There were no banners, no coloured insignia. The atmosphere was cool and calm, with just a little social work going on to clean up the local environment, as the fallen stars of the Indonesian Military (TNI) prepared for their big day. Yet the people who live around the headquarters of the Special Forces Command (Kopassus) in Cijantung, East Jakarta, knew very well that the elite force was about to celebrate its birthday.

And it is a big one. On