PROTECTING MARINE ECOSYSTEMS IS KEY TO OUR PROSPERITY
I met Max Ammer on Kri Island. Originally came from the Netherlands, he is known as the pioneer of scuba diving in Rajaampat. Max first came to Indonesia to find World War II relics in Daruba, South Morotai. He was inspired by the story he heard from the landlord of his Harley Davidson restoration shop in the Netherlands.
“I have a friend, a landlord in the Netherlands who was based in Morotai before and after the war. Daruba was the location in which General MacArthur was based before he went to the Philippines,” Max began his story. He told Max that by the end of the war, a lot of equipment were destroyed—over a hundred new Willys Jeeps were bulldozed.
Passionate about history, Max came to Rajaampat in 1989. Over the years, he discovered many valuable objects, one of them being the wreck of an aircraft flown by a United States pilot, Charles O'Sullivan. His learned how to dive when he was in the special forces unit of the Royal Netherlands Army. “I first came here to look for plane wrecks. I knew nothing about fish or corals. Even I destroyed parts of a coral reef to find a plane wreck. But soon I fell in love with nature and the people here,” Max recalled.
He felt a strong connection with the people of Rajaampat Max realized that he was being selfish. He wanted to do something to make it up to them, and so he built a resort.
At first, Max recruited a bomb fisherman. When they first met on Wai Island, the fisherman brought two turtles. Max bought the turtles and offered him to work as a dive guide so he wouldn’t have to catch any more turtles. Some of the other recruits were former illegal loggers and fishermen who used potassium to catch fish.
Max took me around his place. He showed me a panel of United States' P-47 aircraft, used during World War II. Max also showed me the catamaran and the helicopter he built himself. “I want people to succeed. I want to help people learn something,” he emphasized. He also taught people how to build ships. “In the end they could do it themselves. They replicated the ship and built a shipbuilding business,” Max said.
Max believed that no one would want to do something bad if they had a choice. Since his father and mother were born in Indonesia, it was easy for Max to interact with the local community.
I was curious, how Max felt about his nickname “scuba diving pioneer in Rajaampat”. He told me it didn’t really matter. To him the nickname may add commercial value, but nothing more. He prefers being known as the person who recognized the local value of Rajaampat. He may be the first person in the tourism industry to ever dive there, but he was most proud to be the person who understood its local value.
“We build traditional buildings. When you go to Papua, you want to see Papua, not Java or Bali. I wasn’t going to build windmills just because I’m Dutch. That would be stupid. Tourism is about authenticity, about showcasing how the local community lives,” he said. The beauty of Kri Island has moved him, spiritually. He felt blessed and lucky to be living in such a enchanting place.
We spent the evening with fresh drinks at his restaurant, mostly our conversation revolved around God and His blessings. And since Max seemed to see his life around the concept, I asked him: “What does blessing mean to you, Max?” He told me it was a tough question. “If you’re healthy, that’s a blessing. But the greatest blessing is your relationship with God. I feel blessed and when I look at you, I can see that you are too. But not many people realize that.”