The formal surrender of the Japanese garrison on Bali happened last week. But only 300 Balinese solemnly watched the surrender.

The formal surrender of the Japanese garrison on Bali last week was one of those ceremonies the British always carry off so well.

His Majesty’s Major General Eric Mansergh had flown into Den Pasar from his Surabaya headquarters. The Netherlands’ towheaded Colonel Fritz ter Meulen had arrived with his two-battalion…

The white man was back in The Netherlands East Indies, but in paltry force. The yellow man’s rule was broken, but he had not gone. Both of them had lost face.

In the book of Djayabhaya, the Hindu king who ruled a vast Javanese empire eight centuries ago, it was written that a white man would come one day to Indonesia. He would stay to rule the islands many years. Then, for the three-year “life of a hen,” a yellow man…