Bandung struggles to rekindle 1955 spirit

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

It is early morning April 18, 1955. Thousands of Bandung residents are crowded along East Street (now Jl. Asia-Africa) anxious to get a glimpse of the men who in their lifetimes became monuments to Third World empowerment.

A procession of men walk out of the Homann Hotel heading towards the Merdeka Building. The crowds cheer, while quietly guessing who is who. This was a time before television. An age when radio ruled and the odd newspaper snapshot was the public's sole source of knowledge about the region's greatest leaders.

It was a simpler time when the 29 leaders of the two continents and the people they represented were just an arms reach away. The backs of a line of uniformed policemen the only barrier separating the rulers and their subjects.

The numerous historical photographs of the conference which hang in rooms in the various buildings used for the Commemorative Summit also suggest an air of relaxed warmth between the leaders.

The 1955 conference shaped international relations of that era, but it was the detachment from protocol, the excitement of the people and the quaintness of Bandung as the host city that transformed the meeting into the stuff of legend.

On Sunday morning, Asian and African leaders will emulate that legendary moment in time. They will walk the same street their predecessors walked on 50 years earlier and declare their renewed commitment to the unity that ushered in an era of cooperation in the exact same building in which Sukarno urged the birth of a new Asia and Africa.

Both the national and local organizing committees have gone to great lengths to ensure that Bandung 2005 can repeat history. But whether the spirit of 1955 can be regained is questionable.

If in 1955 the leaders produced the iconic 10 Bandung Principles, in 2005 the highlight is a formalistic four-page declaration on a "New Asian-African Strategic Partnership".

Hardly a political landmark, although time will be the judge of whether the 2005 event will gain the same mystique as the 1955 conference.

Surveys here still show approval for the Commemorative Summit. But Bandung residents are clearly being shut out. The Merdeka Building in 1955 was a magnet for the common folk, but in 2005, without a special pass or invitation, most residents cannot even approach within a kilometer of Jl. Asia-Africa.

Imagine five street blocks of a major city deserted. No vehicles, and only men in uniform or civilians with a laminated white ID pass hanging round their necks are allowed in the vicinity.

In fact, many have vacated the city rather than try and be part of their hometown's historic event. Sukendar Mulya, spokesman for PT KAI (state railway company) in Bandung, said that departures had increased.

"Since Thursday, about 8,000 passengers (daily) have departed," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday. The daily average was usually around 6,000 passengers. But the long weekend could be another reason for the increased departures.

But even those who are in Bandung have resigned themselves to staying indoors for most of Sunday. "Rather then get stuck as a result of the diversions and street closures, its probably best to stay at home," Sudarsono, 38, told the Post.

Others like Asep Nono, 29, have had their lives disrupted for longer. For nearly a month now he has not been able to pursue his favorite late afternoon past time of playing soccer in Tegalega Park, a popular recreation area for residents.

The park has been renovated to prepare for a ceremonial tree planting by the leaders on Sunday, which will take place after the main commemorative event at the Merdeka Building. After a grand lunch at the Pakuan Building, the governor's mansion, the leaders will head back to Jakarta after spending just seven hours in a city known long ago as the Parijs van Java (Paris of the East).

The local administration has spent over Rp 80 billion and countless man hours, and deployed some 2,000 officials and volunteers to ensure the success of the event.

This level of expense is a far cry from 1955 when the expenditure was confined to accommodation for 1,300 delegates in 12 hotels, and 350 tons of gasoline for nearly 200 cars and buses.

The simplicity of 1955 produced a spirit that lasted half a century. It remains to be seen whether the present events will be remembered in 50 years' time.