The Lusosphere: East Timor

Timor derives from the Indonesian word Timur, meaning "east".

Before the Portuguese arrived in Timor, there was already in the island a small population of hunters and farmers. There is documentation proving that this island maintained commercial ties with China (around the VII century) selling slaves, bee wax, sandalwood and noble wood (used to manufacture luxury furniture).

1512: the Portuguese arrived in East Timor. For 4 centuries the Lusitanians only used the territory for commercial purposes (thus, exploiting the island's natural resources: sandalwood & coffee). Unlike they had done in the other colonies, the Portuguese never developed this island (for instance: only during the XX century, after the 60's, there was electricity, potable water, sewage systems, schools and hospitals in Díli [the capital of East Timor], all the rest of the nation remained undeveloped).

August 1975 (a year after the Portuguese Carnation Revolution of 1974): the Portuguese government decides to leave the island; passing on the power to the FRETILIN (Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste [East Timor Revolutionary Front]).

28th of November 1975: FRETILIN (supported by the People's Republic of China) declares independence. But this independence did not last, since the Indonesian troops invaded the island (by orders of General Suharto, on the 7th of December, who was supported by the USA and Australia for fear of a communist domino effect), despite the repudiation expressed by the United Nations, making of it thus the 27th Indonesian province (called Timor Timur). The Indonesians applied a genocide policy, which resulted in the massacre of the Timorese (for more details read here).

The leader of FRETILIN (Xanana Gusmão) was imprisoned; and when Nelson Mandela visited him (in July of 1997) the people were more encouraged to seek independence from Indonesia. The fight for liberation was extremely violent; which led the governments of Portugal and Indonesia (in 1999) to negotiate a referendum (on the independence of the territory) - on the 30th of August 1999, 78,5% of the electorate voted for the independence of Timor. Meanwhile, Indonesia began a program of social development in order to improve its image near the Timorese people.

After the referendum, the militias (that were allowed to defend the interests of the Indonesian country, by decree) went to the streets to kill everybody suspected of having voted for the independence. Thousands of people ran to hide in the mountains, families were separated, foreigners were evacuated leaving, thus, Timor in the midst of violence between the military and the Indonesian militias.

Portugal (in the person of Durão Barroso, the present President of the European Commission) engaged on a serious diplomatic battle in order to ensure the independence of this nation, since Portugal felt responsible for the current state of affairs. The Portuguese, in national territory (from North to South), placed white sheets by the windows as a token of solidarity towards the Timorese people; and funds were raised to help the displaced families and refugies. During this time Portugal welcomed thousands of refugees from Timor.

20th of May 2002: Timor finally became independent and Xanana Gusmão (presently Timor's Prime Minister) was elected its President.

Language

The official languages are the Tétum and the Portuguese (although for business Indonesian and English are the elected languages); however there are 15 other national languages: ataurense, baiqueno, becais, búnaque, cauamina, fataluco, galóli, habo, idalaca, lovaia, macalero, macassai, mambai quémaque and tocodede.

Culture

The culture reflects the influence of several other cultures: the Roman Catholic tradition; Portugal and Malaysia. The majority of the population is Roman Catholic. The national Anthem is "Pátria" (Nation) and is sung in Portuguese only.

(Traditional house in Díli)

Architecture

There are some Portuguese-style buildings, along with the traditional lulik (sacred houses in tetum) and the lee teinu (houses with legs) in the region of Fataluku.

Video

Let's finish this article with some images from this beautiful island. Enjoy!

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