The white Falcon jet awaited them on the tarmac. Bill Waites, the captain was already at the controls with the engines whining. His co-pilot, Tom Ling, waited for them at the gate accompanied by two airport officials, one for passport formalities and the other customs control.
The small group followed each other, in turn, up the five or six steps of the aircrafts retractable ladder. They took their places in the cabin, settling down into the comfortable seats. There were nine in total, four white leather armchairs, two on each side. Behind them facing towards the aisle, ranged on one side was a three seat sofa, and on the other side separated by a bar, were two seats, also in white leather.
The meeting in Taipei had one official objective for Wihartjo; it was the quarterly meeting of the Asian Timber Producers & Converters Association. Sutrawan had laid on the transport. It was the custom for top industrialists to provide first class transport and services for ministers. This enabled them to get together at thirty thousand feet and away from prying eyes to discuss their affairs and settle certain questions in a discrete and relaxed manner.
This occasion would permit them to meet the Minister to settle a number of outstanding questions that had remained vague concerning the share structure and commissions to be distributed to different parties.
The hostess, Cindy Chang, was dressed in a sharp Yves Saint Laurent outfit, with a short mini skirt, held at the waist by a wide black belt, decorated with YSL motifs, in gold studs.
Sutrawan could not resist a lecherous smile as she passed before of him to secure Wihartjo’s seat belt. He grinned at Brodzski, who was seated opposite, giving him a wicked wink.
The Falcon accelerated down the runway, and lifted off at a steep angle, climbing into the fluffy cumulus clouds that drifted across Kemarin Airport.
There was a series, of short, sharp, irregular bumps, before they left the clouds behind, reaching the clear blue sky. The jet continued its climb, turning to the right, out over the Java Sea towards the north-east, following their flight plan in the direction of Taipei. The cruising altitude was 35,000 feet; the estimated flying time was four hours.
Sutrawan light up a Bentoel, and made his way towards Cindy who was already preparing refreshments, Champagne for the French, juice for the Indonesians and Danny Lau, and a large XO for himself. He stopped next to Ennis and sat down.
‘You know John if you want something...anything... just ask me, if it is money or something else don’t worry,’ he said softly.
It was a frequent question, to which Ennis always replied by thanking him graciously, assuring him that if ever he was in need something, he would of course come to him. Sutrawan smiled and patted him on the knee pleased to know all was well.
‘Yesterday, I met the Vice President and he would like us to go quickly. He knows we are with Bak Wihartjo in Taipei, it is important that business is concluded rapidly. Next year there will be elections and we should tie everything up before then. There will be no change at the top,’ he said waving his hand at the absurdity of such a thought, ‘but in the election year there are no decisions either, so we will lose time.’ He then dropped his voice looking a little serious, as if he had something difficult to say.
‘We must also get the details into writing, our arrangements, normally we don’t write these things down,’ and he pointed his cigarette at Ennis, ‘but you Westerners do! So we feel better when dealing with men like Strecker, when it’s written down on paper.’
Ennis nodded in agreement, that would be no problem, and it would even comfort Brodzski, who liked things on paper.
‘Good! We will meet Mr Gao on Monday and Danny will bring Rudini to see his mill, with Wolfgang Kubler.’
He returned to his own seat and released it from the landing and take off position, pivoting it at an angle towards the aisle, the others followed him.
He spoke deferentially to Wihartjo, in Indonesian, whilst Brodzski commented on the view below to Rudini.
Behind them, Axelmann pulled out, from his black crocodile skin document case, the draft agreements. He went over the last modifications with Ennis and Danny Lau; it was more for the form, as they had agreed the final points the previous day.
About one hour out from Jakarta, Cindy Chang served them a cold luncheon and champagne, after which Brodzski and Wihartjo settled down for a nap as Sutrawan joined Ennis and Axelmann to chat.
It was settled. Gao would undertake the distribution of the mill products, and the commission rates had been fixed. The prices would be indexed on the going world market price. Any other position, from their point of view, would have been unacceptable, and even suicidal.
Over the previous eighteen months period, they had seen the price of market pulp slide down from 850 dollars to 500 dollars a ton. It was impossible to agree to a minimum price, as Gao had insisted, he knew the business well enough to realise that it was an unrealistic demand.
Gao, as a buyer of wood pulp for his own paper mills, would never have agreed to a fixed price from one source, when he knew he could buy it cheaper at spot prices on the open market.
It was hot in the jet, and Sutrawan asked Cindy to tell the captain to lower the cabin temperature, the XO and champagne were beginning to take effect.
Almost four hours after leaving Jakarta, they commenced their decent to Taipei City Airport, which had the advantage of being near the downtown area. It was used as the domestic airport and for executive jets; the newer Chiang Kai Shek International Airport some forty kilometres outside of the city received the international flights
There were heavy clouds, and Bill Waites informed them over the information system, that the ground temperature was a sultry 34°C, with the humidity in the nineties. It was three o’clock in the afternoon; Taipei was one hour behind Jakarta time.
