I was in Dili for the Ninth Anniversary of the Santa Cruz Massacre with Veronica Pereira and over the next few days I will be posting video stories. The documentary stories begin with the first ‘Letter to Suai’ ‘Seeking the Light’ The Timorese have a very poetic language and it is often my desire to facilitate as simply as possible, their stories or songs.  Many times I simply take the titles of my films and video letters from their words. This is the case for the first video letter which documents Timorese youth from the Taibisse’s ‘Quiet Moment’ Theatre Group and the ‘Rai Timor’ Theatre Group as they spoke from their hearts from high on the walls of the Santa Cruz Cemetry on November 12, 2000 before leaping to the ground to the sound of a wall of gunfire.

At the time and afterwards I was struck by the insensitivity of the seated guests who, unable to understand their words chattered and whispered throughout the performance despite the shshhh of others who did understand. My Tetun was very limited, and so the performance took me by surprise. I was having difficulties with positioning myself and my audio lead was faulty, creating intermittent crackling sounds. In documentary editing this rough footage would normally be cut out and inclusion of the whole performance would be limited by narrative and time constraints. The raw footage however gives everyone the opportunity to hear directly from these young people, about how they were feeling at that time. This was the first year after the ballot for Independence when Dili and the rest of the country was still devastated by the scorched earth campaign waged by the Indonesian backed militia before they departed. It was a time of mixed grief and trauma, happiness and high hopes for the future. The young men who organised the Remembrance that day,in their introduction, invite their leaders to remember the sacrifice of the people as the lead them out of the valley of tears into the future. In hindsight these words have added poignancy.

Episode two of ‘Seeking the Light’ shows a woman bursting from the crowd crying out an unscripted devastating lament in her native langauge Tetun, calling for recognition that the leadership’s decisions are causing the ordinary people unbearable suffering. Filomena dos Reis who counsels this woman, told me she lost three sons at the Santa Cruz Massacre. As she called for recognition of the pain of ordinary people, her vocal grief was hurriedly muffled by loud strains of music turned on by the organisers. Following this her sincere and powerful lament was replaced by a young girl reciting a rehearsed short history of East Timor in Portuguese, for the benefit of assembled international guests. ‘Seeking the Light’

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Rufino believes this assault was to rescue the Australian Consul David Ross who was kept under house arrest in Dili. There are no accounts of his being rescued or of any need to rescue him. From the Australian writings on the subject it sounds like this raid could have been the failed attempt to rescue two POW’s. Ptes Merv Ryan and Peter Alexander. In both accounts it was carried out by Tom Nisbet’s B Platoon, several points of interest are similar and the geography fits. The Japanese deaths are another matter. For this I refer you to the Hymn to Pinnochio written by one of the members of Sparrow Force.

This episode may take a minute to download.

In this Episode Rufino recollects the Japanese Invasion of 1942, on the 65th Anniversary of the Japanese Invasion in Dare above Dili, on the 19th February, 2006. This was also the date of the first death of WW2 in East Timor. Dare is the site of a swimming pool donated by the 2/2nd Association and opened in 1969.
40,000 Timorese died because of the presence of the Australian and Japanese forces in Portuguese Timor. You should also check out the poems written by Jim Smailes of the 2/2nd Company about the Australian landing and a poetic comment about honesty in war in the poetry category.

For another perspective on whether Australia should have compromised Portuguese Timor’s neutrality when they did, see David Scott’s ‘Unpublished Chapters‘ : The Reluctant Invaders’ and ‘All They Got Was Misery’ both are available in English and Tetun.

More about East Timor Memory and History that is important in understanding Rufino’s stories in ‘News‘ ANZAC Day Video Release.

A series of episodes selected from an extended interview with Rufino Correia in 2006. Thought to be the last surviving criado in East Timor, Rufino’s stories give an insight into the experiences and memories of a great old man.

written by Pedro Lebre – Villa Harmonia, Dili.

Pedro gave me this poem also for sms on June 14, 2003 (only available in Tetun we are waiting on a volunteer to translate it.)

Tersu iha liman
Kruz iha kakorok
Ema lubun boot
Tuir dala Santa Kruz

Libur, belu rai seluk
Ba… haklake… halerik… harophan
Ba Nai iha leten ba. .. matebian .. umaulun
Timor terus… Timor mate

Teki-tekir tarutu
Iha rate Santa Kruz

Oho ema lubun boot
Monu ba rai ,,ran suli

Raan manas, loriku asuwain
Brani mate, hasoru kroat
Hodi tersu no kruz
Mate haleu Santa kruz

Tan sa?
Tan sa funubaluk?
O oho hau.. o hanehan hau?
Fila ba o rain…
Husik hau rain..

Ho kroat o funu hau
Hau ema ran nakfakar
Hau rai mutuk bu ahikudesa

Ho lia los hau funu o
ho tersu no kruz
O nakfila ba o rain
Sasin ba mundu
Timor Loro Sae hari
Nia moris mesak moris kmanek.