Love is bringing two 2ltr bottles of fresh water and heating them in the sun while your boyfriend goes diving. Then standing on the back of the car and pouring the water over his head, so that he washes the salt from his hair. I thought this was so sweet, it reminded me of those ‘Love Is’ cartoons you used to get in the Daily Mail.
Back in February this year there was spate of rice raids around town. Well to prevent a reoccurrence, rice is now transported with a police escort; one car at the front, then three rice trucks, then another police car. The rice trucks themselves are so overloaded, they look extremely precarious. On the way to lunch I commented that the police car at the back was only there to pick up stray bags if they fall off. On the way back from lunch, that’s exactly what happened! The UN Policeman was hauling the stray bags into the back of his truck causing an enormous traffic jam.
At the start of the crisis last year, one vigilant Timorese labourer was digging a trench outside the centre for the new water pipes. He was even doing this when the shots started! However, the trench was then abandoned until September when the new pipes were finally put in. It’s now June and one of the pipes up the road has sprung a leak, causing a swamp and water flooding into the road. But the Timorese being an inventive lot have turned the water source into an impromptu car wash for taxis, as the water is pretty clean. That would just never happen back home.
Everyone has different memories and experiences of the last year. For the new batch of New Zealand cops staying in the Esplanada, the situation is a picnic compared to what their predecessors faced. However, they are still getting to grips with what the conflict is all about. They had to break up a 300 strong stone fight. Was it politically motivated? Was it an East/West thing? Was it a gang fight? No it was the result of a Karaoke competition!
I dived with one of the cops last week on Pertamina jetty, only to surface and be faced with a gun wielding FDTL officer and his cronies. Apparently, diving on the jetty is a security risk as I may be a terrorist like the Bali bombers. I explained that I was diving with a policeman and showed him photos of fish on my camera, but it didn’t cut it. Luckily the Minister for fisheries popped in the dive centre the next day, so hopefully we will soon get our nearest dive site back.
A couple of weeks ago, I finally visited the cemetery at Santa Cruz. This was the place that on the 12th of November 1991, the Indonesian military opened fire on a peaceful demonstration killing over 200 Timorese. The Indonesian government admitted killing 19, then upped it to 51, but every report I’ve read, states around 200 were killed. There is no memorial there, but the place is so packed with graves it’s hard to walk around. Many of the graves are tiny as infant deaths here are high. The graves are all shapes and sizes, many of them tombs, colourfully adorned with pictures, statues and flowers.
You would think that after all this tiny country endured under the Indonesian occupation and how hard that they fought for independence, that the nation could live in harmony, united by their history. Unfortunately this is not the case. I saw some of the footage of the massacre of the 11 unarmed policemen last May. It was horrific. Being here at the time, I remember the day, but didn’t see the footage that went out to the world. The photos I saw wouldn’t have been broadcast either because they were too gory. There is only so much blood that the public can endure on national television. For months after there were stones blocking the road like an unofficial memorial, a no-go zone. Now there is an official memorial with 11 headstones of those that were killed and a large inscription honouring them for dying serving their country.
A few nights ago there was a shooting incident where the FDTL fired warning shots in the air to break up a crowd. Normally warning shots would be one or two, but this was around 30 shots. What the FDTL haven’t grasped is the law of gravity, what goes up must come down and unfortunately they came down a bit too close to the Australian troops who returned fire. Luckily I haven’t heard of any fatalities from this incident.
It’s now a few days until the election and the atmosphere around town is becoming tense, you can feel it. Political rallies are taking place and there are UNPol everywhere. The GNR have screamed past with sirens blaring several times today, and we have seen several lorry loads of Fretilin supporters driving into town as it’s their rally today. One lorry just went past and got stoned by our local boys. Two minutes later, all the Kiwi cops from the Esplanada were out on the street in flak jackets, but not before my two Norwegian neighbours dressed only in bath towels. That made me laugh more than anything.
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