Bengkulu province (or Bencoolen to those of you familiar with Singapore) is trapped between the sea and mountains in a narrow strip of land, too small for large-scale plantations and lacking the mineral wealth of much of the rest of the island.  It's only significant natural resource is high-quality coal. Because the province lacks a workable port, however, the coal remains largely untapped.  Bengkulu was not always a Sumatran backwater, however. It was once known as Bencoolen, the place where a young Stamford Raffles (of Singapore fame) once served as regent.  While he was there, so the story goes, he discovered the world's largest flower which he named Rafflesia Arnoldii.  After hearing this story from the Governor, Sean replied that there is no doubt that

hundreds of local people knew full well about the bloom before they pointed it out to Raffles.  One way to market the province, he said, would be to start a movement to rename the flower Bengkuluesia, after the province where it is found and after the people who REALLY discovered it. Sure enough, the front page headline on the next morning's paper was "U.S. Consul suggests renaming the Rafflesia the Bengkuluesia".  Sean's reason for visiting the province was to speak about higher education in the U.S. at a national conference on higher education.