Embassy of Japan in Timor-Leste
在東ティモール日本国大使館
I left Timor-Leste on 30 June 2011, finishing my assignment at the Japanese Embassy in Timor-Leste for 2 years and 1 month. My two years in Timor-Leste were filled with the opportunities to discover new things and to meet wonderful people, and it was very precious and special 2-year assignment for me. Now, I would like to introduce you a fascinating aspect of Timor-Leste, which I have not been able to express thoroughly through this website so far, in appreciation for the Timor-Leste and Timorese people, who gave me an unforgettable two years.
Timor-Leste has many charms such as beautiful nature, shining ocean, relaxing tropical atmosphere, unique culture combining local traditions with Portuguese influence, etc. However, the biggest charm of Timor-Leste, in my opinion, is the people. The Timorese leaders have distinctive personalities and very attractive, and they are making efforts to develop their country together with their people, who have cheerful and warm hearts. Next year will mark the 10th Anniversary of Independence for Timor-Leste. I look forward to seeing how such amazing Timorese people are continuing to develop their country.
I would like to start with introducing Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, who is a national hero of Timor-Leste and loved by everybody as “Maun Boot”. “Maun Boot” means “Big Brother” in Tetun language and reflects people’s respect and affection for him. Prime Minister Gusmao used to be the Commander of guerilla fighters during the resistance. Your image of a guerilla commander may be someone aggressive, autocratic or even scary; however, on the contrary, Prime Minister Gusmao is very friendly and warm-hearted as you can imagine from his nick name “Maun Boot”. He has charisma and a sense of humor. He is popular everywhere and trusted very much by his people.
From April to September last year, Prime Minister Gusmao visited all 65 sub-districts to hold consultations with local people on the Strategic Development Plan, which was officially launched at the Timor-Leste Development Partners Meeting this year. Visiting all 65 sub-districts in Timor-Leste is totally different from visiting all 47 prefectures in Japan. Without planes or bullet trains, you have to get around by car in Timor-Leste. Moreover, due to the road conditions, it takes hours to go from one place to another and it makes you exhausted. Prime Minister visited around 10 sub-districts in one tour, and it took about two weeks without going back to the capital, Dili. To my surprise, Prime Minister talked to the people by himself at each consultation for 7 to 9 hours and spent another two hours to answer questions and listen to their comments. Because of that, the consultations often lasted until midnight. I was very impressed by Prime Minister Gusmao, who is directly talking to his people and making utmost effort to build his nation. I saw genuine leadership in him. His style-friendly talking to the people and making them united with wearing T-shirt, jeans and sneakers-was totally different from my stereotype image of a“Prime Minister”.
Prime Minister Gusmao at the consultation
He seriously talked to the people about the development of their country with humor and passion.
Another example to show his personality is his kindness to children. In April 2011, I had an opportunity to lecture on Timor-Leste at the Takato Junior High School in Nagano Prefecture. After the lecture, the students wrote very thoughtful comments and I translated them into English and sent them to the Prime Minister as my report on the lecture I gave at the Takato Junior High School. Prime Minister Gusmao was so delighted to read those comments that he sent a video message to the school. Furthermore, the students of the school wrote thank you letters to the Prime Minister for the video message, and to our surprise, Prime Minister gave them hand-written replies on the back of beautiful postcards of Timor-Leste (40 replies in total). Each message was written by the Prime Minister and each of them responded each student letter.
Prime Minister Gusmao and the people of Timor-Leste who fought for the independence lost many of their families and friends, and went through painful and tragic experiences, which we can never imagine. Also, we should not forget many Timorese who helped freedom fighters such as Prime Minister Gusmao and Major General Taur Matan Ruak at the risk of their own lives. Many ordinary people were killed and tortured by the Indonesian military for hiding and assisting guerilla fighters. They trusted their leaders and did whatever they could to win independence over their own safety. Having gone through all of this, Prime Minister Gusmao really understands the tragedy of war and the great loss they had to pay to gain independence, and he strongly wishes not only peace in Timor-Leste but also peace in the world from the bottom of his heart. Recognizing the great sacrifice made for the independence, he is determined to lead Timor-Leste to a peaceful and prosperous country, and working very hard for its development. I think his kindness and affection for children also reflects his expectation for young generations to develop Timor-Leste and to create world peace.
