panic button

It takes rumours and panic and a few irrational fellas to press the alarm bell here. we had just finished lunch and hopped into a taxi to head back to UN House. Just as we turned the corner (i was still showing the interns the Brasil Restaurant & Erli) when suddenly there was a commotion behind us. 2 guys on a motorbike were honking the loudly and racing towards us, and we saw a stream of men running and then suddenly there were so many vehicles that had seemed to appear from nowhere descend upon us.Two cars next to us began honking persistently, as if in a car rally, in fact, some people were laughing in excitement. But the old man driving us was really worried and i kept telling him, "Tiu, la buat ida, lao neineik." which meant "Uncle, don't worry, it's nothing, just go slowly." it was hard not to panic because when there were so many vehicles rushing past us and onto us. the old man asked me in a shaken voice, "mana, oinsa?" ("How, sister?") I just told him to carry on slowly back to our office. It was a quiet trip back to the office but when we arrived, people were on the radios, monitoring the situation. "A government vehicle has been burnt," the news went around. We turned and saw black smoke rising in the distance but could not see anything else. we are some distance away from the demonstration site and are almost in our oasis - locked up in the Obrigado Barracks. It's hard to know what the reality is like outside. The cackle on the radio sounds urgent, with timorese voices updating each other on the situation. Everyone sounds worried and a headcount is done to find out who is missing and out there having lunch. The Timor Telecom network is down - unable to handle the heavy load from everyone trying to contact their families.

an intern has just returned, she was in the business district when her Timorese friend told her to run. As they were running, she saw black smoke and there was smell of burning in the air. The two of them sought refuge in a timorese home and then waited for some time before the Police arrived and began directing traffic. Then she heard more people running, some screaming and saying that the government palace was burnt down. Then she saw cars driving by with smashed windscreens and broken windows. After a while, the friend's uncle drove by (also with smashed windscreen) and drove her back into the UN compound.

Some staff having lunch at Tropical Bakery said the staff there tried to lock up the entire place including them. While another saw old, aged women in panic, running up to the hills.

The Timorese, thanks to the horrors of the '99 violence still fresh on their minds, have a panic button that is very very easily triggered.You can't blame them because their brothers, sisters, friends and relatives were indeed killed before and they themselves victims of the violence. So whenever there are rumours or any hint of anything not right, families flee to the hills for refuge.

And you know what, some people know this weakness and are exploiting it. The demonstrators may be having a peaceful protest but anyone, just one or two persons who are keen on creating trouble, to loot for personal gains or to upset the current government, can so easily spark off panic.

The international media has also NOT helped. A few days ago the OZ papers reported that there were 5000 people gathered which was untrue. You see, when you feed the rumour mill, more bad things happen! Argghhh...... and it was not true that tensions were high in Dili when they reported it. Today, yes, admittedly yes there is tension and now, sadly, we are making those reports come true...

it's so unfair for timor! we need the peace right now for the economy to progress and we need stability. the LAST thing we need is this thing now!

if you want to help timor, the first thing to do is to get the facts right.. which is extremely difficult too. i mean, as i write this i am in the office, safe and surrounded by guards, i can't see the situation outside and am depending on reports from people to even blog this.