Balikpapan

Balikpapan

Balikpapan is a port in Borneo and the site of the strangest australian battle of world war II. It also marked an Australian policy change away from identification with European colonial power, toward recognition of regional independent sovereignty. The waterside workers of that time took sides with the Australian military and refused to load dutch ships bound for Indonesia to re-establish control of her former posesseion. The decision was eventually over-ruled by General Macauthur in the name of British Oil interests there. Unlike Iwo-Jima the japanese resistance was pyrrhic and occured after the empire had officially surrendered. I would like to combine that story with two others which mark the birth of an Australian relationship with Indonesia. One story relates that nurses fleeing Singapore landed at Betawi (Jakarta) and spent two nights at the hospital in the cool hills of Buitenzorg (Bogor) before being evacuated again. This is long enough for a chance romantic encounter between a nurse and a soldier to develop into a story which ties them together. Using a little license, I should like to tie this with a third story about the Dutch attempting to raise a flag as the Japanese resistance failed, only to have Indonesian nationalists tear the blue stripe off the dutch flag. This desperate gesture was the spark which saw the new red and white flag 'Bendera Merah Putih' being raised everywhere across the archipeligo at this dawn of the Indonesian Nation. I feel the relations between Indonesia and Australia have been monopolized by big business interests for too long. Despite the massive wealth disparity, I would like to offer this combined story as a gesture of goodwill between the humble people and great neighbours.

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