We need their friendship: 80 million Indonesians (Tribune, 12 Mei 1954)

Tribune (1954-05-12) - WE NEED THEIR FRIENDSHIP 80 million Indonesians Source: Trove, National Library of Australia - https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212474303 Date retrieved: 2026-10-17 OCR text (uncorrected) follows. 12 May 1954 - WE NEED THEIR FRIENDSHIP Tribune (Sydney, NSW: 1939 - 1991), Wednesday 12 May 1954, page 11 WE NEED THEIRFRIENDSHIP80 million Indonesians:"I was invited to Indonesia by Gerwani, the Indonesian Women's Movement. I thought I was-going just to a women's conference, but once in the country I felt I had been invited by the whole Indonesian people."iirRS. ALLISON DICKTE, wife Of the Rev. A. Dickie, of Melbourne. said this at a luncheon where 100 women gathered to hear her last Wednesday at the Sydney Trade Union Club. Mrs Dickie was the delegate sent bv the Union of Australian Women to the Gerwani National Congress For an Australian representative the Indonesian people have a special warmth, Mrs. Dickie said. On arriving at the airport the first thing she saw among the big crowd to meet her was a banner Inscribed "Sydney Wharfies* Strike, symbol of Indonesian-Australian solidarity and peace." _ "At meetings and gatherings and as we travelled through the countryside, at the crowded railway stations, men and women pressed forward to take my hand or embrace me. The only English word many of them had was 'Australia'." The Congress, Mrs. Dickie explained, was composed of delegates from Sumatra, Java, all thelarger Indonesian islands and some of the smaller. Delegates from Holland and the Soviet Union also attended. War roused women Of the various Women's organisations that have developed during Indonesia's history, she said, Gerwis, the league of women "more politically awake," arose from the war and the struggle for national independence. It had done much to help hundreds of thousands of women to become literate. From Gerwis has developed Gerwani (Indonesian Women's Movement) which helps to lead the women into action and struggle. It co-operates with the other women's organisations on many issues, particularly on questions concerning women and children. The Congress sat for six days discussing the struggle for women's rights and the defence of children and the findings of the World Congress of Women in relation to Indonesian needs and the battle for peace.Mrs. Dickie told of the sacrifice and heroism of Indonesia's women in the struggle against the Japanese and for national independence. Gerwani's President had been jailed for seven months by the Japanese for a "crime" committed not by herself but by her sister. Many others had been in and out of prison. "Their losses have been terrible," she said, "Millions of young women were taken by the Japanese for the use of the army. They were not heard of 'again. "Another severe loss, felt acutely today in the lack of trained young people, is due to the Japanese butchery of thousands of students. Patriotic students "And the students of today are literally sacrificing their lives for their country. They work unceasingly to learn and to teach others, in what schools there are they work more than one shift. In one oig city the students run a school, without pay, for 230 children who would otherwise have no education at all." Illiteracy has been reduced already from over 90 per cent to between 45 and 50 per cent, Mrs. Dickie said. She visited many factories, Mrs. Dickie later told a Tribune reporter only two were at all modern. Indonesia is mainly a peasant country and what little industry there is is almost all semihandicraft. "The factories, some with 50 or w workers, were terrible places, with open fires where they were needed for the work, dim, no amenities, shockingly ventilated even in that oppressive climate. But even in the worst factories the workers took a few moments off to give us a warm welcome, the girls to give us flowr®-,.The union representative w d «? lake a short speech to say aow they are fighting for better wages and for equal pay for women and to tell me to ask Aus-tralian workers for support in their struggles." But in spite of the bad conditions, the acute housing situation, the extreme poverty of the mass of the people, the Indonesian people are tremendously confident that, since they now manage their own affairs, things will rapidly be better. "There is a real feeling of freedom in the air. It's as though the people have dropped a load from their shoulders. "Tremendous interest and hard work is being put into the elections to be held next June when for the first time every citizen over 18 will vote and an Indonesian Parliament and Government be properly elected. Mrs, Dickie concluded: "The message I have to give from the Congress and the Indonesian people is one of the warmest friendship and their deep desire for peace. "They are our nearest neighbors —and there are 80 million of them. They deserve our friendship and we need theirs."INDONESIAN PEOPLE carrying a banner inscribed "Sydney Wharfies' strike symbol of Indonesian-Australian solidarity and peace" greet Mrs. Allison Dickie (left background) at Sourabaya airport.