union man duodenal ulcers in a month. I have no hankering to live in Djakarta, and was glad when we were able to take up residence in Bandung, in West Java. Bandung is much cooler than Djakarta and a much more pleasant city to live and work in. The main shopping and residential area stands in a basin at the foot of encircling hills. According to legend, this basin was formerly a lake.

Legend of a Prince's Courtship In the dim and misty past a certain prince, Sang-Kuriang, fell in love with a beautiful woman, Dajang Sumbi. Princess Dajang Sumbi was Sang-Kuriang's mother, but he didn't know that. He wooed her, and she did everything possible to discourage him. She set him a number of tasks which he was to complete between sundown of one day and cock-crow of the next day. One task was to fill the basin with water, and another was to build a canoe for use on the lake thus created. Nothing daunted, Sang-Kuriang set to work and to Dajang Sumbi's horror it became evident that he would complete his tasks within the allotted time. The Princess therefore played a trick. Although cock-crow was still some hours away, she began threshing paddy. (Rice is separated by threshing in the same way that in New Zealand cocksfoot seed is separated from the stalk.) When the roosters heard someone at work, they thought that it was time to rise and shine, so they began to crow. In this way Dajang Sumbi was able to claim that Sang-Kuriang had failed to accomplish his tasks within the time limit he had been set.

Furious at Being Tricked The poor man was puzzled and downcast, but when he discovered that he had been tricked his disappointment changed to rage, and he chased after Princess Dajang Sumbi, intending to take her by force. However she narrowly escaped him by springing up to heaven from a mountain which stands near the city of Bogor. Sang-Kuriang was naturally very bitter, and in his rage he overturned the canoe which he had built, allowing the waters of the lake to escape. That canoe is visible today in the form of a certain mountain, the shape of an overturned canoe, which stands near Bandung. Incidentally it is a volcano, and still mildly active. Standing on the lip of the crater I was reminded of Rotorua: same awful sulphur smell, boiling mud, and steam escaping from vents in the earth. Bandung is a university city with between 35,000 and 40,000 students. There are two State Universities, and at least thirteen other universities which are run by private organisations. My work is with Christian students. Christians are a minority group in Indonesia, numbering approximately 6,000,000 in a total population of 104,000,000. Although most Indonesians are Moslem, people are free to preach and teach. This is largely due to President Sukarn o. Some years ago, the extreme Moslems demanded that Indonesia should become an Islamic State, and that Islam should be the only recognised religion. But the President insisted that the people should have religious freedom. My work brings me into contact with Christian and non-Christian students from all of the islands of the Republic of Indonesia. The young people here are engaged in the great adventure of nation-building. They are determined that the Indonesian Revolution shall be carried through to a successful conclusion. To understand the Indonesian Revolution one must know something of recent Indonesian history. Briefly, this is as follows.

Dutch Colonization and its Consequences Round about 1600, the Dutch landed in Java. By 1750 they had a monopoly of all the trade, and ruled Java and certain of the outer islands. In their dealings with the indigenous folk they relied upon the traditional chiefs and princes, and upon force of arms when the chiefs and princes proved uncooperative. Indonesians became third-class citizens in their own land. Above them in rank, status and wealth were the middle-men — Chinese, Indians and Arabs. Above the middle-men were the Europeans, who determined the destiny of the peoples. From then until 1945, the indigenous people had little or no say in the affairs of their own land. They were the servants, the hod-carriers, a part of the economic apparatus of the European. There were a few Indonesians who enjoyed certain privileges, chiefly ‘friendly’ princes and chiefs, but no Indonesian could ever hope to equal the European in status or rank. At various times and places they rebelled against Dutch rule, but without success. The area in which we live was formerly forbidden to non-Europeans. Is it any wonder that after gaining control of their own affairs, the Indonesians should have renamed it ‘Merdeka’ (Freedom). Continued on page 52