this is how many parts of dili looks - scorched, brittle, brown, dead, razed. of course, new life springs forth quickly from the dust - it's how nature is - how humans are. yet ... there is some sadness ... especially when a colleague returns to his razed home for the first time to see his house - and returns with only a handful of photo negatives and a colour photo of his daughter. that's all he has now, after having spent five years of his life reconstructing his grandmother's house (which had been razed to the ground post 99 by militia) and now, that's gone too. In 1999, his many books were burnt, now in 2006, the same again. how can one not feel hopeless? how do the many timorese affected by this violence feel about the future? do they even dare to think of what next year might be like? i'm sure many would hesitate to invest in any material possessions - unlike so many of us in comfy, safe singapore where our lifestyle is about accumulating wealth, properties, material goods. the timorese have no choice but to focus on what's most important - that the lives of their loves ones were not lost. that's how basic living is like here. you don't ask for more.
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