the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development visited Jakarta to strengthen EU-Indonesia agri-food relations A key highlight of the visit was the handover of certificates to the producer associations of three Indonesian Geographical Indication (GI) products protected in the EU: The ceremony also featured a cooking demonstration by Indonesian celebrity chef Vindex Tengker showcasing both European and Indonesian GI products Commissioner Wojciechowski focused on promoting EU agri-food products by meeting with Indonesian authorities to address the growing demand for high-quality The visit also included a delegation of 12 prominent EU agri-food businesses from 8 countries (representing a variety of EU products which engaged in a series of business exchanges and networking events to explore potential partnerships and enhance EU-Indonesia agri-food relations Commissioner Wojciechowski also traveled outside of Jakarta to visit the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB University) in West Java where he delivered a lecture about sustainable agriculture and took part in a campus tour to discover more about the work of the university and its students Dewi Elvia Muthiariny Petir Garda Bhwana serving the route of Patimban Port in Subang or precisely at 2°42.370'S 105°51.263'E “Our Command Center at around 02:20 WIB received information from the Operational Manager of MV Serasi I that seawater enters the ship,” Head of the Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Pangkalpinang I Made Oka Astawa told reporters today reports stated that the incident occurred at around 01:09 western Indonesian time (WIB) the captain named Subur informed that the ship was in a nosedive position,” he explained adding that 17 crew members managed to save themselves by using Lifecraft 17 victims of MV Serasi 1 were evacuated by KM Lotus who was passing by and taken to Tanjung Kalian Muntok Port,” he said Made said his side thus launched a Joint SAR Operation and dispatched personnel from the Muntok SAR Standby Unit and the Pangkalpinang SAR Agency to the incident area “Parties involved in this joint SAR operation are Basarnas Directorate of the Bangka Belitung Regional Police and Muntok Health Center workers,” he said Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News Halal Snack Polemic: Tests by MUI Contradict BPJPH, BPOM Findings on Pork Content Deadly Bus Accident Leaves 12 Dead in Indonesia, Police: Brake Failure Bappenas, FAO Host Training Workshop to Enhance Governance in Indonesia's Agrifood Systems Transformation Hasan Nasbi Cancels Resignation as Indonesia's PCO Head: 'I Am Loyal to the President' Vasectomy for Social Assistance? 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Discover the 10 Best Countries for Job Opportunities Abroad All 133 Cardinal Electors Arrive in Rome Ahead of Papal Conclave Lenovo Set to Launch ThinkPad Aura Edition Series for Professionals in Indonesia An employee feeds a bottle of milk to a baby dugong (Dugong dugon) in a pool at the Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center in Sungailiat district was saved by fishermen in Muntok Bangka Sea and shipped to Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center Kath Neuss was one of the nurses who lost her life on that fateful day Guess you will be thinking I’ve gone up in smoke Only 10 days later Kath Neuss was dead; brutally killed on Radji Beach with 20 of her nursing friends This is another story of an Australian Army Nurse who will never be forgotten and who will be remembered at the annual Commemoration Services at Radji Beach on 16 February Sister Kathleen ‘Kath’ Margaret Neuss NFX 70527 was born on 16 October 1911 at Mollongghig near Ballarat in Victoria Kath was the second daughter of John Henry Neuss and Mary Catherine Neuss (nee Perry) Kath’s paternal grandfather was George Neuss a German immigrant and her maternal grandfather was Samuel Perry when Kath was 18 months old her parents packed all their possessions then train to Glen Innes in northern NSW and finally by Cobb & Co coach to uncleared land her father had selected for farming about 32kms northwest of Inverell Her father had to clear the land and build their first ‘house’ of three rooms with an iron roof and walls lined with hession and papered with wallpaper Their only water tank was a 500 hundred gallon tank at the side of the house Kath’s parents called their new home “Kalimna” after the Victorian coastal town where they spent their honeymoon All water for washing and cooking had to be carried by bucket Kath’s elder sister Jessie (“Jess”) had also been born in Mollongghip and over the next decade another four siblings were born at Inverell Kath Neuss was initially educated at Bannockburn Public School Her father would take Jess and Kath on a horse to school and each afternoon the girls would walk the four miles home During a severe drought in 1915/16 Jess and Kath returned to Victoria for about 18 months and went to