E. Timor pavillion, a tourist favorite culture'
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
East Timor, which will be granted full independence as a new country on Monday, still is represented by a pavilion in the cultural park, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) or Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park.
It could well become an historical symbol memorializing Indonesia's 24-year hold on the territory, as well as a place where some of East Timor's rarest cultural artifacts are preserved.
Additionally, it will highlight the cultural relations between the two nations, as the pavilion has a number of cultural artifacts, which are apparently difficult to find even in East Timor. They include musical instruments, traditional weaponry, fine arts, and traditional cloths.
"What you see here is evidence of the East Timor-Indonesian cultural integration. Those items are very rare in East Timor after the social upheaval and referendum in East Timor in 1999," Lito Barros, a TMII official at the pavilion, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Lito, 53, an East Timorese man who chose to become an Indonesian citizen, said that he and other East Timorese living here were happy to see the pavilion maintained in the park.
Since it was established in 1980, it had often been used by the East Timorese community in Indonesia as a venue for social gatherings. But since 1999 there have been no such gatherings.
Like other pavilions at TMII before 1999, the East Timor pavilion was run by East Timor's provincial administration. But after the 1999 ballot, which led to the independence of the territory, the pavilion was taken over by the park's management.
According to Lito, the East Timor pavilion is a favorite of overseas guests. He said that nearly half of 4,000 monthly visitors to the pavilion were from other countries.
From the messages written on the guest books, they expressed the hope that the Indonesian government would maintain it.
One of the messages, which came from Armandina Gusmao, a sister of President-elect Xanana Gusmao who visited in November last year, read, "Please preserve these goods well as such things are difficult to be found there (in East Timor)."
A similar message, according to the staff, came from M.P. Numan, a journalist from Canada, who said he was delighted to see that the Indonesian people had such great respect for East Timorese history and hoped the cultural exhibition would remain open.
Masud Toyip, the TMII manager for art, culture and tourist affairs, said the management would use the pavilion as a museum, which would be very useful for the young generation to know the history of the two countries.
Lito said the pavilion in the future would be used by the East Timorese, both those who are in Indonesia and visitors from East Timor, to learn about their culture.
"As stated by Ms. Armandina that such items are scarce in East Timor. It is very possible that in the future, they would come here if they want to learn about East Timor culture," said Lito.