March 13, 1999
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| March 13, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia East Timor's Chinese look forward to going home By Sonny Inbaraj DARWIN, Australia - When the Indonesian militaryinvaded East Timor in December 1975, the entire ethnic Chinesepopulation in Maubara and Liquicia on the island's northwest coastwas killed, scapegoats in the crusade against internationalcommunism. Indonesian troops had been given orders to crush all oppositionruthlessly, and were told they were fighting communists in thecause of a jihad (Holy War), just as they had done in Indonesia inthe wake of the 1965 coup. Often, the Timorese were portrayed as backward, primitive,indeed almost sub-human. For the East Timorese, however, the invasion and Indonesia'sannexation of their territory in 1976 ushered in a nightmare atthe hands of the Indonesian armed forces. To many, this not only recalled images of the massacres of 1965-66 in Indonesia, which took place in the aftermath of the coupblamed on communists, but also revived memories of Cambodia andother contemporary horrors. The Chinese population in Dili, East Timor's capital, wastargeted for selective killings. Five hundred were put to death onthe first day of the attack on Dec, 7, 1975, East Timorese exilesand survivors say. ''I fled East Timor, with just the clothes I was wearing. Wehad to leave everything behind,'' said Sam, an ethnic ChineseTimorese who runs a takeaway food outlet in Nightcliff, a suburbin Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory. Sam, who was then 18, escaped with his parents on board a TwinOtter bound for Darwin. ''We got the hell out of Timor, hoursbefore the Indonesians invaded. I remember crying because I wasleaving everything behind - my life, my friends, mypossessions,'' he said. When Sam first arrived in Darwin, in 1975, things weredifficult. ''Everything was alien to me. I couldn't speak Englishand I didn't have friends,'' he said. Twenty-three years later, Sam is viewed by in the TimoreseChinese community here as a leader and has well adjusted to lifein Australia. ''I never gave up. I knew I had to make it here and there wasno choice about it. I couldn't go back to Timor because my familywas marked for death by the Indonesians,'' Sam said, withoutelaborating. One of Sam's uncles had been a Fretilin resistance fighter, buthe refuses to speak about him. But these days, there is great excitement in the Timoresecommunity over what appears to be the real prospect of setting uptheir own independent state. There are reports that a shadowcabinet, led by East Timorese resistance Xanana Gusmao, hasalready been put together. Developments in negotiations on East Timor's status haveoccurred in quick succession since Suharto, under whoseadministration Jakarta annexed the former Portuguese colony,stepped down in May 1998. Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie at first offeredautonomy, then said the government would respect East Timor'swishes if it wants independence. Just on Thursday, Indonesia and Portugal agreed in New York ona United Nations-sponsored ballot to determine the sentiments ofall East Timorese on autonomy within Indonesia, or independence. But although independence has now become real possibility,obstacles remain. With or without guns, East Timor has a long wayto go before it can survive on its own economically. Though it was once a thriving coffee and spice exporter, with aburgeoning tourism trade, East Timor's livelihood has beendecimated by the Indonesian military, which monopolizes importantindustries and imports thousands of transmigrant workers. Many farmers have been forced to give up local crops and growrice, instead, to be shipped to other islands. ''If Xanana can offer my family protection, I will go back toEast Timor and start a restaurant business in Dili. I stillcherish the languid days when we just drank Portuguese wine, ateseafood and played guitar by the beach without a care in theworld,'' said Sam. ''I'm so tired here. I just want to rest." James Ley, the chef in Sam's takeaway, is more down-to-earth.He is not too bothered about the uncertainty in East Timor. ''I am now an Australian citizen, and if anything goes wrongthere I can still come back to Australia,'' he said,pragmatically But Ley wants one thing addressed in an independent EastTimor. ''I want my family house, in Dili, back. When the Indonesiansinvaded, they just occupied it and drove us out on to the streetsat gunpoint. We were homeless and arrived in Darwin penniless. Iwant the Indonesian army to pay my family back rent since 1975." When the Indonesians invaded East Timor, land titling underIndonesian ownership was not introduced. Now one big test comeswith the independence offer from Jakarta: Will land ownershipunder the Portuguese era be legally binding? It is still too early to tell whether the Timorese Chinese willbe the hope for reviving East Timor's war-torn economy, but manyexiles are looking forward to the day they can go home. (Inter Press Service) | |||||||||
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