Get to know the human side of Xanana Gusmao

Get to know the human side of Xanana Gusmao

To resist is to win! The Autobiography of Xanana Gusmao
with selected letters & speeches
Edited by Sarah Niner
Published by Aurora Books, Richmond, Victoria, in association
with David Lovell Publishing, Ringwood, Victoria, 2000.
Paperback 256 pages

MELBOURNE (JP): Many Indonesians who are still unhappy about
the way East Timor separated from Indonesia and became an
independent state, might feel that they are not ready to read
Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao's autobiography, especially with
such a provocative title, To resist is to win!

On the contrary, it would help them understand what actually
happened from an East Timorese perspective, and would explain
many things which until now came to them selectively and often
incoherently.

The book is not full of hatred toward Indonesia. It is,
instead, a human story about seeking and fighting for personal
and national dignity, something which most people can relate to.

The first part of the book is particularly reader-friendly, in
which young Xanana recounts growing up in the rural East Timorese
district of Manatuto, and how he was increasingly angered by the
unjust situations brought about by colonialism. Even as a young
man, he had begun to question the power and moral legitimacy of
the Portuguese colonizers, personified by those in positions of
authority: priests, local government heads and public servants.

Unlike many would-be leaders who feel fated to rule, Xanana
only wanted the general improvement of indigenous people's lives.
The concentration of power among the elite and the arbitrary
manner with which those in power treated the common people,
especially indigenous East Timorese, offended his sense of
justice and clashed with his idea of common decency.

His account of his early years creates an unthreatening sense
of ordinariness, so the reader does not feel that he or she has
to be awed by the subject's heroism. Toward the middle of the
book, the reader realizes that the subject is not an ordinary
person, but also not one who forces his heroic tales down the
reader's throat.

As a young adult, Gusmao was swept into the current that
pushed him into the leadership role. And after Indonesia took
over power in December 1975, his role became more and more
solidified.

Gusmao was at first uncomfortable as a leader, because he was
aware of his lack of knowledge about the world. His political
awareness, however, was natural and intuitive, and he knew the
enormity of the tasks ahead of him.

His stories about his fellow independence strugglers reveal
that Gusmao has natural respect for other people. He always tries
to justify their decisions and actions, even when they irritated
him.

There are parts where he expresses anger and exasperation
toward Indonesia. However, considering what was done to him and
his fellow East Timorese, his anger is understandable. Even so,
his outbursts are still tempered by attempts at rationalizing
them.

Another quality that sets him apart from many of his fellow
independence activists is his tenacity in the face of apparent
hopelessness. He was leading a small army of guerrillas in the
mountains, becoming more aware every day that the world was not
exactly determined to help his cause.

Other activists, while continuously frustrated in their
struggles, did not have to live in the jungle with death lurking
in every corner, every minute.

Tragedy no doubt encompasses both camps, and an untold number
of lives have been lost. For any healing to occur, we need not
only to look ahead but also to look back and examine closely what
actually happened in East Timor. And we need courage to step
beyond self-pride and to look into the other camp.

To resist is to win! is not a book of chest-beating from a
leader who finally came out a winner (though not without personal
costs). Gusmao does not only show his good sides, but also
aspects of his ignorance and instances of incompetence. In fact,
he does not emerge from this book larger than life, but rounder
and more three dimensional, instead of the enigmatic two
dimensional Xanana Gusmao that had been exposed to us during the
independence struggle. No doubt there is still a great deal that
is still closed to the public about the man who is now the de
facto leader of a new independent state, but one thing comes
across very clearly -- he is very human. And thankfully, he knows
it too.

The book, while revealing, will appeal more to those who are
used to reading fiction. The flow of his life's story stops
abruptly in 1981, and from there the reader is expected to glean
what happened through his philosophical ponderings and occasional
emotional outbursts, in the forms of letters to various people
and authorities. For a reader of fiction, used to forming his or
her own linkages during gaps in the telling, this is hardly a
problem. But for those who expect to have all the hard facts
presented to them, like in most biographies, this may cause some
irritations.

As we need to look ahead and begin a peaceful coexistence with
East Timor, a better understanding of the de facto leader, and
even a post-mortem of the enormously tragic conflict, would be a
great help.

-- Dewi Anggraeni