Gary Dean - Posts

Where is my compassion?

 – Reflections 14 years after the Asian Tsunami

In 2004 and 2005, in addition to running my consultancy firm, I also moonlighted – quite literally – as a copy editor at The Jakarta Post. This meant my work day averaged 16 hours at that time. I totally didn’t need this additional workload, but it was an opportunity to learn more about Indonesia by being at the centre of Indonesia’s only English-language media outlet. Being affiliated with Indonesia’s largest newspaper, Kompas, meant that great volumes of news and information flowed constantly through the newsrooms, with unending discussion and banter about what was going on at any moment. This included a lot of information that could never be published for various reasons. On the 26th of December 2004 – 14 years ago today – a massive earthquake hit western Indonesia. I was asked to come into the newsroom before my scheduled time because it was surmised that there wer

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