The Falcon landed with a bounce, and after breaking, it turned and taxied towards the executive aircraft reception area, at the end of the main passenger terminal building.
The formalities in Taipei were stricter than in Jakarta, with full customs inspection and passport controls. Gao was there to meet them, as well as the protocol officer from the Indonesian diplomatic mission. They only succeeded in accelerating the formalities to a limited degree, in spite of the presence of Wihartjo, a high-level government minister, whose visit was unofficial.
Sutrawan had arranged transport to pick-up Wihartjo, the largest Mercedes he could lay his hands on, one of Scarface Fung’s cars.
The arrangements at the airport were confused by an unforeseen complication-the presence of the Indonesian Embassy protocol officer, who had also planned to collect Wihartjo. He had an advantage in that he could, as a member of the diplomatic staff, enter the restricted section of the arrivals reserved for VIPs.
He snatched Wihartjo from under their noses. The Ministers arrival in Taipei City turned into a car chase comedy as they tried to catch up and follow the embassy car. Sutrawan puffing furiously on his Kretek shouted instructions to the driver in Taiwanese.
Wihartjo was incensed, but could only respect the Embassies initiative to avoid an incident. He later complained to the Ambassador that even ministers could not be left in peace for an unofficial visit.
Sutrawan’s group finally headed into Taipei City’s downtown area, having given up trying to follow the embassy car. Brodzski with the others followed helplessly in Gao’s American limousine unable to make the Chinese driver understand the uselessness of following the farcical chase.
They were booked into the Presidential suite, at the New Mandarin Palace, which comprised seven bedrooms with a conference room, lounge and bar. Wihartjo, for privacy, as a minister had his own separate suite, a member of the Indonesian Government, should not be publicly seen too close to Sutrawan.
They first planned to rest up, and then Gao would join them for discussions and an early dinner. Wihartjo did not return until later than planned that afternoon, he had been ambushed into a lunch with the ambassador.
Taiwan and Indonesia enjoyed good relations and th
ere existed a significant commercial exchange between the two countries. Most of this business was conducted through overseas Chinese, who helped smooth the way as many Indonesians lacked international experience and were often lost overseas.
Sutrawan arranged sumptuous entertainment for his guests and partners, outdoing even his most extravagant competitors in that domain, whilst Gao, as low key and frugal as ever, fulfilled with diplomacy and courtesy his essential obligations.
Gao had departed as soon as business was completed to the satisfaction of all those present and dinner was over, not wanting to be a spoil the arrangements he knew had been made for the rest of the evening by his disapproving presence.
The group relaxed with the arrival of the company that Sutrawan had laid on. Even Wihartjo, who was normally inscrutable, soon warmed up to the attractive and discrete Chinese girl that Sutrawan very discretely introduced to him.
Gary Lawford, a tough Texan, was Agung’s internal technical consultant and construction manager. He was in Taipei for technical discussions with Gao’s staff, had joined the party for the dinner; he was a professional and his job was a tough one. He managed the construction of the Agung Groups major projects, leading negotiations with their foreign suppliers. It was rumoured that he also looked after Sutrawan’s dirty business in real estate investments in the USA, without too much concern for the rules. He had been in Taipei on one of his regular visits for discussions with their Taiwanese subcontractors.
Lawford was moulded for the job, he was about five eight and wore platform cowboy boots, his piercing blue eyes were set in a deliberate tough guy look with his lips tightly pursed, to assert the image he studiously projected.
Ennis suspected that in reality he was a little unsure of himself. Lawford was constantly trying to reassert himself, through a demonstration of workaholism, or, by shouting down one of his lesser colleagues or collaborators. Ennis remembered him shouting down Kalevi Nurminen’s specialists.
‘I’m the god-damned customer! When I say I want it like that, I god-damned well want it like that!’
He was an actor, dropping off his jacket that he often wore loosely hanging over his shoulders, to dramatise a moment, rolling up his shirt sleeves, swinging his light frame around in a heavy weight manner. He held his Ray Bans in his hand when he made a point, showing his perfect large teeth when he smiled trying to hide the force of his decisions. Rarely, he let slip one of his real naive friendly smiles, forgetting for an instant the tough guy veneer; he was constantly worried about the nice guy coming out.
After Wihartjo had retired to his room, Lawford complained he was hungry; he could not stomach Chinese food. Ennis took the opportunity for a break from Sutrawan’s company and invited Lawford to a good imported American steak at the hotels Steak House, which was more to Lawford’s taste. He had already discovered Lawford’s reputation as a hard drinker, living out his image. He started normally enough, with a Scotch, then the wine, at the end of the meal he ordered a large Drambuie. They then returned to the suite where the party was in full swing, and where Lawford continued with the Drambuie.
