An amateur East Timor observer writes

A shamless bit of copying and pasting from my blog to get things rolling?

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My first inkling of a real international situation in our own ASEAN backyard happened when I saw a BBC Teletext article talking about the long-dormant struggle for East Timor’s independence. That was back in 1997. Of course, being 11 at that time, I was perplexed as to what territory would name itself ‘East East’…but my interest went no further than that.

Two years on in 1999, a chance encounter at the MPH Bookstore in 1 Utama (the old MPH store…long before the days of MPH Megastore 1U) saw me browsing through a copy of Kerry Collison's The Timor Man. Looking for a book to fill my carefree Form 1 days with, I bought the book for RM39.90.

I was instantly hooked.

The author, a serial Asia-watcher from Australia who was supposedly awarded Indonesian citizenship by the Indonesian President, mixed fact and his own fiction together in a superbly-written tome which was truly engrossing. With his blend of Bahasa Indonesia and English, the story of the Seda brothers kept me awake for many nights. After all, this was a story involving Indonesia’s desire to dominate East Timor, with the covert blessing of ASIO/ASIS and the CIA. It also spoke of the Konfrontasi, which we know so well and the fact that British bombers overflew Indonesian airspace, en route from Malaya to Australia with their bomb bay doors open. Oh yeah, and the bombers were carrying an atomic bomb each.

That’s something our History books have neglected when teaching us about the Konfrontasi!

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Of course, later on in 1999, the new Indonesian president Habibie rashly declared that the residents of Timor-Timur would be given the option of selecting autonomy or independence from Indonesia. Under a UN-sponsored referendum, they opted for independence.

Then all hell broke loose.

Reports from the now-defunct Asiaweek (of which I was a subscriber) told of horror tales of slaughter by rogue militia, such as Besi Merah Putih and Halilintar. Stories of abetment by TNI forces are still being investigated, although the current Timorese leadership has made clear its intention of not wanting to confront its giant neighbour. Thousands were massacred in homes and churches. They ran into the hills to save themselves, while the badly-armed Fretilin (pro-independence) militia tried to protect them. And after an interminably long wait, Australian troops landed in East Timor under the name of Interfet (International Force for East Timor) to restore order. The UN then began the arduous task of nation building.

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Moving on to 20 May 2002, and the new nation of Timor Leste was born. Indeed, right up to the delivery of this new nation, Indonesia made no pretences of being friendly by docking a massive battleship at Dili’s main harbour during the declaration of Independence. I was there too, you know. Not physically, but through the wonder of satellite television. CNN carried the event live, and unfortunately their interpreter was only proficient in Portuguese and English. So when the affable Xanana Gusmao spoke in Bahasa Indonesia, the international audience was left without a clue. Of course, anyone who has studied Bahasa Melayu for 12 years would have had no problem understanding him. He was the gentleman to the end, thanking the new new Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for her understanding and support in the birth of the newest member of the UN.

Of course even back then many people doubted the viability of Timor Leste as an independent state. It was a half island, mired in poverty and out of the way of any major shipping/air lane. Although it had Starbucks-quality coffee and huge deposits of natural gas, the cost of rebuilding after 1999 were so immense that future revenue was reportedly accounted for already. Nevertheless, the UN through its agencies UNTAET and UNAMET began rebuilding institutions in the devastated country. And for 4 good years, stability prevailed and all seemed to go well. A rare UN success story, one might add.

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And then in 2006, the PM Mari Alkatiri fired 600 soldiers from Timor Leste’s fledging armed forces. The spirit of factionalism was rekindled as most of the fired troops were from the West of the country (Loromonu). This led to massive rioting by the fired soldiers and wanton destruction of property in the capital, Dili. Investors began pulling out of the country and it seemed to teeter on the edge, becoming a failed state.

The international community was not slow to respond, however. Australia, with a well-understood phobia of having a failed state right at its doorstep (only a few hundred kilometers from Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory) sent in troops to restore order in the capital. Our country, which has always had a strong international presence, sent in soldiers and policemen too, to help stabilise the situation there. Coupled with smaller contributions from New Zealand and Timor Leste’s ex-colonialist Portugal, a semblance of calm was restored.

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Moving into a realm of my own opinion now, I am of the view that the situation in Timor Leste might not be as dire as it has been painted out to be. On the whole, the death toll has stood at 21 (according to Channel News Asia), which is surprisingly little. The mutinying troops did not act without provocation, after having been fired for protesting poor wages.

Serious charges of corruption have also been levelled at Alkatiri (who has since resigned) and the Minister of the Interior, who are said to be closely linked. The firing of the troops was spearheaded by these two senior political figures. And in contrast to army mutinies around the world, this one has been very courteous towards the President, Xanana Gusmao and the Timorese Foreign Minister, Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta. When these two revered leaders of the independence struggle visited the rebel hideout, they were given a hero’s welcome and later on, many even surrendered their arms to Ramos-Horta. They showed the utmost respect for the international forces in Timor by not confronting them, and also surrendered weapons to them.

Major Alfredo Reinado, ringleader of the rebellious soldiers has also been interviewed by the international press. He has never sounded belligerent, and promised cooperation with the international forces in Timor Leste. He was arrested in July, however, but managed to escape from prison about a week ago. His surprise appearance on state television was even conciliatory, urging an end to violence. These are not the typical trademarks of a rebellious armed force, possibly proving that they had legitimate grouses against some Timorese politicians.

Although violence has since flared up again (latest reports from 1 Sept), it is now spearheaded by disorganised gangs of unemployed youth. UN intervention or not, without serious efforts to tackle the issue of unemployment, violence is never far from the surface. As Harry Lee once presciently said, if people have jobs, they will rush home at the first hint of a riot to protect their houses and their motorcycles.

What needs to be done now is for a sustained UN-led effort to maintain civil order in the whole of Timor Leste. I believe that ASEAN and Australia should play a leading role in this matter, as an unstable Timor Leste would be a perfect hiding place for terrorists and drug smugglers, causing instability throughout this region. Economic development would be more difficult to achieve, as the country is caught in an unenviable Catch-22. No stability without investments but no investments without stability. So, security provided gratis for at least five years will guarantee investors the safety of their properties and hopefully keep the Timorese economy sustainable.

Harimau Gaelic is one of the founding members of Harimau Malaya. His wonderful CV certainly adds a lot of weight in his blog contributions.