Around 6000 athletes from 11 countries, accompanied by thecustomary hoard—trainers, fans, reporters, diplomats, vendors,promoters—will bounce into Palembang for the 26th Southeast AsianGames this month. Bounce indeed as seven commercial airlines,countless private jets, and at last count 40 buses, 100 midi buses, 300minibuses, 100 official motorcycles and who knows how many privatevehicles will be put to service for the event. In terms of tread alone—tire, tube and shoe—that’s a whole lot of rubber. Ever wonder whereall that rubber comes from?

Palembang –the capital city of South Sumatra Province, is one of theoldest cities in the archipelago. It was formed in 682 CE. During 850– 1025 CE, Palembang was at the peak of its glory as the capital cityof the great Sriwijaya Empire. The city enjoyed high prosperity fromthe heavy traffic of trade with other kingdoms in the Far East. It waseven recorded in history as the richest city in South East Asia. Afterthe Chola Kingdom invasion, Palembang started to suffer from thedecreased trade traffic, although it has never really lost its charm asa city with strategic geographical location. In fact, after centuries ofups and downs, today Palembang is known as a multicultural city,where immigrants are seamlessly coming with a hope for a better life.Chinese, Arabs and Indian are the common foreign ethnic groupsthat you can see in this city.