The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > The traumatic birth of a nation > Comments

The traumatic birth of a nation : Comments

By Mark Byrne, published 8/6/2006

East Timor is a nation born out of mass trauma in need of Australian support.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All
Congratulations, good to read a post that has credibility instead of some of the bigoted and racist ravings that unfortunattely appear on this forum. Thanks Mark
Posted by maracas, Thursday, 8 June 2006 9:56:29 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
What nation? It is ridiculous to call a fly spot on the map with a population of a mere 925,000 - fewer than Adelaide's population - a nation.

It is quite clear that this "nation" cannot survive without huge input from other countries. It is already a failed state, thanks to its Marxist, ex-Fretlin terrorist leaders, and its uneducated, backward people who were far better of when they were looked after by Indonesia.
Posted by Leigh, Thursday, 8 June 2006 11:53:54 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I don't claim to have any expertise, and am unsure whether it's best to intervene or leave it to the Timorese to sort out.

I would appreciate some facts, rather than silly blanket statements such as "what nation?". I'm sure to many Indonesians, Australia is a spot on the map with a mere 21 million people. Population-based assessments of nationhood would destroy status for half the world's nation's.

As for - "It is quite clear that this "nation" cannot survive without huge input from other countries. It is already a failed state, thanks to its Marxist, ex-Fretlin terrorist leaders, and its uneducated, backward people who were far better of when they were looked after by Indonesia" -

East Timor is obviously a failed product of colonialism; Portuguese and Indonesian. Whether it is a failed is difficult to determine. They've already made what seem to be large mistakes. One being adopting Portuguese as the official language, which seems to have locked most Timorese, who don't speak Portuguese, out of politics and national administration. Another mistake seems to have been the appointment of exiles into the lead positions to build the nation; exiles that may have no idea what life is like for the majority of Timorese.

Describing the population as "backward" reeks of the colonialism that has stuffed the place up to begin with. Whether or not the country was better off under the Indonesians, the East Timorese have made the decision that they're better off without them, and they would probably know better than any armchair message-board poster.

This doesn't mean it's our job to intervene, but labelling those who fought for independence is a text-book example of ignorance from someone living in a spoiled nation that hasn't had to fight for anything.

All I ask is to learn more about your point of view. Please explain how East Timor was better off under Indonesain colonialism, and why such people are backward. Otherwise, you surrender the argument, if indeed there is one.
Posted by Gordo, Thursday, 8 June 2006 3:25:27 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Ofcourse Indonesia under Suharto had done many killings at Eeast Timor as well as at other regions in Indonesia. But those were happened when Indonesian soldiers fighting the guerillas. But dont think US has a kind of tomahawk non-genocidal missiles that can choose military targets and keep civilian wedding parties safe.

About peace in East Timor. You westerners dont know us at all. And finally aussie soldiers bring guns to make the place into peace. Remember, dont let the soldiers shoot the gangs, thats a human right abuse.
Posted by Jelata, Thursday, 8 June 2006 5:18:07 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Gordo,
The 'exiles' were members of FRETILIN who were sent out of East Timor when the Indonesian invasion was imminent. They established an 'external mission' in Mozambique, another Portuguese colony which had achieved independence and supported the mission financially. The Mission purpose was to lobby the U.N. and keep the issue of East Timorese sovereignty alive around the world.
They returned to East Timor after the U.N. presence and were elected to Fretilin leadership and then Government in the ensuing elections with the exception of Horta who had resigned from Fretilin in 1980 but was appointed as Foreign Minister because of his experience whilst in Exile.
The 2000 Fretilin conference discussed the language issue at length and most parties agreed with Portuguese being one of the official languages because all official documents, titles were in Portuguese and they wished to maintain fraternal links with other ex colonies (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau and Mozambique as well as Portugal who is the largest donor country to East Timor),
This was not to the exclusion of Tetum, Bahasa and English which are also used. Bahasa and Tetum are working languages in general use as is Mandarin Chinese and English. East Timor is well on the way to becoming a multilingual Country.
Posted by maracas, Thursday, 8 June 2006 5:22:20 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Despite how well disguised the jesuit's words are, the main cause of the suffering of the East Timorise has been the colonial imposition of catholicism on the poor ignorant people. To watch Bishop Belo perform the mass was to see a level of religous sado-masochistic evil beyond the immediate comprehension of the normal person. It is not something to argue about, but something to be seen.
Posted by citizen, Thursday, 8 June 2006 5:48:35 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy