Timorese People Research Articles

Social inclusion and exclusion of people with mental illness in Timor-Leste: a qualitative investigation with multiple stakeholders

BackgroundSocial inclusion is a human right for all people, including people with mental illness. It is also an important part of recovery from mental illness. In Timor-Leste, no research has investigated the social experiences of people with mental illness and their families. To fill this knowledge gap and inform ongoing mental health system strengthening, we investigated the experiences of social inclusion and exclusion of people with mental illness and their families in Timor-Leste.MethodsEighty-five participants from the following stakeholder groups across multiple locations in Timor-Leste were interviewed: (1) people with mental illness and their families; (2) mental health and social service providers; (3) government decision makers; (4) civil society members; and (5) other community members. Framework analysis was used to analyse interview transcripts.ResultsPeople with mental illness in Timor-Leste were found to face widespread, multi-faceted sociocultural, economic and political exclusion. People with mental illness were stigmatised as a consequence of beliefs that they were dangerous and lacked capacity, and experienced instances of bullying, physical and sexual violence, and confinement. Several barriers to formal employment, educational, social protection and legal systems were identified. Experiences of social inclusion for people with mental illness were also described at family and community levels. People with mental illness were included through family and community structures that promoted unity and acceptance. They also had opportunities to participate in activities surrounding family life and livelihoods that contributed to intergenerational well-being. Some, but not all, Timorese people with mental illness benefited from disability-inclusive programming and policies, including the disability pension, training programs and peer support.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the need to combat social exclusion of people with mental illness and their families by harnessing local Timorese sociocultural strengths. Such an approach could centre around people with mental illness and their families to: increase population mental health awareness; bolster rights-based and culturally-grounded mental health services; and promote inclusive and accessible services and systems across sectors.

Spirit Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-conflict Timor-Leste

Abstract In post-conflict Timor-Leste, the concepts of spirit ecologies and intergenerational wellbeing direct our attention to the ways in which Timorese people derive strength from house-based family networks as well as protective and productive spiritual relations with living nature. These practices of exchange resonate with a comparative body of research that has described similar ‘spiritscapes’ elsewhere in Southeast Asia and their relevance for social and environmental governance. Exploring the diverse ontologies of particular Timorese ‘spirit ecologies’ and their embedding in a concept of more-than-human ‘intergenerational wellbeing’, in this article we investigate the renewed significance of these ‘house-based’ practices for social and environmental governance in Timor-Leste. We argue that despite the challenges, multiple engagements of mutually appropriated, transgenerational debt obligations and ritually regulated forms of resource governance are emerging as cultural, and increasingly state-sanctioned, strategies aimed at rebuilding the social and environmental commons.

Why nationalism did not emerge earlier in Timor-Leste: customary cultures confront globalising modernism

ABSTRACTThis article explores Timor-Leste’s long history of colonial encounters with modernity and globalisation. Over a couple of centuries these forces contributed to creating a particular form of customary nationhood that differed from other nations which, on the face it, appear to have parallel histories. More than that, a sense of nationhood came later in Timor-Leste than in most colonial and postcolonial settings. Through an analysis of Timor’s predominantly customary forms of sociality and organisation, this article explores why political nationalism came so late to a territory that like many other colonies had an established generalising cultural identity and was part of a global history of colonisation. Drawing in issues such as Timor’s place in global history, conflict, resistance, Indigenous power, the unevenness of Portuguese colonisation, rejection of the homogenising process and the naming of the Timorese people, it is concluded that the continuing depth of customary-traditional cultures and the nature of the colonial experience cut against the early formation of a sense of nationhood, even as this became one of the strengths in the Timorese fight against colonial oppression.

The Role of Timorese Women in Food Management

Timorese people have made gender segregation for several things such as; sex, traditional house and job. Timorese women are identical to round houses (ume kbubu), where inside the house, the women spend their time and activities. Timorese women play an important role in ume kbubu, one of which is the management of food. The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of Timorese women in food management. This research was conducted in Binaus Village, Molo Tengah District, South Central Timor Regency, West Nusa Tenggara Province. This research employed qualitative descriptive method from observation and interview. Timorese entitlement receives rights and responsibilities related to food management. They will arrange all streams of incoming and outgoing food. The conclusion of this research is that Timorese women have full control over family food management.

