DOZENS of soldiers clad in dark blue pants and white T-shirts were painting with brushes. They spread gray paint over a ship in dock, covering its peeling hull. Many parts of it had begun to rust, too. They had done it daily at the dockyard of the Eastern Zone Fleet Command HQ in Surabaya, East Java, for two weeks.

They were obviously preparing an important event. On Sunday, October 5, the Indonesian Military (TNI) was slated to commemorate