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The Work Behind a Familiar Voice

5 min readOct 11, 2026

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Michael Runtuwene leading a voice-over masterclass in Jakarta, June 2025. (Special Photo)

Not long ago, I found myself re-reading an essay I wrote here in 2024. In that piece, I had recounted my conversations with Michael Runtuwene over coffee at a cafe in downtown Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

At the time, I knew him as a dedicated broadcaster who helped establish MS Radio FM and whose voice had managed to breach geographic boundaries to reach national television networks.

I had written that original essay with a sense of localized admiration — celebrating a regional talent who made it onto a larger stage.

However, as I revisited those paragraphs, I realized how much time had passed and how much further Michael had traveled since.

Looking at his career today, Michael is no longer simply a voice-over artist expanding his personal repertoire.

He has stepped into the role of a mentor, a community leader, and a catalyst for…

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Late-starting writer. Full-time grandfather. Notes from the space between. Writing what my grandchildren teach me, between gardening and long walks.

Pen With Paper
Pen With Paper

Published in Pen With Paper

‘We Elevate Your Stories’– Amplifying new voices, celebrating creativity, and ensuring your best work shines. We’re a family of readers and writers, supporting, uplifting, and helping each other’s words make a real impact. Welcome to your writing home!