the mission
1-2-1-4
A rap
The gold-plated numbers instantly swung open
Me
Surprized
Stepped back
Wolfgang Tessler
Beamed
Pumped my hand pulling me into the hotel suite
I had meet Wolfgang in Manila
As head of the mission
Having a PHD in education
Briefing me on the task ahead
We instantly bonded
Ending up at his house
With his four kids and his Philippine wife
Deloris, of all names
We talked until the early hours
fuelled by various beverages
our value systems chiming
So here I was in Jakarta
Standing in the suite
Surrounded by 12 other mission members
My head bobbing like a noddy doll
As I was fleetingly introduced
With expertise’s ranging from foreign affairs, quantity surveying, education, engineering
With me being the least qualified in the room
As the lowly architect urban planner
The mission
To assess Palembang Universities application for a US$45 million grant from the Asian Development Bank
To significantly expand the university
After a brief summary
Wolfgang launched into the meeting with a comprehensive overview of the mission’s objectives and programme
Issuing a briefing paper to be read on the plane tomorrow
Wrapping it up
Wolfgang took us all to dinner
Hitting the streets of Jakarta
Which was a good opportunity to feel out the rest of the team
Finance and Education being the prime drivers
At that stage I had lived in Malaysia for 3 years
I was complacent
I had an ais kacang
Literally shaved, iced beams
As a sweet
A big mistake
That I only started to understand at 3 in the morning
I was sick all night
Pulling myself together
I was on the morning flight
Reading the briefing paper
As a distraction
Between visits to the loo
Palembang
Was the capital of the Southern Sumatra Province
A river port on the Musi River
Being one of the oldest cities in Indonesia
From being a Chinese Protectorate in the 14 century
To being a Malay Sultanate
Having the privilege of being sacked by both the Dutch and then the British
To control initially the Dutch’s monopoly on the pepper trade
Then the palm oil trade for the British
With the discovery of oil
Its two refineries added to the fix
Making it a prime objective of the Japanese
As they swept over Asia in 1942
Both the British and the Americans
Tried to bomb the refineries into oblivion
But the Japanese always got them back up and running quickly
In short
Palembang
Was a major economic force in the Indonesian peninsular
the proposed new university being a high priority
landing
with the controlled taxi ride into town
Just making it to the hotel room
For a total release in private
Trying to prepare for the welcoming dinner with the Minister of Education that night
The hotel came to the rescue with some tablets
Sitting through the dinner was an ordeal
There was about 25 people in the function room of the hotel
With everything laid on
Including the speeches
I sat tense
Trying to control myself
Breaking out in sweat
In the chill of the aircon
The sweat
Running down my face and back
During very forced polite conversations
Until the tablets started to kick in
Gaining some kind of control
During the night
I gave breakfast a miss
Then onto the bus
For the start of the university briefing and site visits
Over a following three day period
It all became a bit of a blur
Experienced through a series of convulsions and out breaks of sweating
Dosing myself up!
To endure the rounds of the pity officialdom of the university
Assessing the existing buildings and infrastructure
Trying desperately to hold it together
After the third day
The tablets finally took control
Feeling OK
I looked forward to the final banquet in Palembang
Which ended up in Wolfgang’s hotel suite
For a debriefing session with the team
Each of the disciplines had had individual briefings with the necessary department heads
This was the time to bring it all together
After Wolfgang’s education briefing
We moved into finance
The Indonesians did not have a good track record with the ADB
The majority of loans given to Indonesia
Either were never spent
Just being left in limbo as they tried to get their act together
Or
In the majority of cases
The money went to the political elite
With very little of it fulfilling its original intention
They also had a poor record in repaying the loans
The team discussion
After several drinks
descended into a moralistic argument
Wolfgang and I chiming in together
Ringing the same bell
If this is the record
How can we, in good conscience
Recommend the loan?
The international relations and finance team
Bounced back
If we do this it would set a precedent internationally
The consequences being significant!
Certainly
more than their jobs were worth?
With the passions stirred
By interjecting alternative scenarios
Raising the temperature
With the International relations and finance guys
Digging in
Wolfgang and I
At about 3 in the morning
Unannounced
Simultaneously
Spontaneously
leapt to our feet
emotionally embracing in the middle of the room
In an expression of moralist solidarity
The team cracked up
The debriefing
drained into sober disillusionment
As we all knew the expected outcome
Next morning
Nursing a headache in a lather of sweat
Sitting in Departures
For the flight back to Jakarta
The announcement came and everybody started to board
Except us?
We all looked at one another
As everyone else was on the plane
Sitting on the tarmac
Wolfgang
Went in search of the officials
An hour later
With the plane still sitting on the tarmac
Wolfgang ran back
Marshalling everyone onto the plane
The plane was packed
Filing down the aisle
We all got disgruntled looks
As Wolfgang and I sat next to one another
Buckling up as the engines roared
And we immediately started to taxi for take off
Wolfgang was furious
He blurted out
The bastards
As we were an international delegation
They were not allowing us to board the plane
Unless we paid a bribe to the airport staff!
Wolfgang had made a few calls
Pulling rank and eventually getting us into the plane
As we all had connecting flights back to Manila
It was cutting it very fine
Holding up in a hotel room in Manila
Getting more drugs to counter the shakes and sweating
I finished my part of the report
And stumbled onto the plane to Oz
Feeling completely drained
Flying into Sydney
After many years
Then getting a taxi home
As they had forgotten to pick me up?
The realisation set in
nothing had changed
the slide into depression
was not helped
when found out I had Hepatitis C