The city had been transformed into an exciting metropolis due to the government's attractive foreign investment laws. Bars and night-clubs mushroomed supported by the American oil men with unlimited expense accounts. Massage parlours appeared everywhere, in many cases located directly behind male hairdressing salons to permit the customers discreet access. A new race track had been built. Casinos operated around the clock, as did many of the new and more popular night clubs such as the LCC, situated adjacent to the National Monument. The city fathers turned Jakarta into a rival for Bangkok and Macau.
The Governor, a Marine General, shoved Jakarta into the twentieth century with such gusto even his administration could not keep pace with the planning requirements such rapid development demanded. Roads were widened, bridges rebuilt, hotels appeared and all prospered.
Indonesia
had become the land of the new gold rush. The Japanese flocked into the country building textile mills and electronic factories. The Americans charged in with their drilling rigs and expertise carving out great sections of concession areas in the rich oil fields of the Java Sea. The Rupiah settled down and confidence was restored in the economy. Evidence of the military had all but disappeared from the streets.
Jalan Thamrin, Jakarta's main protocol thoroughfare, had been raised and then re-sealed, for a third time. Unfortunately, it still flooded regularly, creating chaos as the city traffic had grown at a much greater rate than road development.
The Australian Embassy stood dwarfed by its Japanese counterpart and the Hotel Indonesia, now surrounded by three other international rivals still managed to maintain high occupancy levels. Many major buildings were under construction to provide facilities for the continuing boom. Companies associated with the oil and gas industry increased the foreign population over three years by ten thousand families.
As the government had insisted that only foreign personnel with the required expertise be admitted, semi-skilled local labour was in considerable demand. Typists and receptionists received salaries five times that of a senior government employee and a night club hostess could easily double a Cabinet Minister's annual income in just a month. Or a week, should she be receptive to some âextra service' so often demanded by the lonely visitors.
Home owners with acceptable dwellings could receive the total value of the premises as an advance payment for a five-year lease. This introduced a domino effect which created thousands of new Californian-style homes suitable for the foreigners as the landlords would use the advance rental payments to construct yet more villas and the cycle continued.
The foreigners brought their own strange cultures to Jakarta. Restaurants which claimed to be English pubs serving pizza, hamburgers and cottage pies flourished. The expatriates collected in the bars daily to communicate with each other, as other means were totally unreliable. Managers were obliged to use drivers to deliver messages, as this method proved more efficient than the local telephone system.
Businessmen and tourists found the local girls appealing and willing to administer to their needs. Jakarta's street prostitutes moved off the footpaths into the numerous bars and massage parlors, leaving their territory to the transvestites. These
banci
, dressed in the latest fashions, paraded around outside the Kartika Plaza Hotel, dominating the street's pedestrian traffic. Their numbers grew unchecked until the tall deep-voiced prostitutes completely controlled the Jalan Blora district.
The Indonesians found the all too frequent altercations which occurred between drunken foreigners repugnant. They had never been exposed to this alien social behaviour and had extreme difficulty dealing with it. Most simply avoided frequenting those hotels or restaurants which attracted the oil-rig crews.
Many civic leaders claimed that the Western influence was detrimental to the Indonesian people and should be curtailed before the effects were irreversible. The Moslem leaders were particularly vociferous, claiming that casinos and poker machines which were now rife in the city's bars and night clubs, had an anti-social and anti-religious effect on the population, and should therefore be banned immediately.
The Governor of Jakarta pointed out that the greater part of the funding received for the construction of the prestigious Istiqlal Mosque was, in fact, derived from those very poker machines. Teenage school girls cut classes to attend the night clubs to work as part-time hostesses. Drug abuse on the streets was evident for the first time and teenage suicides became a major statistic. Illegal taxis thrived and Jakarta's
cross-boy
hoodlum gangs emerged.
All this, and more, in just three short years! The city was alive with an exciting ambiance. Jakarta's inhabitants were smiling and enjoying life. Opportunities existed where before there had been nothing. The government embarked on an ambitious development program spending many millions of dollars on infrastructure projects and a restructured Defence Department â all of which required a constant supply of equipment and new weapons.
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Stephen Coleman's company thrived on its defence contracts. At the end of his second year, the company boasted thirty-one permanent office employees. Their activities were mainly centred on the provision of military supplies. Although the other areas also provided substantial income, profits from armament and equipment sales to the Department of Defence represented over ninety percent of all earnings.
Seda's system was simple and effective. They had first established a holding company in Hong Kong, using nominee directors. This enterprise appointed Coleman's Jakarta based group to act as official representatives promoting the arms and services offered via Hong Kong. Stephen visited manufacturers and suppliers in the United States and Europe, negotiating directly with company presidents to obtain agency agreements for sales into Indonesia. These corporate heads were informed that he, in fact, was the legal owner of the supply company registered in Kowloon. He also advised them that he represented several well-placed military associates who could guarantee orders should agency agreements be successfully concluded.
At first Coleman was confronted with considerable resistance. Several manufacturers approached HANKAM directly themselves, attempting to circumvent Coleman's proposed supply route. Nathan Seda blocked their every move. Eventually several smaller dealers contacted the Australian and established test orders for the supply of radio broadcast equipment. Delivery proceeded smoothly. Further orders followed. Again the dealers were satisfied, and his reputation began to grow. Within the year the Hong Kong company had secured sales in excess of five million United States dollars. Seda ensured that Coleman was informed regularly as to the Government's requirements and budget allocations for military purchases. They were cautious not to monopolize the market.
