The director of RSEA's office in Indonesia, C. H. Tsao, remembers, "In those days, Sumatra was only starting to develop and our work was attended with great difficulty.
雖然他們早就瞭解印尼當時尚待開發的情形，對可能遭遇的困難也有心理準備，但開始時仍不免有不知從何著手之感。辦事處主任曹繼琥回憶：「那時蘇門答臘到處是層巒疊嶂、叢林密佈，我們工程的起點又在深山裡，人怎麼進去都是問題，更遑論運送機器及材料。」