In Vitro Antibakteri Ekstrak Etanol Puni (Zingiber zerumbet) Asal Pulau Timor

Puni (Zingiber zerumbet) merupakan tanaman yang tumbuh secara liar yang dimanfaatkan oleh penduduk di Pulau Timor dalam mengobati luka borok. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui aktivitas antibakteri esktrak tanaman dan mengetahui kandungan senyawa aktif pada ekstrak teraktif tanaman. Ekstraksi senyawa-senyawa aktif tanaman dilakukan menggunakan empat pelarut yakni pelarut n-heksan, etil asetat, etanol, dan air. Metode difusi agar digunakan dalam menguji aktivitas antibakteri ekstrak dan pencarian nilai KHTM untuk ekstrak teraktif. Analisis komponen senyawa aktif dilakukan menggunakan LC-MS. Ekstrak etanol diketahui memiliki kemampuan antibakteri terbaik dibanding ketiga ekstrak lainnya. Nilai KHTM ekstrak etanol terhadap bakteri S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli, dan P. aeruginosa berturut-turut sebesar 50, 100, 150, 250 mg mL-1. Hasil analisis LC-MS menunjukkan bahwa ekstrak etanol mengandung senyawa zerumbon dan gingerglikolipid B. ©2017 dipublikasikan oleh Savana Cendana.

From occupation to independence: contemporary East Timorese history and identity in Portuguese picturebooks

In Portugal, the suffering and struggle of the East Timorese people for independence started a social movement of solidarity with strong repercussions in the arts, namely music and literature. Children’s Literature depicted the theme of this period of oppression in East Timor, as well as the recognition of its independence and its right to freedom, in a picturebook selected for the White Ravens List in 2003 called East Timor – Island of the Rising Sun (2001), by João Pedro Mésseder and André Letria. This unusual picturebook, characterised by a very simple and sparse, almost poetic, text combined with large-format pictures, depicts this chapter of the contemporary history of East Timor in very specific way, resembling fairy tales or legends. The text and images are combined in order to promote symbolic readings, suggesting a magical/mystical environment that impresses readers. More than a decade later, recent struggles and stories from East Timor are still present in Portuguese picturebooks such as Lya/Lia (2014), by Margarida Botelho. The social change, path to democracy and educational development, as well as daily life and children’s pastimes are now the centre of a narrative that establishes the similarities and differences between modern-day Portugal and East Timor. Our aim is to analyse both the political and ideological perspectives present in these picturebooks aimed at very young readers, offering a broad vision of different realities and contexts, even when they deal with war, death and suffering, as was the case of the East Timorese fight for independence.

The Relationship Between Education, Job, and Family Income with TB Medication Dropouts in Timor-Leste

Background : TB treatment dropout is one causes of treatment failure, which could increase drug resistant cases. Drug resistant cases of TB were reported by the Ministry of Health of East Timor in 2008 (3 cases), 2009 (3 cases), and in 2010 (6 cases). With drug resistant emerging, TB will require longer treatment time. According to the WHO report (2013) the results of pulmonary tuberculosis BTA (+) treatment were reported: Year 2010 the number of failure of treatment was (0.53%); Died of TB (3.53%); Drop out of treatment (4.05%); Outmigration (3.98%); In 2011 cases of treatment failure (0.50%) Died of TB (3.36%); Drop out of treatment (3.36%); Outmigration (1.92%); In 2012 cases of treatment failure (1.03%); Died of TB (3.49%) Drop out of treatment (4.59%) and migration, (2.26%). According to the National Statistics Directorate (NSD) in 2011, that the East Timorese people still live mostly 70.4% in the rural areas. While access to health services remains a challenge, since the people of Timor Leste proclaimed the restoration of its independence. Objective: This study aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between the variables of education, family income, and job with cases of TB medication discontinuation . Methods: This study was conducted using descriptive correlation method. The sample was determined by Ridwan & Akdon (2010) formula. The total of samples was 100 people who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and selected randomly. This research was conducted in District Manatuto and Liquica Timor-Leste on March 28, 2015. Results: The correlation test showed a strong positive relationship level if r = 0.51 until +1. Analysis of significance value of r xy = 0.671 and p = 0.000 indicates that there is a significant relationship between the variables of education, job and income with variable discontinuation of treatment. Conclusion: Based on the results of research and data analysis, it can be concluded that the results of this study are as follows: There was a significant relationship between the variables of education, household income, and jobs to the discontinuation of TB treatment.

