Hercules: from Ainaro to Jakarta (I)

Recently a certain Indonesian national caused a stir and turned up the heat between Indonesia and Timor-Leste in what would normally have been a cozy but unremarkable relationship. This all took place after Lere Anan Timur, the head of F-FDTL and a national hero of resistance, threatened to arrest this individual if he ever visits Timor-Leste again. Indonesian members of parliament rejected Lere's threats and demanded an apology. In Timor-Leste, local politicians viewed the Indonesian reaction as laughable and even offensive. So who is this individual? He is Rosario Marçal, AKA 'Hercules', a ruthless gangster who controls Jakarta's underworld to some, a hero and a celebrity to others.

The name Hercules is associated with fear. "Whenever the name Hercules is mentioned, the image which comes to mind is that of terror," said a popular Indonesian talk show host, Kick Andy, as he introduced Rosario Marçal "Hercules" to his audience (YouTube).

But Hercules has since 'reformed', apparently changing his career from leading one of Jakarta's most notorious gangs to philanthropy. More recently, he also made strides into politics, backing various politicians in the elections, including Jakarta's governorship, as well as running a mass movement called GRIB (New Indonesian People's Movement). Many in the Indonesian elites court him including celebrities and politicians, in particular Prabowo Subianto, a serious contender to Indonesia's top job in the upcoming elections.

So who exactly is Hercules, or Rosario Marçal? If you think his name doesn't sound very Indonesian that's because he's not 'really' Indonesian. He is East Timorese who made it big in Indonesia for all the wrong reasons.

Marçal was born in Timor-Leste's district of Ainaro, a remote and mountainous region, more than 40 years ago. In his childhood, this region would have been considered a frontier. The road to Ainaro is very bad today and it takes many hours to get there. Forty years ago, you could only get there on horseback and the journey took days.

However by the 1970s, Marçal already understood the political questions facing Timor-Leste as the Portuguese empire began to fade. He opted for Timor-Leste's integration to Indonesia opposing those who wanted independence. According to James Dunn, a former Australian diplomat and Timor-Leste historian, in the early 1980s Marçal was "organising groups of young men to counter independence supporters using strong arm methods, specially martial arts".

During the Indonesian invasion, Marçal served with the Indonesian army against the pro-independence resistance fighters lead by FRETILIN. According to Dunn, he helped the Indonesians identify FALINTIL fighters who were handed over to KOPASSUS intelligence for 'investigation'.

Marçal's enthusiasm for the pro-integration cause impressed a certain Indonesian special force officer who consequently adopted him and brought him to Jakarta in the mid 1980s. It was an enduring relationship which helped transform Marçal from a common villager to Hercules, perhaps the most influential and most successful East Timorese in Indonesia. And that man who made him Hercules was none other than Prabowo Subianto.

Hercules, middle, with Prabowo Subianto to his right in late 1970s or early 1980s in Timor-Leste. The men pictured in this photo belong to Indonesian special force KOSTRAD. (Source: Marçal's Facebook fan page)

Brand new Toyota Prados line Timor's poverty stricken streets

Source: Emerging Leadership in Democracy

These are the luxury cars that Timor-Leste's 65 MPs have decided to give themselves.

Maybe Brig. General Lere Anan Timur should say something about this instead?

Seeds of life or destruction?

Source: Crickey.com

Seeds of Life is an AusAID funded program which aims to help local farmers maintain an ample supply of staple-crop seeds. They've been working in Timor-Leste since 2001 under the maxim "seed security is food security". Although their work has achieved some measured success, not everyone agrees with their method. Ego Lemos, an agricultural activist and a renowned Timorese musician, thinks this program is destroying Timor-Leste's crop diversity by focusing exclusively on quantity.

Read more: "Seeds of Life or destruction of culture? Hungry East Timor debates" by Nick Sheridan.

Timor Politicians agree on one thing: Luxury SUVs to get around

Toyota Prado. Every Timorese politician's dream.

The 65 odd Timorese parliamentarians are to receive a brand new Toyota Prado each with a price tag of $50,000 plus, excluding maintenance. The beneficiaries  include FRETILIN faction (the main opposition party) which rejected a quasi-similar offer by the state, albeit the cheaper  and less grandiose Mitsubishi Pajero, in the last legislature under their honourable and principled stance.

