East Timor debacle a study in cultural differences

East Timor debacle a study in cultural differences

Ballot and Bullets: Seven Days in East Timor
By Tim Fischer
Allen and Unwin, Sydney
149 pp
A$19.95

JAKARTA (JP): Australian reviewer Ray Duplain wrote last May
that former Australian deputy prime minister Tim Fischer's
account of the United Nations-sponsored East Timorese ballot was
"fearless". He further commented that Fischer wrote "clearly and
forcefully ... in an honest and direct style" about the ballot
held in August last year.

Fischer, a widely respected elder statesman of Australian
politics, undertook the role of leader of the Australian Observer
Delegation as his last official duty before resigning as deputy
head of the government and trade minister. His account, Ballot
and Bullets: Seven Days in East Timor, is clearly intended for a
domestic Australian readership.

The book is passionately written, which is part of the
problem. Are Indonesians interested in an Australian perspective
of the East Timorese self-determination vote and its violent
aftermath? As usual, the differences between the way Australians
and Indonesians perceive delicate issues and then write about
them is not so much in substance, but in the form it takes.

In Indonesia it is said that "the more subtle the meaning, the
more culturally sophisticated the message, the greater the
impact". Indonesians often express a negative by emphasizing a
positive. For this reason, many conceal strong feelings,
including justified criticism. For most Indonesians, the
suppression of emotion is a virtue instilled from childhood. It
does not mean that Indonesians are culturally incapable of
confrontation, but rather that the manner of preserving dignity
in interpersonal, professional and diplomatic relationships is
paramount. Indeed, most Indonesians earnestly maintain that
confrontation can be a positive experience, if handled correctly.

Indonesians are trained to express themselves in an entirely
different way to many westerners, who, in the most part, are
encouraged to externalize their thoughts, opinions or
frustrations, as demonstrated by Fischer. Indonesians on the
other hand are typically less blunt, more subtle. They are seen
by people in the West to internalize their feelings. This is not
strictly true. Instead many Indonesians have a greater sense of
the implications of a negative confrontation. Therefore they are
more careful with delicate issues, and they are especially
careful with the "truth".

Americans, Europeans and Australians like Fischer, on the
other hand, believe that being forthright, bold and
uncompromising are among the highest social and political
virtues. It is almost the antithesis of the compromise and
consensus that characterizes the way controversy is negotiated in
the world's forth most populous nation.

Fischer is, however, consistent. His strong words are not just
reserved for those complicit in the militia violence. His well-
justified criticism of 60 Minutes journalist Richard Cartlon's
provocative actions in Liquica on Sept. 8, 1999, is a case in
point. The debate that follows casts new light on how Australians
do things, how they relate to each other's shortcomings and why
it is important for both Australians and Indonesians to
creatively manage, rather than gloss over, these cultural
differences.

The fallout from the East Timor ballot, the militia violence
and the intervention of the International Force for East Timor
have without question damaged relations between the two
neighbors. Australians were outraged by the violence and put a
great deal of pressure on their government for swift and decisive
action. Indonesians were angry and confused about what appeared
to them to be an unwelcome incursion by a foreign power on
sovereign Indonesian territory during the darkest days of the
Asian economic crisis.

Fischer's book is not all criticism, although one has to look
carefully for conciliatory comments. These are centered on the
role of the Habibie government in approving the ballot, in the
assistance of sections of the Indonesian Military in the smooth
deployment of peacekeepers and in the role of Indonesian
legislatures, particularly on Oct. 19, 1999, in affirming the
result of the ballot and then revoking Indonesian sovereignty
over her 27th province.

During an interview with this author last week, Fischer
encouraged Indonesians to read his book with an open mind, and to
look beyond the particular cultural form it takes. He asked that
they consider his experiences in the balance.

Fischer was also keen to add a postscript that most of the
Indonesian officials he met during the United Nations Mission in
East Timor ballot were courteous and constructive, and that he
understood the pressures they were under to carry out their jobs
in difficult circumstances. In particular, Fischer singled out
one Lt. Arly, now promoted and serving in Bogor, who he said "was
particularly helpful and courageous to him in his duties at
Nicasar".

Fischer's pragmatism and natural optimism are appealing
features of the book. In one section, he wrote about the strain
of the ballot, the upheaval and the occupation by Australian
troops.

"These difficulties are small compared to all of those that
have to be overcome in rebuilding the relationship between
Australia and Indonesia," he wrote. "With the help of balanced
media, this is an achievable task that will be helped by resumed
growth in trade, investment and tourism links."

-- Rob Goodfellow is a writer and Indonesian cultural
consultant to international business. He is based at the
University of Wollongong and can be contacted on
sujoko@ozemail.com.au.