Indonesian Gold

by Kerry B. Collison

Collison taps his intimate knowledge of Indonesia and Southeast Asia to deliver an outstanding novel about the BRE-X gold scandal, in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0957870930
• ISBN13: 9780957870932
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Sid Harta Publishers
• Length: 626 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Gold, Fraud, Intrigue and Corruption Make for Good Reading

I think that most will enjoy the book although the many unnecessary and misplaced commas are grating after a while. Collison has done a good job of turning a real drama into good fiction. For those of us that live there and are familiar with all the main players in the Bre-X scandal, it was particularly interesting to see how he developed the charachters in his novel with the real people that I personally know. Collison only names one of the several main players in the the Postcript to the novel -- Mike DeGuzman. There was much speculation among the Jakarta mining industry as to whether he jumped or was pushed out of the helicopter or if indeed it was even him. He certainly was not the mastermind behind the fraud. The book does place a lot of emphasis on the displacement of Dayaks from sacred ground by both mining and timber interests. In the case of Bre-X and other real mining operations, the Dayaks have been panning gold for a long time before any western companies showed up on the scene and many displacements are displacements of Dayaks from traditional mining areas. The real villains are the legal and illegal timber companies in the post-Suharto era that clear-cut vast areas of forest land. I'd agree with others that this is Collison's best novel to date.

A fantastic read by an Asian expert!

In his most ambitious novel to date, Kerry Collison again taps his intimate knowledge of Indonesia and Southeast Asia to deliver an outstanding novel about the BRE-X gold scandal that was in the headlines a few years ago. Intrigue, double-dealing, strong characters, high finance, environmental devestation, head-hunting; what more could you ask for?As always, Collison renders an authoritative and sympathetic vision of the Indonesian people, while taking Indonesia's rulers to task for their greed, corruption, and amorality. This is where his long experience in the country pays off because he knows Indonesia and its people as well as any author, and he is the only person to write about this multi-ethnic collage from the standpoint of direct knowledge.Every one of Collison's books is a gripping read; this is simply his best to date. To give you an idea of how good it was, consider this - I read all 600+ pages in three sittings because I just couldn't put it down.

The gold scam that stunned the world

"Indonesian Gold"The inspiration for this novel was based on events surrounding the infamous, billion-dollar BRE-X gold fraud, and the determined few who recklessly destroyed so many lives and severely impacted on local cultures with their all-consuming quest for gold, in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.When Canadian miner, Borneo Gold Corporation announces the discovery of gold reserves in excess of twenty million ounces, pundits drive the worthless stock to giddying heights as the rich and powerful in three countries move to secure control over the deposit. Traditional Dayak (Borneo head-hunters) are forced off traditional lands, precipitating ethnic blood feuds as exploration practices destroy pristine forests and pollute the environment."Indonesian Gold" brings a depth of description to the Borneo tribes who revert to their head-hunting ways as they resist the flood of Moslem migrants from the poorer, Indonesian islands, and reveals the extent of devastation visited upon indigenous peoples by multinational, mining companies.