ONE afternoon in the village of Jaya Bakti in Banggai, Central Sulawesi. Dozens of children were playing soccer on the beach. At one corner several bare-chested young men were betting on a lottery. The wind carried an aroma of salted fish being dried on rooftops in the fishing village.

Someone was singing a pantun. "Ikan balanak jumps forward, caught in a fish trap. If only Ratna would raise her head a bit, indeed I would be attracted,