ISSUE 183 : Nov/Dec - 2010 - Australian Defence Force Journal

East was an assiduous letter writer, penning more than 100 letters to his wife during the year,as well as writing regularly to his mother and other relatives and friends. 25 However, the postalservice was erratic and inefficient. He got his first telephone call from Shirley on 11 Februaryto complain that she had not received a letter for over a month. So it was arranged that alltheir mail would go via the Embassy to avoid the censors in Jakarta. International telephonecalls were also difficult and expensive and it was not until 24 February that he got his firstcall through to Shirley. These calls had to be booked days in advance and the operator dulyrewarded, but the service was nevertheless erratic and unreliable. On 7 July, he received amessage from the Embassy that his mother was ill but they had no further information and hewas unable to get through on the telephone. Four days later, he received news of her death.He soon got to know the commander of the US Military Training and Advisory Group inBandung, Major Tom Brummett, who was replaced in June by Major Fred Walters, who invitedhim to functions and film evenings and to stay on weekends. They became firm friends andEast was also able to use their weekly courier to get his mail and canteen supplies from Jakarta.In the second semester, his circle of friends expanded among the expatriate community andhe became a regular at their weekend functions and at the Bumi Sangkuriang Club, where heregularly swam and played tennis. He also joined the Australian military attachés and theirfamilies at the Embassy rest houses near Bogor for weekends on a couple of occasions.Singing is a great Indonesian pastime and East was regularly invited to give a rendition of‘Waltzing Matilda’ and occasionally other songs. Suwarto had musical interests and invitedEast to record a song with a band and provided him with a copy of the tape. He was alsoinvited to be a judge and present prizes at a couple of fashion parades, further expandinghis circle of Indonesian friends. In August, Sadeli accompanied him to Yogjakarta to see aperformance of the Ramayana, which was staged over three nights at full moon on about fiveoccasions a year. He was hosted by Major General Djatikusumo, the Minister for Tourism, whohad recently been ambassador to Malaya and aspired to replace Suadi in Australia. 26The graduation ceremony on 15 December was attended by several foreign military officers,including Colonel Ron Hughes, the Australian military attaché, who had replaced FreddieWhitelaw in June. Lieutenant General Jani gave East a good build up in his speech and Eastmade a presentation to the Commandant and received mementos in return. He then gavehis farewell speech, ‘which was well received’. He also organised his own farewell function,inviting Tini Tambunan, wife of his sponsor, and Nan Sadeli, wife of the chief instructor, to behis hostesses at a function in the Bumi Sangkuriang Club. East noted, however, that his partywas only ‘so so’, probably reflecting a degree of exhaustion after a hectic year and the recentgraduation and class functions. 27Overall, East was treated most hospitably. He was given the opportunity to observe many ofthe broader aspects of Indonesian national life, made a wide circle of friends in the Indonesianand expatriate community, and certainly made the most of the social and cultural opportunitiesavailable to him.51