“Don’t die before you go to Banda Neira.”
This quote is often attributed to Sutan Sjahrir. At first, it sounds poetic, even romantic. But for those who have stood on its soil, watched Gunung Api rise from the Banda Sea, and felt the quiet weight of history carried in the wind, it feels less like poetry, and more like a calling.
In September 2025, a group of EO Leaders answered that call. They did not travel to Banda Neira for leisure or in pursuit of luxury and spectacle. They came seeking perspective on leadership, legacy, and responsibility. Over four days, the islands offered more than scenery. They offered perspective.
learning leadership from the house of exile
The journey itself required commitment. From Ambon, the leaders crossed the open sea for five to six hours by fast boat. In the days leading up to their departure, heavy rain and strong winds had canceled sailings. Banda Neira seemed almost selective about who it welcomed. Yet when the moment arrived, the sea softened. The crossing unfolded smoothly, almost symbolically, as if the islands had decided it was time.
Banda Neira is where silence once shaped revolution. Between 1935 and 1942, Sutan Sjahrir and Mohammad Hatta were exiled here. Removed from the center of power, they spent seven years in reflection and disciplined thought before returning to shape the future of Indonesia, Hatta as the nation’s first Vice President, Sjahrir as its first Prime Minister.
Inside Hatta’s exile house (Rumah Pengasingan Bung Hatta), the EO Leaders encountered simplicity. Wooden floors. Modest rooms. A study desk where Hatta once taught local children in afternoon classes. There was no grandeur, yet it was here, far from influence and recognition, that conviction deepened.
Standing in that quiet space, the leaders reflected on a fundamental truth: leadership is not defined by position, but by character. When titles disappear, what remains? When applause fades, what sustains purpose? Exile did not diminish great leaders. It refined them. In that stillness, the EO Leaders were reminded that clarity is often forged away from the spotlight.
But Banda Neira’s lessons on leadership are not confined to a single house. Beyond the walls of exile, the islands themselves tell a larger story: one of power, ambition, resilience, and the enduring impact of human decisions across centuries.
exploring the legacy of nutmeg and resilient communities
Long before oil or global markets, the world revolved around a small seed, nutmeg. For centuries, Banda was the only place on earth where nutmeg grew. Empires crossed oceans and waged wars for control of these islands. The Dutch, the British, the Portuguese, all sought dominance here.
Walking through the nutmeg gardens of Lonthoir Village, one of the oldest traditional villages in Banda, the leaders witnessed history rooted in soil. Here, farmers continue to cultivate trees that once shifted the course of global trade. They listened to stories carried across generations, stories not of conquest, but of resilience and continuity.
History in Banda Neira is not distant, It is lived. From colonial fortresses overlooking vast blue waters to old churches that still stand in quiet dignity, the islands hold layers of memory. Yet beyond the relics of empire lies something far more powerful: a community that continues to thrive with resilience and pride.
One leader described the experience as a moment frozen in time, a place where the past and present coexist without urgency. In Banda, there is space to think. Space to observe. Space to reassess.
The question naturally arose: What kind of legacy are we building today? What will endure long after our era passes?
Leadership, they realized, is not only about growth. It is about stewardship of people, culture, and legacy. And stewardship, they would soon discover, is not learned through observation alone. It is deepened through relationships, through entering the living rhythm of a place, not as outsiders, but as part of the community.
being welcomed into the living heart of banda
If history inspired reflection, community sparked transformation.
The EO Leaders were invited to witness Buka Kampung, a traditional ceremony that symbolically “reopens” the living space of a village. It is not about constructing buildings; it is about alignment. Seeking permission from ancestors, honoring nature, and inviting blessing before meaningful endeavors.
The ceremony was held as a gesture of gratitude for support extended toward renovating the traditional house in Kampung Adat Namasawar, restoring the rumah belang, a traditional war boat house, and improving the office and learning spaces of an elementary school in Pulau Neira.
At least 125 teachers and students now learn in more dignified conditions. Yet what made the moment profound was not the renovation itself. It was the acceptance. Within the sacred ritual, two of the leaders received honorary titles and were symbolically welcomed as people of Banda. Not as visitors, not as benefactors, but as part of the community. There is a profound difference between contributing to a place and being entrusted by it.
At that moment, leadership shifted from transaction to relationship. From impact measured in output to impact measured in trust. And with trust comes responsibility. The kind that does not end when a journey concludes, but continues long after the sea crossing home.
carrying forward a deeper sense of responsibility
The four days passed quickly, yet they felt expansive.
There were moments of lightness, snorkeling in the clear waters near Nailaka and Ay, sharing meals by the sea in Rhun, standing beneath the dramatic presence of Gunung Api. Laughter blended with reflection. But what the leaders carried home was not simply memory. It was a recalibration. They left Banda Neira with a renewed understanding that leadership is not about visibility alone, but about alignment. That contribution must be rooted in respect. That influence without humility is fragile.
Banda Neira does not transform you with spectacle. It works quietly, like exile once worked on great leaders. It removes excess and sharpens perspective. It reminds you that history is not something to admire from a distance. We are participating in it, through the choices we make, the communities we support, and the values we uphold.
Maybe that is why the old saying still lives on: “Don’t die before you go to Banda Neira.” Not just because it is beautiful. Not just because it is historic. But because somewhere between exile houses, nutmeg gardens, ancestral ceremonies, and open sea, you may rediscover purpose. And when you return, you may find that the journey did not just take you to Banda Neira. It brought you closer to the kind of leader the world quietly needs.
