Makassar street interviews

I love being interviewed by students. In Indonesia it's often English language students who need to practice their English. In Makassar the other week I had a couple of slightly different but very pleasant encounters.

The girls on the left were German language university students, hoping that I might be a German tourist. It tends to be Europeans who get to explore the more interesting bits of Indonesia, after all. Australians mostly only know Bali. Anyway, I happen to be half fluent in simple German, and was able to comply with their request, much to their delight. The girl on the left filmed the proceedings, and the one on the right interrogated me in German, about my travels, and my thoughts about Makassar and Indonesia. I was a bit surprised to discover that my German came more naturally to me than my Indonesian has been coming lately. I used to be a bit proud of my Indonesian, but not so much recently!

The couple on the right, who holed me up on the waterfront, were international relations students. The chap on the left did the interviewing, while his accomplice filmed. They were doing an assignment on tourism and how to promote Makassar as a tourist destination. His English was impressive, though we got a bit hung up on the word 'halal'. He wanted to know about my understanding of halal in relation to tourism. I realised eventually that he wasn't meaning it in the sense of religiously approved food preparation. He actually wanted to know whether tourist facilities were clean and appropriate for foreigners, and what should be changed to make the place more attractive to us.

I replied to the effect that Makassar had lots to offer and attract the western tourist. Mostly it just needed to advertise the fact. Most westerners knew nothing about Sulawesi. I also told him that the public transport system was all a bit of a mystery, and could benefit greatly by being simplified and rationalised along the lines of what I'd seen in Jakarta and Jogjakarta.