Surabaya has a distinguished place in Indonesia’s historic struggle for Independence. The mayor, leaders of armed youth & student movements, and President Sukarno himself stood-up to the post WW2 Allied forces here in 1945. Refusing a humiliating demand to disarm and accept post-war terms from British forces, Indonesians used sharpened bamboo against machine gun fire to prevent a return to colonialism and defend their freedom.
That’s how history reads from here. For that reason- the city named for Sharks & Crocodiles is now known as the City of Heroes. Looking around the statues, 90% of those heroes emerged in the August-November 1945 time-frame.