The Government of Timor-Leste organized the event to celebrate “International Children’s Day” on 1 June 2011, where Timorese children signed a large banner with their messages to Japanese children by the Prime Minister Gusmao’s initiative. One of the messages was “To lead the people, you should not lead with knowledge but lead with heart.” I was really impressed by this and I felt that the spirits of the distinguished leaders of Timor-Leste are passed on to the young generations.
Many young people I met in Timor-Leste have strong determination and desire to contribute to the development of their country. I was impressed by their sincere and resolute commitment to and love for their country many times. Interaction with them often made me think how fortunate I was to be born and raised in a peaceful and prosperous country, and how precious and difficult to maintain peace. It also made me realize there are many important things which enrich your life although they can never be measured in material values.
I also learned many things from my Timorese colleague, Marlina, who helped me at the Embassy. She gave up her wish to study after high school and started working to support her family because her mother died early. She is very smart and learned English on her own. She is always making effort for improvement. She is working everyday and studying hard for her dream of studying at a university while taking care of her own child and her brothers and sisters. Her attitude always made me feel I have to work harder. Above all, it was really enjoyable to work with her, who is very kind and hard-working. We always thought together what we should do to better understand Timor-Leste and its people and how we should approach the Timorese people to better make them understand Japan. She is more than a colleague for me. She is my best friend, teacher (although she is younger than I) and sister. I was very fortunate to have been able to work with such a wonderful person.
I organized many cultural events with Marlina.
Lastly, I would like to touch on an episode related to the Great East Japan Earthquake. The earthquake and tsunami occurred on 11 March. Prime Minister Gusman returned to Timor-Leste in the afternoon of the next day, 12 March, from the 3-week overseas visit. He convened an extraordinary meeting of the Council of the Ministers immediately after his arrival, and expressed his heartfelt condolences and offered support to Japan on behalf of the Timorese people. The first thing he did after his return from the 3-week overseas visit was to convene the Council of the Ministers’ meeting to support Japan. How touching this is! I had an opportunity to attend this meeting with Mr. Nakajima, Charged’ Affairs of the Japanese Embassy at that time, and still now I clearly remember how much I was moved by the heartwarming and supportive messages from Prime Minister Gusmao, Finance Minister Pires and Foreign Minister Da Costa at the meeting. All ministers attending the meeting expressed their very kind sympathy and condolences, saying that they are very grateful to Japan’s support to Timor-Leste and they would like to do whatever they can to help Japan overcome this tragic situation.
After the meeting, I sent a message to the Senior Executive Advisor for Prime Minister to express my feeling of gratitude. Then, she gave me a response “This is the least we could do, for Japan is not only a development partner but also a dear friend of Timor-Leste”. I was touched again by her kindness to consider Japan as her dear friend. I will never forget how glad and moved I was by her warm message.
Eventually, the Government of Timor-Leste provided Japan with $ 1 million solidarity donation in relation to the Great East Japan Earthquake. Moreover, many students raised funds and brought the donation to the Embassy and many people expressed their sincere and heartfelt condolences. One of the Timorese students now studying at the Japanese National Defense Academy even sent me an email immediately after the earthquake to worry about my family in Japan. I was moved by such his kindness, considering how shocking and scary for him to experience such a big earthquake in Japan far away from his family. The donation from the Government of Timor-Leste is quite a large amount, but it means much more than money for us. I would like to keep in my heart forever how much we were encouraged by the warm hearts, messages and supports from Timor-Leste.
It is impossible to introduce all of the wonderful Timorese people I met there on this limited page; however, I do hope that my essay will tell you a little bit about the charms of Timorese people such as their warm hearts, resilience and cheerfulness. The people of Timor-Leste are very kind to share your sorrow and suffering despite their experience of tragic war in the past. They make many big achievements when they are united on important occasions even though they may look relaxed normally. They are tirelessly continuing to make effort to develop their country with the patriotism and pride in their nation. They are always very cheerful, friendly and have big smiles. It is a treasure in my life that I met those wonderful and charming people and I learned many things from them. I would like to treasure my friendship with them and continue to support the peace and development of Timor-Leste even after I left the country.
(Koide)
(c) Embassy of Japan in Timor-Leste Avenida de Portugal, Pantai Kelapa, Dili, Timor-Leste (P.O. Box 175) Tel: +670-3323131 Fax: +670-3323130