Coleman suggested establishing other nominee companies to expand their field of representation however Seda was reluctant to do so. He became concerned with the frequency of their meetings outside Indonesia. The General had become increasingly uncomfortable being away from his power base more often than before. He suggested that they restrict the regularity of their meetings to minimize exposure. Seda insisted they implement a more efficient and less dangerous procedure, one which would remove the need to meet as often thereby reducing their overall exposure.
He proposed the use of a single courier, who would facilitate delivery of sensitive documentation between the two men. They discussed the idea and, although Stephen accepted the General's proposal in principle, he was still concerned with the thought of an outsider being given such responsibility. Both agreed that the only real link in this arrangement would be the reliability of the courier. They understood also that should the documents be compromised at any time then their personal safety would be at risk.
Stephen agreed to use coded communications whenever exchanging letters with Seda, and nominated one of his senior staff, Pasaribu, who had developed a keen interest in the company's activities and had demonstrated his willingness to carry out orders without question. The General had refused his choice as the man was of Batak descent. Seda disliked Bataks.
They discussed alternatives and decided that until such times as the Timorese was comfortable with any of Coleman's immediate staff to fill this sensitive position, Seda would bring in another one of his own.
Umar Suharjo reported for courier duty the following week.
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The school where Wanti worked catered for students at the
Sekolah Menengah Pertama
level. The junior high school had been built only two years before, one of many, to cope with the sudden influx of students from the provinces. Bambang had been able to convince the local educational authorities to accept his sister as a part-time teacher. She had felt so proud on that first day when the other teachers had received her warmly as one of their own.
Wanti had tried very hard, teaching rudimentary subject material. She had no training for the position but her willingness to always do more and the students' immediate acceptance of her as a teacher was sufficient for the senior staff to move her temporary position, into full-time employment.
Wanti was grateful to her brother and the other young women who now shared the simple accommodations not far from the school. She knew that Bambang had pressured his girlfriend to assist with her application and Wanti now endeavoured to repay her kindness whenever the opportunity arose. Sharing a room with her brother's girlfriend was appropriate, she thought.
Often, when at school and during lessons she would feel a strange sense of exhilaration with the work. Especially when the young teenagers treated her more like an older sister than their teacher. She adored them all.
Once, when the school year was approaching the final days after examinations had been completed, the staff and students spent the whole day travelling the thirty kilometres to Bogor. The picnic had been arranged to coincide with the annual flowering of the huge plant the foreigners called
Rafflesia
. Wanti and the children learned a great deal that day as they sat and listened to the guide explain the historical values of the beautiful gardens. She was surprised to discover that the British had, for a brief period, displaced the Dutch and taken over her country. They had sent an English gentleman by the name of Raffles to become the new Governor of the Spice Islands. Wanti would see the results of his tenure in Indonesia. The beautiful Bogor Gardens were designed and built for his wife and, when she had passed away, Raffles had buried her there.
Wanti loved the romantic story. She was amazed when told that the foolish English had surrendered possession of her wonderful country, returning the islands of Indonesia to the Dutch receiving, in exchange, a small malaria-infested island called Singapura and the northern lands of Malaka. As she sat with the other teachers surrounded by students and observed the enormous flower finally open for its annual display of beauty and size, she was shocked that the world's largest flower had been cursed with such an obnoxious odour!
Later, as they returned to Jakarta and the children joked and teased each other, Wanti decided that there must be many wonderful places to see and visit. It was after that experience Wanti knew she just had to travel. At night she would dream of faraway places, conjuring up mythical lands in her mind before falling to sleep and, sometimes, dream of the wonders she had not seen but only read about in the brochures which lay neatly stacked under her bed.
When school finished on Saturdays she would climb aboard a bus and make her way into the city. There she would search out the travel agents asking for brochures for her students. The receptionists knew that the young woman obviously wanted the material for herself, but none could refuse the attractive girl as she was so sweet.
At night, after taking her
mandi
and shared rice with her roommate Wanti would first attempt to read the brochures to herself before practicing aloud to her friend. She found the language difficult but was determined to persevere. Within a few months Wanti found that, with the aid of an English dictionary, she could actually make her way through an entire brochure in just one evening, understanding the contents clearly. Having mastered the contents she would then insist that her friend sit and listen as she read through the pages.
Wanti wished that her life had more to offer than just teaching simple subjects at school. She dreamed of being given the opportunity to fulfil her earlier ambitions. Wanti wanted desperately to become a secretary or at least a receptionist with one of the foreign firms she was always reading about, and sought ways to improve her chances for such positions. She concentrated on improving her communication skills understanding that knowledge of the foreign language was a pre-requisite in obtaining such lucrative employment.
Bambang had not laughed at her when Wanti explained why the travel brochures were so important to her. They were poor and could not afford the additional expense of books.
Wanti adored Bambang and he in turn cared for his sister above all else. She realized that soon he would be obliged to follow his unit to wherever they were sent, once he had graduated. Then she would be alone. Wanti knew that time was running out and it was imperative that she advance herself in some way. As most opportunities demanded a foreign language skill, the young Javanese girl decided that this should be her first step.