Two substances define the verdant and venerable city of Palembang, two substances essential to life, essential for operation, the lifeblood of humanity themselves. In Palembang, the opaque thickness of liquid hydrocarbons and the pristine clarity of river water converge, creating a cradle of modern industry, the very manifestation of human ingenuity and endurance, packaged into an array of sprawling buildings arranged in kaleidoscopic patterns, haphazardly contrasting with the silted waters of the Musi River.

Palembang had been a jewel once, adorned with the golden roofs and gilded temples of imperial power, a city inundated with the authority brought forth by the tides of the ocean. From here, Srivijayan monarchs forged their domain of rice and water; from here, the Indonesian national identity began its formation in incubation. When the first oil refineries sprung up like palm trees around the eternal city, it seemed as if the roofs began to glisten once more, the sceptres of power returned, an aura of rejuvenated splendour unmatched since the era of maritime prowess. However, the sceptre's strength was now embodied by the churning of wells and machines, the highrises of concrete and steel, the torrent of human bodies submerged in inexorable monotony. Palembang's fate thrust it into modernity, the name still echoing that splendid capital of old, unrecognizable.