Brand of the Independence against being Spirited away - From East Timor to the Future of the World (2)

East Timor was temporarily Indonesian territory and geographically close, so I thought it is Islamic country but actually not. Due to its complex history, it is a unique country mixed with various cultures.

With the cultures of Portugal, Indonesia and Australia combined, while at the same time the great traditional culture still living, people are living in agriculture-based lifestyle.

It is agriculture-based but a monoculture that only coffee crops are grown, so they buy what they eat with money. Even the staple food rice is imported from Indonesia.

Although the country as a whole is in the stage before modernization, the monoculture, typical modern division of labor, has made considerable progress already. It is efficient, but also vulnerable. The situation is symbolic where the main food disappears indeed once the old enemy Indonesia refuse export.

East Timor is a complicated situation where multi-culture and industrial monoculture with various cultures from outside and traditional culture are living together. What does this situation mean to the country itself?

- Cultural resources

East Timor’s national religion is Catholic. So there are churches, and it seems that many Filipino migrants from the same Catholic country are staying there too (some are staying illegally lol).

As I wrote last time, it was a group from Philippines NGO who visited the country for training, they were thanked on behalf of Filipinos by local people for making the whole road there (lol)

Maybe this road too? 

The national language is the Tetunese spoken by the most local population, and the official language is Portuguese of the former suzerain country. Many people can speak Indonesian. Despite the currency was US dollar, not having chosen English as their language in an agreement after the Independence Struggle may maintain the country's uniqueness.

To be able to speak the language of neighboring power of Indonesia (regardless of whether they want to speak or not) will be an advantage in terms of trade. Malaysia, which also shares Bahasa, has already taken one foot to developed countries. Having language in common with Brazil, a major South American country, may also have some potential.

The US dollar is quite strong against the currencies of these emerging countries. Last year, Indonesian Rupiah made a historical low against the US dollar and Malaysian Ringgit is one of the most poorly performing currencies in recent years. And Brazilian Real is a synonym of collapse.

There seems to be many Australian supporters, their influence may have incorporated permaculture in East Timor's policy, in the Department of Education a local permaculturist got a key position.

Personally, I thought East Timor people might be historically strong and severe, but actually they are not like that at all. If foreigners visit, every single person says hello to them, they seem very simple people. When the NGO people moved by car, they felt like they are in electoral car because almost everyone greets them every time (lol)

- Unspoiled Nature and Traditional Culture

The country’s nature is rich and it seems that people everywhere except the capital are living a really simple lifestyle.

There are beaches, mountains and forests, which are worth enough as tourism resources.

Beautiful mountains are great for hiking trails

There seems to be great traditional arts as a cultural resource. And it's not something pulled out from the warehouse at events. It is real thing that lives vividly in daily life.

Culture breathes in a simple life

I remembered Bali's Kecak dance. You’ll realize what they do every night at sightseeing shows are kinda lazy after you see a real one performed on an anniversary of temples (^ _ ^;)

So it is really tremendous that there is a culture that rooted in real life. Even in Japan, we have festivals in autumn, but that is completely separate from our lives, and many of the participants do not do it with the pleasure of harvesting rice.

But East Timor's rituals are more meaningful and may be something that lets us learn everything related. There is a cultural cathedral, not separated from people’s life nor stored in warehouses or showcases.

Something mysterious

- Is it a strong point?

Strong currency, international coffee industry, cheaper labor force even in Southeast Asia. In addition, we can see religious commonality with developed countries, linguistic capability of neighboring and South American big powers, this country has very interesting industrial and cultural potential in terms of international trade.

Because many of their cultures have come in from outside, they have high affinity with outside, yet competitive industries, currency and labor. They have a lot of conditions other than strong currency to shift to high-growth as trading nation. I think the strength of the currency will be offset considerably by the cheap labor.

And after they save a certain amount of dollars by trade, they can buy large quantities of goods and technologies at a good timing. If it matches the timing of interest rate hikes in the United States, they should be able to trade with Indonesia on fairly favorable conditions.

Then they will get convenient machines, buy oil from Indonesia, modernize coffee plantation at once. It is no longer necessary to make peeler with scrapped cars. They need even more electricity than ever, so they can develop a big power station. Pass the electric wire through every corner of the country at a rapid pitch.

And we already know what it will result.

In that route, undeveloped nature and various cultural capital are transformed into money after being stepped down efficiently by modern development. You have to pay for the price that someone developed your country ‘for you’ into what does not have anything to do with the context of your country - like the neighboring Asian countries - by making large scale plantation with pesticide soaked and strengthening production of coffee, to squeeze money out from the land even if you sacrifice sustainability.

Is Phuket downtown Thailand? Is it worth selling their land?

Since nature you can lean on has been lost, you must prevent pollution and infectious diseases with the power of modern infrastructure. It's convenient but its maintenance cost is horrific, so you must ‘develop’ the country and turn it into money more.