‘Listen John!’ he said still remarkably sober, ‘I was in the marines, I served in Vietnam. I just want you to know that I like you...but if you ever cross me I’ll kill you!’
Ennis was a little startled as he looked into those steely blue eyes. He was not sure if it was the odd behaviour of the strange personality or whether he believed the Hollywoodian menace.
‘Where can we get a real drink in this joint,’ Lawford suddenly said aggressively. ‘Let’s go to the god-damned Singapore!’
Lawford was uneasy in the luxury of Sutrawan’s extravagant suite and his friends. He needed something more down to earth that recalled his days in Saigon. They left the suite as the last of Sutrawan’s company slowly drifted towards their rooms in the arms of the girls. They took a taxi to the Singapore. It was a little after midnight when they arrived. It was crowded, full of smoke and smelling of cheap perfume. Lawford pushed his way through to the bar shouting his order above the noise of the music and the crowd, a double Drambuie.
Ennis observed the usual mixed crowd seeking excitement and exoticism away from their Westernised hotel cocoons. He recognised one or two of them, hotel regulars and expatriates.
A few minutes later Lawford was dancing with a small pretty faced girl, his arms raised and with hips gyrating, he leered at the girl, who giggled, she did not care, she had found a customer.
He continued to drink his Drambuie; he was a real soak and was beginning to show aggressive signs. It was almost four when they dragged him out of the bar shouting and pulling his friend with him.
At the New Mandarin Palace, Lawford weaved his way across the hotel lobby to the lifts and disappeared to his room, supported by his girlfriend for the night.
The next morning Gao returned joining them in Sutrawan’s suite. Together Danny Lau and Thomas Lee they were to finalise the details of the agreement with Gao, defining the role of his company, Yu Mei Chih Paper. The agreement stated that he would have the exclusive management of the mill as industrial operator, appointing his own executives and technical staff. They would be remunerated from the mill earnings and would receive each year a bonus payment based on the company profits. In addition, Gao would have exclusive rights to marketing the mills products in all export markets.
The Agung Group, Sutrawan’s own company would have the exclusive rights to marketing the products in their home market.
The key points being quickly settled, they then agreed on the commissions to be distributed to the politicians and government officials. A total of seven percent was to be put aside for that purposed, in addition a number of honorific but paid directorships in the company were reserved for the minister and certain of his staff.
Gao would also contribute ten percent of the equity, which would be financed through orders for machinery and services subcontracted to him and his Taiwanese subsidiaries. The agreement was approved without any further drafting, the modifications were hand written on plain paper and all parties signed the document with Danny Lau and Thomas Lee as witnesses.
Ennis could count on Brodzski to respect the terms of the agreement, but he had misgivings about Strecker. In any case, he argued to himself, the arrangement ensured the marketing of the mill products and all commissions would return back into the project in the form of equity.
The discussions were concluded in a businesslike manner. Brodzski satisfied with the outcome left for Paris. With considerable relief that things had gone as planned, Ennis quit the hotel and joined Lily. They planned spend the weekend together and get away from Taipei. The Friday afternoon they drove to Sun Moon Lake, a picturesque resort situated in the centre of the island, a favourite destination for honeymooners. After the pressure of the previous days, he could relax with Lily acting as guide visiting the temples and tourist attractions that surrounded the mountain lake.
They returned to Taipei on the Sunday evening booking into the New Mandarin. The weather had changed, a typhoon was forecast, and was expected to hit the island during that same night, though the weathermen were uncertain as to the exact path of the typhoon.
The next morning Ennis was awoke by the sound of heavy rain and wind. The view from his room onto the avenue below was unlike anything Ennis had ever seen; the palm trees that lined the avenue were bent by the wind, their fronds almost sweeping the furious torrent of water that rushed down the street carrying debris of all sorts in its passage.
Hoardings, air conditioners, aerials and tanks had been ripped from buildings and were mixed with mass of unidentifiable wreckage blown by the wind. The streets were deserted. He called to Lily who ignored his excited beckoning; she had seen it many times before. He went to the bathroom and in passing he picked up the newspaper that had been slipped under the room door together with a sheet of hotel notepaper. The paper informed the guests on details of the typhoon and the Taipei City’s decree, declaring that all activities
, both private and public, were suspended for twenty four hours in the interest of public safety. The radio and television would inform the public of further announcements.
Ennis called the airport and was informed by a recorded message that it was closed. He turned to Lily what asking he could do. ‘Come back to bed there’s nothing to do, for two days,’ she replied pulling him towards her.
He switched on the TV for the local news in English. The typhoon was practically stationary, just of the east coast of Taiwan; no improvement in the weather could be expected for at least 24 hours.
There was nothing to do, it was midnight in Paris, later he would attend to his travel arrangement, in the meantime he took Lily’s advice, slipping between the sheets against her smooth warm body.
NEIGHBOURS