Norman conquest

I thought this last week would drag, but actually it has flown by and I’ve kept myself really busy to pass the time.

It has been disrupted by having to spend two nights sleeping in the aula as my room was finally renovated. At least I got to spend the last five nights in what is now the best suite in the block.

The presence of the Australian ABC Four Corners documentary team has also been a welcome distraction — at times I felt like I was part of it, and was actually working — and it will be interesting to see what they come up with when the story airs in about a month.

Everyone knows I’m going, of course, but I have been extra careful not to have conversations with phrases such as “this time next week I’ll be …”.

I can’t wait to get out, but a little bit of me will stay behind — some left on purpose, and some sucked out.

I don’t envy the ABC crew when it comes to editing their footage as they have hours of video to sift through. What started as a half-hour “Day in the life of Kerobokan” could now grow into two one-hour specials, with one focusing on the prison and the other on the Aussies Matthew Norman and Ci Yi, the only members of the infamous Bali Nine left here.

I thought the crew very professional and good company, and it is obvious to me they are taking the opportunity and responsibility seriously.

It would be very easy, and tempting, to do a sensational piece on this place, but an ill-judged 20 second clip or sound bite could have repercussions for prisoners in here that last for life, literally. It would also jeopardize the chance of any other journalists being allowed to film inside.

A Day in the Life won’t show the rampant drug use or flagrant disregard for prison regulations that occur, but will, I think, give an otherwise accurate picture of what life here is like. Certainly from the interview I gave, I think it will be easy to read between the lines.

But I think the stories of Matty and Ci Yi will resonate deeply and hope they have a profound impact on their futures.

Matty and South African Brett Savage became my two best friends in here, and they are probably closest to each other. I’ll write more about Brett soon.

I’ve said it before, but Matty is an extraordinary bloke. Arrested at 17 — he was doing it to make money to buy a car — he has been a model prisoner in the years he’s been here. Even though he is young enough to be my son, he has been an inspiration.

He was originally given 20 years, but when he appealed was sentenced to death. None of us can imagine how that
must have felt.

Five years into his sentence a final appeal earned him a reprieve from execution. Instead he must serve life in jail.

Matt met and married a lovely Indonesian girl who volunteered for the prison’s church group, and while conjugal visits are very rare, they have a daughter.

Last month, as we were sitting and waiting for our usual afternoon ice delivery, he looked a bit distracted and I asked what was wrong.

“It was my daughter’s sixth birthday today and I finally had to have THAT conversation,” he said.

“We’ve always led her to believe that daddy worked here, that his job was too important for him to leave, but we’ve begun to suspect that she knows the truth.”

“And how did it go,” I asked.

“She said ‘did daddy do a bad thing? Well I hope you learnt a lesson and you won’t do it again’.”

I almost burst into tears.

There is still a portion of Australian society — and the attitude is certainly not uncommon in other countries — that think Matty and Ci Yi knew what they were doing (they did) and so deserve their fate. I’m certain this documentary will make them think again.

Of course there will be many who say they are just putting it on for the cameras, but bear in mind that they never sought this publicity — in fact they have largely shunned all contact with journalists for years.

The only thing they have left to themselves is their thoughts and their privacy, and the latter doesn’t amount to much in jail. After this they won’t even have that.

You could tell the ABC journos were moved by the interviews they did with the two lads. The cameramen admitted at times they had to look away from their subject, and the presenter was also deeply affected.

When it came for them to leave last Friday, I could tell the story was one they’d never forget and there were a few tears at the prison gate.

They had the decency to make contact afterwards to ask me to keep an eye on them, knowing the story and my departure was a lot to take in.

It’s perhaps easy to say because my release is now just 24 hours away and it could never happen anyway, but I can honestly say that if Matty could be given a month of freedom in exchange for me staying behind for an extra month, I would do it in an instant.

The bugger better come back though…