempts at revising the book, I've published on Google Play. This is a most functional platform by comparison. The link above will open a sample of … Continue reading Unravelling Crossie’s Past
A Prelude to War
This is the text of my story Prelude to War, that I will read next Monday 8 November. A Prelude to War Thang sent a link via Messenger to a YouTube video along with a message.“Somewhere on this Danish refugee boat which saved us from the damaged Truong Xuan is my family,” he explained. “We … Continue reading A Prelude to War
When a Prime Minister Lies
For many of us the persistent spin used by Australia's Prime Minister has become so commonplace that we have stopped listening to him. Of course on the world stage the leaders of other countries do not have such a luxury. French President Emmanuel Macron is captured here reacting to Prime Minister Morrison's approach to the … Continue reading When a Prime Minister Lies
Russell Darnley Blog 
