BALIKPAPAN'S "COMMANDER KELAPA" ISAAC ALLEN CUTS BLUES RECORD

Yong Soo Heong

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- When Isaac Allen moved from upstate New York to
Balikpapan, Indonesia as a seven-year kid some 16 years ago, he found that he
was famously known as "Commander Kelapa" because of his penchant for climbing
coconut trees!

Today, this twenty-something "Commander Kelapa", who used to roam the forests of
Borneo, has come of age as he has brushed aside many painful personal
experiences and put his singing and music lessons to good use by recording a
blues and jazz album.

"I used to climb anyone’s trees (in Balikpapan), regardless of whose tree it
belonged …no harm was done, but I definitely developed a name as a coconut
snatcher," said the 23 year-old Pennsylvania-born singer in an email interview
with Bernama.

Allen, who subsequently moved from Borneo to Ampang in Kuala Lumpur, has just
found out what he wants to do at this stage of his life: capitalising on the
rigours and experience of his piano, violin singing practices to cut a record
entitled, "Don't Smoke".

"Don't Smoke" is a collection of 11 self-penned blues and jazz tracks on Horizon
Records, which reflect the mural of life that Allen has gone through. It also
includes a sardonic title," Bernie Made Off", which takes a swipe on disgraced
American investment banker Bernie Madoff who made off with billions of dollars
by milking unsuspecting investors with his investments scams.

Allen attributes his latest achievement to what he experienced during his
formative years in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore as a young boy while
following his doctor father who worked for an oil company in the region. His
parents still stay in Singapore.

To show his appreciation for Indonesians and Malaysians, Allen plans to donate
35 per cent of his receipts from the album sales to the rescue and humanitarian
efforts of Palang Merah Indonesia (PMI) and the Malaysian Red Crescent Society
(MRCS).

Derek Marker, special projects co-ordinator at Horizon Records who has been
helping Allen, said from the US$5.75 that he receives for each record sold at
US$9.99 from the iTunes or Amazon MP3 downloads from his website,
www.mrisaacallen.com, US$2 would go to PMI and MRCS, adding that the money would
be particularly useful for the rescue efforts at Mount Merapi in Central Java.

"This particular album really results from many years of wandering. As rich and
positive as my experience was in Indonesia and Malaysia, there were also
struggles, and as I matured, and moved on to America -- I did so ungracefully
and with some troubled times," said the singer, who did not elaborate.

He added,"This album reflects people I have come to know during those hard times
- down and out persons, sadness, even despair. This side in life does exist and
at this point in my life, I felt compelled to depict it. I believe that part of
exposing a secret is shining light on it."

When he stayed in Malaysia between 1997 and 1999, he attended the
International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) before he left for Singapore to attend
the Singapore American School (SAS).

While in Ampang, he made more friends among the caddies at the nearby Kelab
Darul Ehsan (KDE) than from school, and visited their kampungs during the school
holidays.

But it appears that his stay in Indonesia had the most lasting impression on
him. "When living in Balikpapan (in Eastern Kalimantan), I attended Pasir Ridge
International School (PRIS), most of the time, but for one year I also attended
a local Indonesian school, YBBSU ,in Jalan Telagasari.

"I was the only "buleh" (Indonesian slang for white guy) in a uniform back then
in Balikpapan. I asked to do this and my main school (PRIS) supported this. I
was about nine, I thought that I would become better in Bahasa Indonesia (by
going to YBBSU) and I wanted to have the experience."

Allen said although he now lives in America full time, "I still very much
consider myself an Indonesian/Malaysian to a certain extent. My most formative
years were spent in those countries with those people. Where you grow up will
most always be where you remember at your deepest point to be home. In my heart,
my home is in Indonesia and Malaysia."

"Kok tinggal di Amerika selama hidup? Hati saya tetap di Indonesia dan Malaysia.
Bagi saya, Asia Tenggara masih seperti tempat asal saya. Tentu saja tidak secara
harfiah tetapi dalam pikiran dan perasaan masih begitu," he wrote in Bahasa
Indoensia ("Why stay in America for life? My heart is still in Indonesia and
Malaysia. For me, South East Asia is still like my hometown. Of course, not
literally, but in my thoughts and feelings.")

