He first heard about Bawah Reserve in 2010 when a group of investors was planning to develop an island resort in the Anambas. As a lover of pristine locations, he was immediately interested and asked to fly out to view Bawah. He was instantly smitten and shortly after, hedecided to invest in the project.

“Bawah speaks for itself. It is authentic and real. I have heard some people talk of the Galápagos Islands when they see Bawah, or an original Maldives. Surrounded by virgin jungle and pristine waters, Bawah Reserve is a synthesis of its natural environment, man-made buildings, and the more than 100 passionate staff that makes it very unique. Sim Boon Yang, our architect, did a great work of creating a resort that was inspired by the natural beauty of its surroundings. The tented safari villas and over-water villas are earthy and in harmony with the environment, using hand crafted materials. We did not try to be anything other than what we wanted to be!” told Chapman, who is behind ChapmanCG (chapmancg.com), a global HR search firm; and CVentures, a human resource venture fund based in Singapore.

According to him, the Bawah Anambas Foundation is a key part of the Bawah Reserve story, because there are also 55,000 residents in the Anambas, within a 30-40 mile circumference of Bawah, and they are one of the only foreign investors in operation.

“Inspired by Tim Hartnoll, the other investor, and now through the efforts of Jerry Winata, who runs the Foundation, we are making progress on stepping up the protection of the land and sea surrounding Bawah, as well as the Anambas region. The Bawah Anambas Foundation is a key part of the Bawah story,”explained the working farm’s owner near Auckland, Parihoa (parihoa.co.nz), which is also used as a transformative entrepreneurial retreat destination for Chapman’s global HR and business network.