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The Forum > Article Comments > The debacle that is East Timor > Comments

The debacle that is East Timor : Comments

By Jim Morris, published 7/6/2006

Contrary to the propaganda it was always just East Timorese against East Timorese.

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This is the first time I've been involved in posting comments and I've learnt that a lot of nit-picking goes on. East Timor is only different from the surrounding area because it was colonised by the catholic Portuguese who agreed with the Dutch to put a line on the map dividing Timor into two parts.
I spent 3 months doing a research program on Majapahit at a university in Java so I do know something about it. Enough to say that Indonesia wasn't "an artificial construct born out of Dutch vanity". 1292 until 1527 is quite a long time and it was significant in the history of Indonesia. An indication of the legacy of the Dutch is that almost nobody in Indonesia speaks a word of the language, yet pancasila is the state philosophy.
To look at the map ET is just like a bite taken out of Indonesia, and having spent $5 billion on it Australia still has to chew it
Posted by citizen, Friday, 16 June 2006 6:33:38 PM
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The article by Tim Anderson "Achievements of a failed state" in todays OLO provides some intelligent insights which may well answer some of the critics in this post.
Posted by maracas, Friday, 16 June 2006 8:17:34 PM
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Likewise, much of Europe was united under the Caesars. It was united under Charlemagne. It was united under Napoleon. It was united under Hitler. Does this give Europe a long heritage as a nation?

I am not denying the existence of previous empires. I am saying that when the Dutch arrived they did not simply conquer an existing kingdom. They took over a collection of separate states over a period of time, united them as the Dutch East Indies and created the borders of what is today Indonesia.

Like you, citizen, I have studied Indonesian history. In particular, I studied the techniques used by Sukarno in developing and capitalising on nationalistic sentiment. I am not unfamiliar with the Majapahit kingdom. I admit that I am not an expert, but I do know enough to be confident in what I have said here.
Posted by Otokonoko, Friday, 16 June 2006 11:09:09 PM
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Hello Australians! Pardon my late reply due to an extended holiday.

@Lev:

How bizarre a foreigner like you try to tell us to abandon our superior form of government for an irrelevant foreign system like federalism. Indonesia was a federal state before between 1949-1950. However, this federalism ran against the will of the people as the states turned-out to be puppets of the Dutch. Consequently, populations of each federal state rose-up and forced the disbandment of these states. After the virtual self-destruction of the states, there was no other option but to create a unitary state in accordance to the will of the people. It is clear, Indonesian people has rejected federalism as a failed system.

This was a brilliant move as federal states are always more prone to bloody civil war and catastrophic bloodshed like in Yugoslavia, Nigeria, and in former Soviet Union since federalism promoted chauvinism, ethnic-hatred and exclusiveness.

Indeed the Falintil "guerillas" were just a joke who never posed any threat on Indonesia, they were handled by our army with ease. East Timorese independence has nothing to do with them, but was an exclusive gift from President Habibie who was in a benevolent mood back in 1999. Had Indonesia's president been someone else, or had Habibie been in a different mood, it is guaranteed East Timor will still be a part of Indonesia today.

And yes, GAM surrendered all its weaponry and gave up its separatism in exchange for amnesty. The violent GAM realised if they do not surrender, they'll eventually die in the hands of our military, just like the fate of its "commander" Abdullah Syafei and its "chief-of-staff" Ishak Daud. GAM used tsunami as a face-saving moment to accept Indonesian govt's benevolent offer of amnesty born out of our pity of the tsunami. Not being eager to die, GAM rebels knew to give up when their situation is hopeless. The 2005 Helsinki peace deal is a surrender of GAM by all stretch of imagination.

So now, Indonesia face no problem from separatism. Deal with it.
Posted by Proud to be Indonesian, Sunday, 18 June 2006 11:59:16 PM
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@last word:

Indonesians can never ignore the genocide committed by whites on Aborigines in Australia. We consider whites as a brutal colonial power with absolutely no legitimate reason to be in Australia. You are deluding yourself if you consider the white theft of Aboriginal land was fair and legitimate process. Australia should be returned to Aborigines now. It will be wonderful thing if you and other whites would reflect on these matters.

@citizen:

As I said, had our president in 1999 been not Habibie, or had Habibie been in a different mood, East Timor will still be a part of Indonesia today. East Timorese "independence" was 100% a gift of Habibie. It is still a mystery why Habibie suddenly gave independence to East Timor, as such a move was totally unnecessary at that time. The best guess is Habibie want to relieve Indonesia out of its obligations to pay huge subsidies to support development in East Timor province, a place he constantly called "a worthless piece of real estate that contributed nothing for Indonesia".

That is the problem about having presidents not elected by the people: they can be emotionally unstable people who make decisions based on mood swings like Habibie with the East Timor thingy. Thankfully, Indonesian people now directly elect their president, a process that would screen-out emotionally unstable candidates. The weird and unnecessary East Timor referendum episode won't happen again in the future, thanks to our maturing democracy.

You made very good point: Indonesia has completely forgotten the Dutch language, while East Timor pathetically made Portuguese the official language as that half-island's sole "unfiying factor" while in reality less than 5% of East Timorese can speak Portuguese. Indonesia has always consistently work-hard to cleanse ourselves from all vestige of Dutch influence since our independence.
Posted by Proud to be Indonesian, Monday, 19 June 2006 12:13:23 AM
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@proud

Unitary systems of government can only work in states where there is a single culture. You do not have this in Indonesia and attempts to enforce it are evident in the hundreds of thousands of people that have been killed by various Indonesian governments. You should pay attention to the comments of many of your fellow citizens in this discussion.

Whilst it indeed may be true that the Dutch colonialists attempted to "divide and conquer" the federal state of Indonesia in 1959-1960, one must have the intellectual honesty to acknowledge that this was the first two years of independence when there still was significant political maneuverings by the Dutch to re-assert their authority.

Perhaps you should take into consider the following;
http://208.39.184.185/news/view_speeches_detail.cfm?news_index=109

The most important contribution is recognising that federation is not an end in itself, but a means to enhance local democracy and regional autonomy. This could be achieved in a unitary state; but it's going to be a lot harder given the diversity of the region.

Indeed, the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding displays exactly the advantages of a federal system. You may actually wish to read it sometime; Acheh now has political, legal, and financial independence and even significant control over the police force - and as such, the need for independence has ended.

http://www.aceh-mm.org/download/english/Helsinki%20MoU.pdf

Far from a surrender for GAM it was actually in so many ways a victory. The MoU shows the way forward for governance in the Malay archipelago; regional autonomy within a national government. Let's hope it's adopted elsewhere.

I note that you have carefully avoided my previous question;

'All of which does raise an interesting question; would you be prepared to see independence or autonomy referendums conducted in said regions and for that matter, Bali?

And if not, would you still be "proud" of Indonesia if it returned to being a military dictatorship, or if it gave up any pretense of secularism, or if it engaged in state-sponsored terrorism?'

Your lack of response is perhaps the most clear answer in itself.
Posted by Lev, Monday, 19 June 2006 9:59:46 AM
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