The year 2013 is shaping up to be a great year for the politicians.

Longuinhos: Missing PNTL guns no impact on security

Twenty-seven hand guns and four HK33 semiautomatic assault riffles belonging to PNTL remain unaccounted for. They went missing during the 2006 crisis and have not been recovered ever since despite much effort. “One missing gun is bad enough, let alone thirty one. This is a very serious and dangerous situation,” said one East Timorese to the Dili Weekly.

HK33 semiautomatic assault riffle

However, according to the chief of PNTL, Dr Longuinhos Monteiro, these missing weapons do not pose any threat to security and stability (Timor Post, 12/1/2013). He urges everyone to stop with their negativity and focus on the positive. "We cannot think about the bad only. We must be optimist, that from here on it will be better," he said.

Meanwhile, Longuinhos also announced that the PNTL is going to suspend officers who were responsible for losing another assault riffle, an FNC, in 2012. According to Timor Post (14/1/2013), the riffle went missing while the bearer was in the middle of committing an affair with another man's wife.

Still on the issue of guns, Julio Thomas Pinto, the secretary of state for defence, announced that this year the government will buy new riffles for F-FDTL.

Jornal Timor Post
Sabadu, 12 Janeiru 2013
Longuinhos Monteiro: “Kilat 31 Ne’ebe Lakon La Fo Impaktu Seguransa” 

Komandante Jeral Polisia Nasional Timor-Leste (PNTL), Komisariu Longuinhos Monteiro, deklara kilat 31 husi instituisaun PNTL ne’ebe lakon iha Krize 2006 sei la fo impaktu ba seguransa iha rai laran. 

“Hau hanoin kilat neebe lakon, ne’e la fo impaktu ba estabilidade seguransa iha rai laran,” dehan Komisariu Longuinhos Monteiro ba Jornalista sira, iha Kuartel jeral PNTL, Caicoli, Dili, Sesta (11/1). 

Tuir longuinhos katak, situasaun iha rai laran oras ne’e dadaun la’o hakmatek no kontroladu, tanba iha preparasaun no kontrolu ne’ebe diak husi parte seguransa.
“Ita labele iha hanoin ida a’at deit, ita tenki optimismu katak ba oin ita sei diak liu tan,” dehan Longuinhos. 

Longuinhos konfesa, nia parte fo ona orientasaun ba komandante Distritu 13 atu bele asegura no mantein seguransa iha ida-idak nia distritu durante 2013 nia laran. 

Jornal Timor Post
Segunda-feira, 14 Janeiru 2013
“Komando PNTL Suspende Ona Ofisial Halakon Kilat” 

Komandu Polisia Nasional Timor Leste (PNTL) foti ona desizaun suspende ofisial PNTL ne’ebe halakon kilat ho marka FNC iha fulan Agustu 2012 liu ba. 

Komandante Jeral PNTL, Komisariu Longuinhos Monteiro, konfesa ofisial PNTL ne’ebe halakon kilat hetan ona prosesu displinar husi komandu PNTL iha 2012 liu ba. 

“Agora tama ona iha prosesu displinar, hau simu relatoriu husi inspektur jeral katak, nia hetan ona sansaun, ha’u la fiksa nia data, mais sansaun sai tiha ona iha fulan Novembru 2012 karik,” hateten komandante Jeral PNTL, Longuinhos Monteiro iha kapital Dili (12/01). 

Tuir informasaun antes ne’e katak, kilat FNC ne’e lakon iha parte area Pantai kelapa wainhira ofisial PNTL ne’e ba halo relasaun ho ema nia fen kaben iha Agostu 2012 liu ba.

Jornal Timor Post
Segunda-feira, 14 Janeiru 2013
“Governu Sei Sosa Kilat Foun Ba F-FDTL” 

Governu komesa foti ona desizaun hodi sosa tan kilat ba instituisaun FALINTIL-Forsa Defeza Timor-Leste (F-FDTL), hodi troka kilat tuan ne’ebe durante ne’e iha instituisaun F-FDTL. 

