In search of Bahasa Indonesia and Eric Lundqvist...

In search of Bahasa Indonesia and Eric Lundqvist...

More and more Swedes are discovering Indonesia. Some of them are going to Bali as charter tourists and some are traveling around all parts of the country as backpackers.

And then there are some that decide to live here for a longer period. One example is Lennart Hildingsson, a 43 year old journalist from Halmstad, a small city in the south-western parts of Sweden, who, together with his wife Emilie Wellfelt (a journalist and photographer) and their four year old son Josef, left Sweden in August last year and headed for Yogyakarta.

Lennart, what made you and your family decide to settle down in Yogyakarta for a year?

Well, my wife and I have been interested in Indonesia for several years and have been traveling a lot here. So, after some consideration we decided to go to Indonesia to study Bahasa Indonesia.

What could be a better idea than to study the language where it is spoken? We also wanted to further enhance our knowledge of the country and its people. I think that sometimes the media in Sweden doesn't really have sufficient knowledge about the developments in Indonesia. I hope that when I go back to Sweden can contribute, as a journalist, to a clearer and broader picture of Indonesia.

How have things been going so far?

It's been really good. We are both studying Bahasa Indonesia at the Gadjah Mada University and in addition to that we are also studying the language a couple of hours a week at a private school.

Josef spends three days a week at an Indonesian nursery school, so after 10 months in Indonesia he speaks Bahasa Indonesia quite well. We also have got to know a lot of Indonesians here, both from the university and from the neighborhood where we live. Besides the studying and the socializing with new friends, I also try to get some time to search for information about Eric Lundqvist.

Excuse me for interrupting here ... Eric who?

Eric Lundqvist. He was a Swedish forester and writer who lived in Indonesia from the 1930's until the beginning of the 1960's.

He worked and traveled in various parts of Indonesia. During his last years in Indonesia he worked as a professor of forestry in Bogor.

He then went to work in India for a couple of years. He never returned to Indonesia since he was declared persona non grata by the Soeharto regime.

He published, from the end of 1930 until the last years of his life, numerous books, both fictional and non-fictional, about Indonesia. Through his writing he became a quite well-known chronicler of Indonesia and its people, in Sweden. He died in 1978 in Sweden.

I am trying to conduct research about his life and work here in Indonesia. Hopefully this will result in a biography of him. I would, therefore, like to get in contact with people here who have met Eric Lundqvist through work or in other contexts. Anyone who wants to contact me in this matter can do so by sending me an email to: lennart.hildingsson@hallandsposten.se

Finally, what images of Indonesia will you bring back home to Sweden?

We have got to know a lot of people and have become good friends with them here in Indonesia. Of course, it will be hard to leave all of our new acquaintances.

I have also experienced the developments in the Indonesian society since coming here in August and these experiences will probably be very constructive for me in my work as a journalist. Once back in Sweden I will really miss the positive curiosity and the care that many people here show toward each other and also toward new people.

I feel, similar to what Eric Lundqvist expressed in his writing, that Swedes really could learn from Indonesians in this, as well as other, aspects.