In 1953, the branch office printed 250 copies of The Watchtower in Indonesian​—the first local edition to appear in 12 years. The 12-page mimeographed magazine contained only study articles at first. Three years later, it was increased to 16 pages, and a commercial firm was printing 10,000 copies a month.

The government official who handled their application told them: “I consider the Menara Pengawal (Watchtower) one of the best magazines in Indonesia and I am only too glad to help with the paper license for your new magazine.”