schools at Mollongghig and Rocky Lead where their respective grandparents lived Back at “Kalimna” as the family increased a sulky was acquired which Often the children travelled to school by horse; two to each horse with the youngest in front In 1926 Kath sat and passed an examination that enabled her to go to Inverell High School in 1927 and 1928 She would board with an Inverell family during the week and then return home each weekend travelling by horse and sulky; very tiring for a young teenager Kath initially wanted to be a school teacher but did not pass the teachers entrance examination; a big disappointment to her After leaving school she trained as a private nurse in Inverell and then at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney Kath Neuss enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on the 6th of January 1941 and was posted to the 2/10th Australian General Hospital On 4 February 1941 the “SS Queen Mary” sailed from Sydney; destination Singapore On board were elements of the 8th Division AIF and 51 Australian nurses including Kath who served in Malaya and Singapore For part of her time Kath was seconded to the 2/13th Australian General Hospital as part of the 2/13th Battalion 9th Division AIF her younger brother Bill had sailed on the “SS Queen Mary” for the Middle East on 20 October 1940 The 9th Division disembarked at Bombay in India and the “SS Queen Mary” returned to Sydney to take the nurses to Singapore Bill’s pre-embarkation leave in Sydney on 18th October was the last time Kath saw her brother but letters from Kath in Malaya and Singapore to Bill remain The last letter to Bill was dated 16th of January 1942; exactly one month before Kath died fun loving and gregarious woman with brown eyes and dark hair was full of life and her letters home from Malaya and Singapore tell of a young woman enjoying her experiences overseas The nurses had a very good social life and in many of her letters Kath talks about a very close friend Lieutenant Jock Pringle of the 2/18th Battalion In a letter dated 2 January 1942 Kath wrote: “Jock is still at the Convalescent Depot and hating it still I spoke to him on Sunday evening and he was very miserable Said the medical unit were worse than the police to get out of their clutches Said they were acting as though it was a concentration camp” In a very sad and tragic irony both Kath and Jock were both executed by the Japanese exactly five days apart; Jock on Singapore Island after he surrendered to the Japanese when his composite unit was overrun on 9th February and Kath at Radji Beach on 16th February Kath wrote many letters and about 20 remain and these give a terrific insight into Kath She was missing out on a lot of weddings of her friends in Australia and on 2 November 1941 she wrote: “Can’t bear to think of many more weddings over there without me being present You had better wait or there will be a fuss” At the time of boarding the “SS Vyner Brooke” on 2 February Kath was aged 31 Along with Winnie May Davis and her very close friend Pat Gunther she was ordered amongst the various duties of the Australian Army nurses on board to be responsible for the forward part of the ship (On Radji Beach p.148) When the ship was bombed she “… received a nasty shrapnel wound from the bomb that hit aft she struggled to walk and had to be helped onto the deck by Wilma and Mona…” (ORB When the time came for evacuating the ship and the second lifeboat was being filled with the elderly mothers and children and the more seriously wounded nurses Kath Neuss had to be practically carried all the way into the lifeboat (ORB p.159) Pat Gunther gave her tin hat to Kath ‘in case she needed to bail water from the lifeboat (Portrait of a Nurse p.21) Kath gave her life jacket to Pat The rest is history; Pat survived as a POW Kath was definitely executed by the Japanese on the beach along with the other 20 Australian Army Nurses Whether she was amongst those told to walk into the water and killed or whether she was amongst the wounded on stretchers brutally bayoneted to death is unclear She is remembered on the Inverell Roll of Honour and a tree is planted at the RSL branch in Inverell in her memory A ceremony will be held at the Muntok Peace Museum near Kampong Menjelang the site of the former Womens’ Camp to remember the many civilian men women and children and military people interned and held as POWs on Bangka Island on the 16th of February – 81st Anniversary of the Radji Beach massacre For more stories about the Australian Army nurses head to https://muntokpeacemuseum.org/ and facebook  page Muntok Nurses and Interneest Sources:* 1 Letter dated 6 February 1942 to her sister Jess* On Radji Beach by Ian Shaw* family records* public sources Story and images published with permission of Muntok Nurses and Internees Never miss the top Australian nursing and midwifery news and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Never miss the top Australian nursing and midwifery news.