After my rather eye opening not to say life changing - experience in
East-Timor in which I realized there has to be done a huge effort to upgrade
the general well-being of East Timor, I can only hope I dont have to notice
the same poverty and economical recession again in Indonesia.
I hope you (fellow bloggers) and I can stimulate their political leaders
and president Jose Ramos-Horta to create a positive environment where people
can actively participate.
How can we help to achieve this goal?
·Write letters to syndic authorities (who
actually can make a change)
oUnited states
oHuman rights
authorities
o
·Fundraisers
·Upgrade the know-how of the local
entrepreneurs
·
In the end its their population who will need to fix their general
problems which are holding back evolution in al its forms.
Several hours ago I crossed the East-Timor land border and walked
straight into Indonesia that with its 238 million people becomes the world's fourth
most populous country.
If were continuing this journey together you (fellow bloggers) need to
know a certain background about this fascinating country which shares land
borders with Papua
New Guinea, Malaysia and like
you already know East Timor. (Indonesia%20background)
Indonesian
history has been influenced by many foreign powers because of its natural
resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity what has resulted in wars forced by
religion. After those horrific wars Indonesian people had to endure three and a
half centuries of Dutch colonialism.
It doesnt stop
and ever since Indonesia's history has been turbulent, with challenges posed by
natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a cumbersome
democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.
In recent years
Indonesian population faced (BBC%20facts)
·The Asian financial crisis,
·The fall of President Suharto after 32 years in office,
·The first free elections since the 1960s,
·The loss of East Timor,
·Independence demands from restive provinces,
·Bloody ethnic and religious conflict
·Devastating tsunami.
In December 2004 (a part of) Indonesia got
literally flushed away.
7 years later Indonesia still remembers
the devastating tsunami that struck the coastlines across Asia, more than
160,000 Indonesian's died and it was so forceful, that in many places, the
landscape has been altered forever.
Still today many houses remain empty and hundreds of families are awaiting permanent
resettlement.
Many foreign
powers are already in progress to help the people of Indonesia. But I think that
instead of going and actually building their houses and try to change their cultural
and political habits we should rather compensate and give funds (in several
sectors) to the RIGHT PEOPLE to let them rebuild their own society.
The key thing
is for the government and donors to provide advice on earthquake-resistant
houses.
Unfortunately
there hasnt been much time for me to really experience Indonesian culture and
their way to approach certain matters.
I had a
deadline to keep. My agency planned a meeting in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh to talk about the nations culture,
religion, economy,
Date of meeting: 23-03-2011
Signed,
Louis
Ps: If you are still interested in learning more about this magnificent
compilation of Islands (Indonesia) this is a link with some practical numbers
about Indonesia.
While checking in, I had some major difficulties with passport control
and papers. The airport personnel was extremely nervous and made me feel very
uneasy. Their communication skills werent that appropriate.
I noticed a disturbing feeling of chaos.
After 3 exhausting hours they finally let me go. I was starving and in
need for a refreshing beverage and a local delicacy.
I went to Bali Sunrise which was in the end - a cozy place
situated in the east region of Dili (near the airport). The Restaurant had a
nice upstairs open air area where the master chef prepared some of the most
mouthwatering traditional, Indonesian and Chinese Food. Just what I needed at
the time. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Food_Sundanese_Restaurant,_Jakarta.jpg)
It was time to leave Dili and to head out
for the Indonesian border.
I assumed it would take one week to get
there (according to internet information, highway signs, local people ).
Soon I noticed that behind those famous
white, beautiful, sunny, deserted beaches there is
a world we have no idea off. A world of:
·Poverty
·Scrap of several civil wars
·Deserted areas
·Almost no accommodations (except for the wealthy tourists)
·
This is
definitely the result of decades of occupation.
East-Timor
has always been under colonial reign. If you re-read their troubling history
and you know their political tensions, it is easy to understand why this
country is in need of help. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_East_Timor)
The first inhabitants are thought to be descendant of Australasian and Melanesian people.
The Portuguese began to
trade with the island of Timor in the
early 16th century and colonized it in mid-century.
Imperial Japan occupied
East Timor from 1942 to 1945, but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the
Japanese defeat in World
War II.
East Timor declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November
1975.
However 9 days later East-Timor got invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces . Between 1974 and 1999, there
were an estimated 102,800 conflict-related deaths (killings and deaths from
hunger and illness)
The Indonesian army is reported
to have trained and supplied militias imported from Indonesia to terrorize the
population.
So on 30 August 1999, in a UN-sponsored referendum, an overwhelming majority of
East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia.
Since the 21st century the United Nations
supports East-Timor.
Thanks to their cooperation with the United Nations they are ever since developing their
economy. A major factor in the development process is education. There are 3
international schools which help out the education of the inhabitants.
As quoted earlier: poverty, political tension, civil wars are common in
East-Timor.
For the moment East-Timor is THE poorest country in Asia.
Maybe this situation will and can change, but a big effort will have to
be made.
This effort should not only come forth from the government and Timor
inhabitants but also from big global forces who neglected their existence for
way to many years.
First man for the job: (who can really start making a change?)
Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Jose Ramos-Horta. He won the presidential
elections in 2007 with nearly 70% of the votes. Through media like radio,
television and press he might put some spirit back into this country.
Another important factor to help East-Timor economically can be a more
professional exploitation of gas and oil found in Timor .
For myself I can conclude East-Timor is quietly getting better and I
hope the UN and other global forces unite to help them out of their misery.
Meanwhile I can see the Indonesian border. Hopefully this country tells
me something more than gang violence and poverty.
As I (Louis) have finally been granted permission to undertake my road trip, I finally can start my weekly blog (depending on destination).
I'll tend to keep a certain focus on the purpose of this exhausting trip.
I choose those destinations (village, country, etc.) because there is a lot to do around their economy, their market within a political unstable system.
I hope to present you a realistic view of the part of the world I'm in.
My first destination is East-Timor.
Future destinations are Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Irak and final destination is Saudi-Arabia.
Due to political tensions I'll might be urged to take impulsive decisions (skip a country, alternative route, ...).
However, this shouldn't be much of a problem.
Signed,
Louis
Ps: when I will have finished my trip, I'm planning to undertake a speaking tour across Belgium and France.