Even as a child, he had a lot of affinity for the people in this region. When he
ran a frozen popsicle business in Balikpapan, he had two prices for his
customers -- a higher rate for foreigners, a lower one for the locals!

Did he have a local girlfriend back then? "Pasti! ("Definitely!"), " said Allen.

"My first love was an Indonesia girl, Yanti. I believe I was about eight and she
was 10 or so. We used to catch small shrimps in the drains in the kampung. Or, I
should say, she caught the shrimps and I climbed the coconut trees for a picnic.
Life was beautiful back then. I long for simpler times of youth, but I guess who
doesn’t?," he said.

Back then, Allen said he was the only expat kid who smoked the "234 Dji Sam Soe"
clove cigarettes and spent a lot of time in the kampungs. "People used to joke
-- "Buleh Masuk Kampung"-- it was a title from an old TV show in Indonesia. I
haven't been back to Balikpapan in years, but my dad says when he goes, everyone
from the office workers to the maintainence workers ask after me," he said.

Recounting his childhood in Balikpapan, he said: "When I was a child we at times
travelled far up the Makaham river in Kalimantan Timur. I guess that truly is
where I want to be. Genuinely, I plan on returning to the inner Borneo I once
knew. Folks may laugh, but actually it is a goal of mine. I want to go back to a
place where technology has not changed everything."

What about his favourite food? "Oh, how I have missed lontong. And just a simple
good nasi goreng. It sounds silly, but in the United States, even at a Malay or
Indonesian restaurant, the nasi goreng isn’t the same," he said, adding that the
American rice may have changed the taste.

Allen, who also went on to teach English as a volunteer in Singaraja, Bali,
during his late teens and drove an "ojek" (motorcycle taxi) to help foreigners
get around the resort island, still remembers a lot of Indonesian or Malay words
although he may be a little rusty from lack of use.

He recalls,"Akan tetapi, pada saat ini kemampuan saya berbahasa
Melayu/Indonesia tidak seperti dulu. (However, at this moment my ability to speak
Malay/Indonesian is not like before").

He went on to say:"Tak bisa dijelaskan rasa senang yang saya alami kalau kembali
ke Indonesia atau Malaysia, kalau menemukan bau kretek yang paling enak, kalau
lihat Bahasa Indonesia atau Melayu yang ada di pinggir jalan dan mendengar
bahasa itu...yah, begitu...seperti pulang rumah. (There is this inexplicable joy
that I experienced whenever I return to Indonesia or Malaysia, if I find the
most fragrant aroma of clove cigarettes, if I can see Indonesian or Malay words
on the side of the road and listen to the language being spoken... well...it's
like coming home.)

Allen, who is planning to collaborate with Indonesian and Malaysian
musicians and artistes in the future, is now working on a music video set for
release in South East Asia by January and it will be in Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa
Malaysia with gamelan music included as well.

Asked why did he choose "Don't Smoke" as the album’s title, he said the title
"is symbolic for what I was told not to do, but then ended up doing: smoking."

He said the album would have been different if he had followed the advice of his
mother and "so many other good directions which I threw out the window. "

"Unfortunately, I have to admit, there was a point in life when I realised I was
turning into someone I didn’t want to be.

"I had started down the wrong path. I had gone into rougher times, but instead
of falling completely to them, I made it out to the other side to tell the tale.
I feel so blessed to be where I am in life now. I live a very clean life these
days. I don’t even drink alcohol anymore.

"Those who have had problems in the past, but rose above them, have an even
greater debt to the world to do right. I feel it is my duty to try to help
others in the same way that others at one point had aided me. South East Asia
taught me this. In America, society favours individual achievement most. I feel
that in Asia, community and group achievement is paramount."

Why the prefix "Mr" to his name on the album cover? "The name Mr. Isaac Allen
came from around the studio of Horizon Records. We have a lot of old blues
legends and performers, and they always refer to each other as Doctor, Reverend,
etc. It is a compliment in the American blues world.

"Somehow, a lot of the blues players started calling me Doctor Allen. One day,
one of the oldest players joked that I was too young to called Doctor. Then
someone from a group of blues performers hanging around the studio said, "I know
he’s Mr. Isaac Allen." I took that "demotion" in stride, and the name stuck,"
said the one-time Commander Kelapa, who now lives in Connecticut.
-– BERNAMA