RACING ACROSS the scrubby interior of Bintan in a beat-up taxi, I almost feel like a fugitive on the run. My driver, Erizal (like many Indonesians, he goes by one name), swerves to overtake slow-moving trucks in the harsh midday sun, its rays refracted through a sizable crack running down the windshield’s left side. I eventually see that a chunk of the steering wheel is missing, perhaps eaten away by years of exposure to the salty sea air.
It’s a thrilling introduction to the largest island in the Riau Archipelago, and a reminder that we are on the very edge of Indonesia. Bintan might be synonymous with Bintan Resorts, a sprawling, master-planned enclave for weekending Singaporeans along the north shore, but that’s just part of the story. The 2,400-square-kilometer island…