Sounds of Silence: Everyday Strategies of Social Repair in Timor-Leste

.Transitional justice discourse and practice is imbued with assumptions about the liberatory power of speech, and constructs silence as a marker of absence, pathology or continuing repression. This article unsettles these assumptions by examining some of the ‘everyday’ ways in which East Timorese people are seeking to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the Indonesian occupation. Close attention to everyday strategies and practices of social repair brings to the fore the ‘civil’ and ‘pragmatic’ dimensions of silence, while also underscoring the significance of relational and embodied forms of communication in the Timor-Leste context. I conclude that, rather than viewing silence as a ‘problem’, more attention should be paid to its diverse meanings, and to the rich realm of everyday life in which they are embedded.

SPEAKER’S VISION AND ATTITUDES THROUGH DEICTIC EXPRESSIONS

This study addresses how deictic expressions of person, place and time account for vision and attitudes of a speaker in speeches on certain issues. In this qualitative study, the data consisted of four speeches delivered by Xanana Gusmao of Timor Leste. The result of the study shows that the speaker used various types of deixis, including person, place, and time deixis. Person deixis was used to introduce Timorese people, whereas more time deixis referring to present time was used to focus his attention on the present situation and did not want to turn back to the past experience with full of political and social conflicts. The speaker’s vision is reflected in the use of the first person plural ‘ we ’ more than the first person singular ‘ I ’ or ‘ me ’. This indicates that the speaker represents himself as an ‘ insertive ’ leader. He is also a sort of leader with more future vision, indicated by the use of more time deixis referring to the present and future time than those of past time, so he wanted to bring his people and nation to face the future to develop the nation and to build better relationship with its neighbouring states.

Participatory Theater, Is It Really? A Critical Examination of Practices in Timor-Leste

Dance, music, and oral narratives are an important and vibrant part of cultural practice and heritage in Timor-Leste. But while Timorese people have used such creative methods and processes during rituals, celebrations, and their fi ght for independence, today arts and artistic expression become an increasingly popular strategy in development cooperation. Especially diff erent forms of so-called participatory theater with origins in development cooperation, arts, and social movements, present themselves as innovative, participatory, and well applicable in terms of capacity building and stimulating positive social transformation. Based on the author’s experience and observations, this article critically examines the alliance between various stakeholders in Timor-Leste engaging with the fact that the current scene of participatory theater can hardly be seen as an independent grassroots or even social movement, rather than an initiated top-down process by donors with specifi c agendas.

The Catholic Church in Timor-Leste and the Indonesian Occupation

During the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste (1975–99), the Roman Catholic Church grew in importance to the East Timorese people. This is demonstrated by the large increase in Timorese affiliation to the Church: 25–30% of the populace were baptized Catholics in 1975 compared with over 90% in the 1990s. Various explanations have been offered for this growth, many of which identify ‘extrinsic’ factors such as the religious prescriptions of Indonesian law or the pressures of Islamization. While acknowledging the importance of these factors, this paper argues that certain intrinsic factors substantially influenced the identification of the Timorese experience of occupation with Catholic faith and solidarity. An understanding of these intrinsic factors can provide a more expansive understanding of Timorese culture, experience and history. Drawing on original research into the faith and experience of Timorese people during the occupation, the author explores the relationship between suffering, resistance and the Catholic faith of the Timorese in four areas: language; ‘a spirituality of resistance’; martyrdom; and sanctuary and advocacy for the persecuted. The paper draws on the insights of French philosopher and literary critic, René Girard, regarding the importance of Christianity in the context of violence. Girard has argued for a particular understanding of the centrality of the victim in human culture and of how Christianity helps to reveal this centrality. Girard's perspective sheds light on how the Timorese came to terms with their experience of suffering and violence under Indonesian occupation through their identification with Jesus Christ and the Church.