Larger scale, more efficiency, more productivity... On the other hand, customers who want new things must be produced with CM. Traditional lifestyle is worthless for now! It must be taught that it is an old past relic. Culture? Landscape? Nature? What are you talking about? 

Take it Take it.. You'll pay for it!

If we get in this modern cycle that can not be missed once you depend, we can not stop until sub-prime mortgage crisis, for example. Even if it fails, we still can not stop. It is said that the high growth of Japan was meaningful for the first ten years. But it definitely can not stop there.

You lost value you must not lose, so you will not hesitate to destroy it more. Work with no feeling of building an important thing undermines your heart and you need massive money and goods unconsciously in order to compensate for the invisible emotional wound.

It is a direct consequence of being agitated by ‘excellent foreign things’ and abandoning pride together with our own culture. It is not industry, money, nor weapons. The brand specific to every country was the brakes and resources. The electric wires that hangs down and blocks the cultural landscape in the country where the brand was lost, would be kind of symbol.

In Japan, a myriad of electric wires above the asphaltized historic approach obstructs scenery

So, affinity with outside and monoculture are so vulnerable in that sense. As Filipinos developed roads, it certainly makes it easier for external help. Productive farms are also necessary for immediate income. At the same time, however, it is a foundation that blindly modernizes East Timor and makes its culture insipid that you can not tell what country it is as the other Asian countries. It is synonymous with economic collapse after the high growth has ended.

Under the rustic villages, it is boiling for change. In order to make use of that energy in a good direction, they should keep it solid and adaptively evolve the society over time. Not being able to communicate in English, it may rather be a real strength, which stops change like landslide. Isn’t it necessary for this country to have pride in Tetunese and the languages of each tribe?

- On the Uniqueness

Culture and landscape are the only means of getting foreign currency at the time when economic system can’t go any more on development and making goods, which eventually comes. Nature nurtures and feed people literally. If you maintain woodlands where people are involved properly, and avoid specializing it in selling large quantities of products, it is an ideal and free living infrastructure. But all of them are exposed to the risk of disappearance in the process of modernization.

If the modern concrete city seems nice, we can go to NY. You don’t need to come to unpleasantly hot heat island which is halfway, not suitable for the climate, where old buildings without refreshing line up and the wires hang down ugly.

Asphalt in Bangkok struck by Squall 

East Timor for now does not carry a huge infrastructure that will be eventually decayed, ugly, dangerous and useless. They have not put chemical substances into the environment that will contaminate it at once if it is not controlled by purification devices. Their livelihoods do not rely on such things like the wounds that the world has been sustained.

Decaying infrastructure [Yuji Nemoto]

朽ちるインフラ [ 根本祐二 ] 価格：2160円（税込、送料無料) (2016/10/21時点)

Water is pumped up from a beautiful water source, not from the water purification plant. Just leaning on nature, you can live healthily with cleanliness.

Water source with beautiful water
(From "Results of water source conservation activities gradually take shape.« APLA (Alternative People's Linkage in Asia")

Beautiful nature, a traditional townscape with a sense of unity, people who have customs, arts like nowhere in the world, and are free from comparison with others without being polluted by commercials.

All of such things attract people who got spirited all of them away in modernization. The middle-class tourists emerging in Indonesia and Malaysia will search for the rich nature lost in their own countries. With cultural appeal, educated wealthy people may choose this country as a villa or secluded place. They all come here and can talk freely in their mother tongue. East Timor can take advantage of the linguistic commonality only in that way.

Then you can introduce modern conveniences and cleanliness, without spoiling the base of uniqueness. Commonality is used to represent the core uniqueness, not the other way round. There is no need to arm with vulnerable strengths. Whether the monoculture that got in this country is successfully released will be one important merkmal.

What is worth visiting

After all, not being a strong self, but being strongly yourself. Commonality is only a means of showing diversity.

Can this situation that foreign culture, traditional culture, and industrial monoculture mixed together be integrated and sublimated that way? Is it also a question that whether East Timor will remain independent or not. When it realizes, ‘East Timor’ will also resonate with the memory of the Independence Struggle and be a brand that quietly backs up the pride of people living in their own culture. And that is probably independence that nobody in the world has at present yet.

Related Links:
East Timor shows Diversity to the World - From East Timor to the Future of the World (1)
East Timor Renaissance and Children of Permaculture - From East Timor to the Future of the World (3)

Original posts in Japanese:

世界に多様性を示す東ティモール――東ティモールから世界の未来へ（１）
千と千尋と独立のブランド――東ティモールから世界の未来へ（２）
東ティモール・ルネッサンスとパーマカルチャーの子どもたち――東ティモールから世界の未来へ（３）
パーマカルチャーと東ティモールの”エッジ”――東ティモールから世界の未来へ（４）

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