Sekretariu Estadu Defeza (SED), Julio Tomas Pinto, ba Jornalista sira informa, governu iha ona desizaun hodi sosa kilat ba iha instituisaun F-FDTL iha tinan 2013 nia laran. 

“Agora sosa kilat ne’e ninia prosesu lao hela, mais hau la kohi esplika prosesu ida ne’e, tanba ida ne’e halo nusa mak ita ba esplika fali iha publiku, mais tinan ida ne’e kilat mai ona, troka ita nia kilat sira ne’ebe tuan ona,” dehan SED, Julio Thomas Pinto, iha Palasiu Governu foin lalais ne’e. 

Nia dehan, kilat ne’ebe governu hanoin atu sosa ba iha instituisaun F-FDTL la’os buat ida ne’ebe fasil hanesan sosa ropa iha loza, maibe sei liu husi prosedimentu. 

“Ita tenki hatene sosa kilat ne’e laos buat bai-bain, tanba ninia prosedimentu naruk,” tenik Julio Thomas Pinto. 

Ho ida ne’e Julio dehan, nia parte lakohi infrma ba publiku hanesan instituisaun seluk nian ne’ebe sosa kilat tenki publika atu ema hotu hatene kilat ne’ebe sei sosa. 

“Hau lakohi esplika hanesan instituisaun sira seluk, atu esplika prosesu kilat no modelu kilat ne’e hotu,” hateten SED Julio Thomas. 

Nia dehan, prosesu sosa kilat ne’e lao hela no governu serviso hamutuk ho nasaun sira ne’ebe merese atu bele supay kilat mai iha Timor Leste. 

“Agora karta ida mai tiha ona atu F-FDTL bele ba haree kilat ne’ebe ita atu sosa, hau lakohi esplika detaillu ba publiku, maibe hau fiar katak kilat ne’e sei to’o,” dehan nia. 

Maski nune’e, Julio Thomas Pinto mos lakohi esplika kona ba tipu kilat no kuantidade kilat ne’ebe sei sosa no husi nasaun ne’ebe, maibe kilat ne’e sei sosa iha tinan 2013.

How they carried water in the 19th century Timor

Source: Posted in Facebook group Timor Online

This how water was ferried around in Timor (or at least in Kupang where the illustration was made) more than a couple of hundred years ago by women, a task still mostly reserved to them today as it was then.

Water is transported using palm leaves woven, or tied at one end, to form a large container. I have not seen something like this in Timor or anywhere else.

The illustration is made by Nicholas-Martin Petit (1777-1804) during an expedition commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte and commanded by Nicholas Baudin in the early 19th century. The expedition passed through Australia and Timor where it made a stopover in Kupang, West Timor and produced several good quality illustrations.

An East Timorese murdered in the Oecusse border

A Naktuta man has been killed, or suspected to have been murdered at the restive Naktuta border area  between Timor-Leste and Indonesia (Independente, 11/1/2013). The villagers are pointing their fingers towards villagers on the other side of the border as responsible for the murder. It's the latest in a string of clashes between villagers from both sides of the border.

While at the national level Timor-Leste and Indonesian leaders, both civilian or military, seem to be forging warmer and warmer relationship, tensions continue to mar the livelihood of communities inhabiting villages at their respective side of the borders. The border dispute in in Naktuta area, a remote village of the border has often turned into tense standoff. Naktuta is part of Timor-Leste and is located in the district of Oécusse-Ambeno. Attacks by armed gangs, looting, destruction of properties, and death have been recorded. There are indications of involvement by members of Indonesian military and police posted at the border. At the heart of this dispute are farmlands which villagers on both sides of the divide claim as theirs. But apart from the international border that divides them, both communities actually share everything else including language, culture and customs, and even kinship.

Longuinhos Monteiro, the head of PNTL has attributed responsibility to politicians of both countries who have not managed to resolve the border issue. However, given the extremely friendly relations between the two countries police and military, why has nothing been agreed to at least control or halt the violence attacks? Or has Indonesia lost control over sections of its military and is unable to apply discipline against their soldiers posted at these sensitive areas?