Elections, Independence, Democracy: The 2012 Timorese Electoral Cycle in Context

Timor-Leste rose to independence following a path that included three electoral processes organized under the auspices of the UN and has thus got elections imprinted on its own genetic code. After independence, the responsibility for electoral processes – a key aspect of the sovereignty of the Timorese people – was passed to the nation's authorities, who organized two full rounds of presidential and legislative elections in 2007 and 2012 with the assistance of the international community. This effort constitutes a major element in the process of granting the new regime internal and external legitimacy and at the same time is a response both to citizens’ perception of the political game in order to secure their empowerment and to the call for transparent, internationally acknowledged procedures. Initially, this essay analyses the legal and administrative framework for Timorese elections, bearing these competing requirements in mind. It then focuses on the 2012 elections: first, on the two rounds of presidential elections, including the intricate relationship between presidential candidacies and political parties, and then on the results of the legislative poll, which had a major impact on the political landscape. The final section deals with the challenges that lie ahead for the coming political cycle (2012–2017).

Memory, records, history: the Records of the Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste

This paper examines the implications of the context of creation on the current and potential future uses of the records produced by the Comissao de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliacao de Timor-Leste (Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, or CAVR). Given that the CAVR relied heavily on the testimony of the East Timorese people in its investigations that addressed a 25-year period, this paper considers the nature of memory and the role it played in creating and shaping the CAVR records. It also addresses the potential influences of the CAVR records, particularly the final report, Chega!, in shaping what will be known about this period by the Timorese people. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential role of the CAVR records in contributing to the history of Timor-Leste. Although truth commissions are a problematic form of truth telling, with significant implications for the writing of history, the records of the CAVR are an invaluable source of information for Timorese history. If future users can recognize the CAVR records as the products of the context of their creation, these records will have a critical role to play in the development of history within Timor-Leste.

Liberal Peacebuilding in Timor Leste: The Emperor's New Clothes?

A critical examination of the effort to build a liberal peace since 1999 in East Timor illustrates that to a large degree the liberal peace model has failed the East Timorese people. There are two aspects to this: the first is the failure to construct a social contract between society and its institutions of governance. This is related to the broader issue of the social legitimacy of, and contract with, international actors derived from society and its complex groupings. The second is the failure, at least in the transitional period, to respond to the experiences of everyday life and welfare requirements of the new state's citizens.

A Bíblia como Constituição ou a Constituição como Bíblia? Projetos para a construção do Estado-Nação em Timor-Leste

Este texto analisa os conflitos ocorridos em Timor-Leste, em 2005, entre a Igreja católica e o poder executivo, a respeito do caráter a ser atribuído à disciplina de ensino religioso no currículo de ensino primário. Indica-se que os embates que se constituíram ao redor desse tema são expressivos de diferentes projetos para construção do Estado-Nação no país, bem como das disputas entre distintos grupos com relação ao papel desempenhado no processo de conquista da independência. Propõe-se que os eventos sejam compreendidos como produto da trajetória experimentada por certos setores da população no período da ocupação indonésia. Indica-se, assim, a singularidade da posição dos retornados, ex-componentes da frente diplomática da resistência, aos quais se opõe a Igreja católica, que se autodenomina como representante dos de dentro. As manifestações evocaram ainda um incipiente debate sobre a construção de uma memória nacional, pelo que a Igreja católica demandava um correto reconhecimento do Estado diante do papel por ela desempenhado na resistência à ocupação indonésia.

Who Saved East Timor? New References for International Solidarity

The struggle of the Timorese people for their self-determination can be seen as a cut with two major legacies of legal-policial modernity that severely narrowed the scope of international solidarity: positivism and Westphalian order. The post-positivist character of the Timorese case is analyzed in this essay as emerging from the supremacy of legitimacy over faits accomplis, the supremacy of legal order over geopolitics and the supremacy of multilateralism over efficiency. On the other side, the post-Westphalian nature of this struggle evidences the crucial role that grassroots solidarity groups at the international level and of some friendly states in the diplomatic arena can play as actors of a counter-hegemonic global political agenda.

