East Timorese youths look a homegrown heroes

By Kafil Yamin

DILI, East Timor (JP): Who is East Timor's coolest guy? Ask youths in Dili, and you get the same excited answer: "Xanana Gusmao."

Ask who is Indonesia's coolest guy, and they respond: "Iwan Fals."

Kay Rala Xanana, popularly known as Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, is a hero not only for his staunch stand on East Timor's independence, but also his good looks.

"When he appears on TV, talking to reporters in Indonesian, I feel excited and proud," said Virgina, a Dili senior high school student.

Xanana, chairman the National Resistance Council for an Independent East Timorese, is serving out his prison sentence at a specially designated detention house in Jakarta.

Over the New Year, calendars featuring Xanana's picture hit the Dili market. The calendars carry an Indonesian caption which translates as: "Today one is a traitor, tomorrow he will become a hero, who knows? Today some is a hero, tomorrow he well may become a traitor, who knows?"

The calendars sold out in a few days. Some students bought two or three calendars. "My friends will ask for this calendar when they see it. I'll still have another one if I should give one away," said Mario, a student of East Timor University.

Xanana's charisma and charm can seemingly overcome tussle of pros and cons about him and his struggle. Civil servants joined the buying rush; state-owned vehicles were observed making stops to pick up the calendar.

Iwan Fals also appears on striking posters touted by street vendors. "The two guys look similar," said Virgina with a smile.

In one corner of the school compound, a group of schoolboys played the guitar, singing Iwan's popular number Bento. A look of excitement flashed on Virgina's face.

"I like this song. I can sing it well," she told The Jakarta Post.

She is familiar with other Timorese, figures like Antonio Ramos Horta or Jose da Costa, from the mass media. But controversy over her homeland has created a psychological barrier in how she views her school history lessons.

"Each time my teacher calls the Dutch our colonizer, I feel I am not involved. And each time my history teacher mentions names of heroes who bravely fought against the Dutch, I feel strange," she said.

"Besides, my teacher hardly ever calls the Portuguese our colonizer."

For more than four hundred years, East Timor was a colonial outpost of the Portuguese, who were first attracted to the region two years after their conquest of Malacca in 1511.

In time, the direct entry of the Dutch into Asia had disastrous consequences for the Portuguese. The first major defeat was the seizure of Malacca by the Dutch, followed by Kupang in West Timor in 1653.

The Portuguese presence in Southeast Asia was gradually reduced to the eastern half of the island.

The first border agreement between the Dutch and the Portuguese was concluded in 1858. In 1913, the two colonial powers completed their border discussions with the Sentence Arbitral in The Hague. Two years later, a treaty was signed which divided Timor almost equally, with the Dutch in the west and the Portuguese in the east.

In 1945, the Netherlands lost control of West Timor when the Republic of Indonesia was born. It has been a different story on the other half of the island; East Timor became Indonesia's 27th province in 1976.

As Virginia recounted, East Timor's different history from the rest of Indonesia receives little coverage in school.

Don Boa Ventura, an East Timorese independence fighter against the Portuguese, is a minor figure in history lessons in East Timor's schools. Several students said they knew more about him from their parents and old books.

Intense discussions outside of school have given Virgina another view on history.

"Several friends of mine even told me that the real colonizer of East Timorese now is Indonesia," Virgina said.

"And our heroes are not so distant, down in the old historical books. Our heroes are among us. I have become aware that I am not separated from them and I am part of the history itself."

Cases of physical harassment by students of "Indonesian", or non-East Timorese, teachers are increasing, strengthening the view of Indonesia as the colonizer.

Thousands of teachers in East Timor have protested in demand of a return to their hometowns or transfers to other areas. They complain of growing physical harassment by students and their parents.

Liciano Branco, who is in his last year at East Timor University, said time and experience teach Timorese youths more effectively about their own history.

"While the Indonesian authorities call Xanana a rebel or criminal, we do not hesitate to call him our hero. No single teacher in our classes tells us so," he told the Post.

"Some moderate groups in this land may not be willing to call him a hero. But none of them is willing to call him a criminal either."

Branco feels the same detachment as Virgina when his history lecturer mentions names of Indonesian independence fighters like the organizations Boedi Oetomo, Islamic Trade Union or the Sukarno-founded Indonesian National Party.

"I don't deny they were freedom fighters for Indonesia, but for us, the freedom fighting organizations are Fretilin and its allies," he said.

Timorese youths do have several Indonesian heroes and idols. Branco said Indonesia's freedom fighting organization for the Timorese was Indonesian Solidarity for East Timor (Solidamor).

Dewi Rosa Damayanti, Solidamor's staunch activist, is well- known among Timorese students. "If she comes to Dili, we will greet her with a big carnival and take her around the city. She has won Timorese hearts," he said.

Chairman of the National Mandate Party Amien Rais is another popular figure in the territory. "East Timorese, just like our reformist brothers in Indonesia, put a lot of our expectations on him for a better future," said Gradius Fernandez, a student of the teacher training school of East Timor University.