Birthday bash
About 130 celebrated Inside Indonesia's 15th birthday with music, wine and friendship at the Brunswick Town Hall, Melbourne, 30 October. Proceeds of the Benefit Night went to Tigor Nainggolan, our guest speaker from Jakarta, for use in an NGO he leads that gets alongside the urban marginalised.

Raffle winners walked off with some great donated prizes. Inside Indonesia knocked back Intrepid Travel company's offer of a tour in Bali out of solidarity with Burma's democracy activists. Following is the exchange of correspondence on the issue:

Intrepid exchange

I am writing in response to your kind offer to donate a tour of Bali for the Indonesia benefit.

I regret Inside Indonesia is not able to accept your donation. Our decision is based on our understanding that Intrepid Travel continues to offer tours to Burma and that this is being done despite appeals against trade with Burma by Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the elected leader of Burma and a Nobel Peace Laureate, and Burmese activists concerned to uphold human rights. NGO colleagues in Indonesia are keenly aware of the situation in Burma.
Pat Walsh, Inside Indonesia

While we are very disappointed, we empathise with your rationale. We take the issue of travel ethics seriously. We deplore the SPDC and its actions and have no contact with the government travel network. We have developed personal relationships with many families in Burma that rely on us for income. We have also cultivated a good relationship with (Aung San Suu Kyi's) NLD and prodemocracy supporters within Burma. Our dilemma is whether a boycott of travel to Burma would be as effective and what effect a withdrawal would have on our network and friends in Burma.
Lucy Couper & Tim Westbury, Intrepid Travel, Melbourne

Long-suffering Burmese
At least Suharto apologised to his nation for any mistakes he may have committed. In contrast, Burma's 'strongman' Ne Win (at the age of 87 alive and well) while announcing his 'retirement' from politics on 23 July 1988 told the Burmese nation that 'If the army shoots, it shoots to hit'. In August and September 1988, the Burmese military killed at least three thousand protesters before crushing the Burmese democratic uprising. It would make the May 1998 'People's Power' movement in Indonesia seem almost like a garden tea-party. Who says that life, especially for the long- suffering Burmese people, is fair?
Naing Aung, Burmese exile in Australia

Birthday design
Inside Indonesia looks a lot better and is easier to read, so don't go back to the old format.
David Neilson, Jayapura, Indonesia

I like the revamped Inside Indonesia - has a very clean layout. Happy birthday!
Sharon Tickle, Brisbane

I have been a keen reader of Inside Indonesia for many years now. Birthday congratulations.
Mark Bowling, ABC, Jakarta

Inside Indonesia #56 is great, but can we have the old format back please? The message may have become a bit less underground since the fall of Suharto, but that's no reason to make our beloved and ever-radical Inside Indonesia look like some kind of Garuda promotional magazine!
David Henley, Leiden