Free determination and genocide in East Timor

The island of Timor is the largest and easternmost of the Nusatenggara (or Lesser Sundas) group. It is situated between the Timor Sea and the Pacific Ocean, some 300 miles north of Australia and 700 southeast of Java. The eastern side of the island, together with the Oecussi enclave in the west, and the smaller islands of Atauro and Jaco, comprise approximately 13,000 square miles? Portugal colonized East Timor during more than four hundred years, although the actual delimitation of the territory with the Netherlands only took place in the mid-19 th century. When its people was about to exercise the right to self-determination, the territory was militarily occupied and illegally annexed by its closest neighbor, Indonesia. During almost 25 years, Indonesia practiced upon the East Timorese people one of the largest scale violations of fundamental human rights, including the right of this people to exist as such, of this century. The reaction of the international community was near non-existent and the so-called"Question of East Timor" seemed to fade away in the night of times. But in the beginning of 1999, things seemed to change. The new Indonesian government agreed to hold a popular consultation that could, eventually, lead to the independence of the territory. It was a second opportunity for the people of East Timor. And in spite of all the suffering; despite the many pitfalls of the legal framework for the consultation; despite the fact that Indonesia (and its powerful Army) has not fulfilled its obligations; and despite the sometimes ambiguous attitude of the great powers and, thus, of the United Nations, East Timor was capable of holding a referendum that, in the long term, has led it to become the first independent state of the 21st Century. In its recent history, thus, the territory has moved from the exercise of its right of self-determination to genocide, back and forth, in a process that has recently ended with the full application of international human right standards. In this article, the author intends to offer an overview of the legal and human rights situation in East Timor, from the double perspective of an international lawyer and of a direct observer of the self-determination process that took place in the territory in August 1999. Although Timor Lorosae achieved independence on 20th May 2002, after more than two years of international administration, we shall limit our analysis to the period around the holding of the popular consultation.

Hasten slowly: a needs analysis for nurse and village health worker education in East Timor

This article reports on a needs analysis undertaken to determine the educational needs of nurses and health workers in East Timor. The needs analysis, which used a theoretical framework described by Wass (1994), was conducted in both Australia and East Timor. It addressed the current health status of the East Timorese people and the educational requirements of East Timorese nurses and village health workers. Utilizing interviews, field observations and data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations, the following four categories of needs were assessed: felt; expressed; comparative; and normative. The findings document the almost complete destruction of the health infrastructure in East Timor and demonstrate the urgent need for assistance in the re-establishment and enhancement of nursing and primary health care education programmes. A series of recommendations outlining nurse and village health care worker education programmes are proposed.

East Timor in the dynamics of Indonesian politics

This article examines the issue of East Timor in the overall context of Indonesian politics. Once an issue that failed to capture the attention of the major political groups in Indonesia, East Timor moved higher on the agenda of Indonesian pro-democracy activists in the wake of the massacre of Timorese citizens in the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili in November 1991. Indeed, some pro-democracy activists began to see the fight for democracy in Indonesia and for the right of the East Timorese people to self-determination as parts of the same struggle. The author identifies racism as the main reason why the East Timor issue has never been prominent in Indonesian reform discourse and contends that three groups in Indonesia have been aggressively promoting a narrow nationalism and jingoism that portrays the independence struggle of the East Timorese as the work of conspiratorial outsiders and third parties. These groups are the Indonesian national army, various Islamic political groups, and associates of Abdurrahman Wahid, the president of the Central Board of Nahdatul Ulama (Moslem Scholars) and the recently elected president of Indonesia.

The militia, the military, and the people of Bobonaro district

Located along the border with West Timor, Bobonaro district consistently rated among the districts with the highest incidences of political violence during the Unamet-run Popular Consultation. Elite members of the District Administration, who stood to lose all if the autonomy option lost, and the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), who would have to withdraw from East Timor, pulled out all stops to improve the chances of an autonomy vote. A parallel track of coercion and violence was pursued through militia proxies to ensure the systematic control of the whole population while irreversibly altering the political space in favor of the pro-autonomy cause. The TNI-militia relationship was anchored in strategies devised as far back as 1994: home-grown East Timorese forces would bear the brunt of field and urban operations against Falintil and pro-independence supporters. However, attempts to develop the militia into an institution in its own right, separate from the TNI, ultimately failed during Unamet's tenure. Over the different phases of the Consultation the militia groups gradually fell apart. The East Timorese people and rank and file militia members passively rejected their instructions and ultimately many left the organization. By the time of the Consultation on 30 August 1999 the TNI and the Indonesian Police (Polri), including East Timorese in both units, became increasingly responsible for all violence and intimidation. The precision and confidence with which they executed their strategies indicates coordination from the highest levels.