right to make mistakes

while i am tickled by the posters of Xanana and high rise buildings and rockets, i am also aware that it is perhaps (?) the first time these 'visions' of modernity are being so proudly displayed and 'dreamed' about. Of course, many of us have also seen the shocking vision of the Kuwaiti-inspired resort at Cristo Rei. while i certainly do not like the coffin-like resort homes, i also think that every country deserves the equal chance of making some developmental faux pas. It's like growing up as a kid. If your parents never wanted you to have scabby knees, they probably put you on a leash and forbade you to run (and think and develop). But i think, falling down, bleeding and getting a scab is all part of growing up. those scabs (some of which still remain faintly on my knees) remind me of my adventurous childhood when i clambered up a tree, or tried to shave my chin (like my uncle did!) so if every other 'developed' nation is to tell timor-leste what NOT to do, i wonder if there really is something that is the only RIGHT thing to do.

i don't know....

sometimes i think it's not fair for developed nations to tell developing nations NOT to have high-rises (cos they're ugly) but to keep to quaint, low-rise architecture to preserve the rustic feel. I would agree if the country does have very unique architectural styles for example Tibetan motifs in the pillars and thresholds that could be integrated into modern living. But as each nation develops (in the conventional meaning), there will be demands for higher density living and work life. Yes, office buildings can be ugly but a mixture of both can be an interesting mix. take London's Harrods for example, they used a real old colonial building and converted the inside to become a modern mall. But really, wat's left to be preserved in Dili (that is of any aesthetic value) unfortunately are a handful of portuguese buildings such as the now decrepit Uma Fukun, the Sional (ex chinese consulate), and the building where portuguese wines are sold. There's also the chinese temple, and the Hindu temple (on the little hill at taibessi), and of course the catholic churches and the mosque. Oh, and the nice portuguese-inspired homes (but they are very stuffy and hot!). The ugly grey, cement blocks for commercial use are not worth keeping. That's MY opinion anyways.

If i'm sounding incoherent, forgive me. i'm incredibly sleepy right now. once when i was backpacking i met an Oz guy. I mentioned that i had been offered a volunteer position to be at a Laos TV station and he went livid and accused me of perpetuating the capitalist powers blah blah blah. I think it's very shallow for people to think like that. I told him that instead of seeing that way, why not see it as giving the Lao people more knowledge of TV technology so that they can use it in THEIR OWN way to value their own culture? It is UP TO THEM how they want to use the technology. This naive backpacker also said that Laos should just stay as it is, where he could sip a ice cold beer at the river and fish. People like that are SO REMOVED from reality. I told him that he was romanticising rural life because he is a backpacker with the moolah. I don't think women or children or men who struggle each day in the fields have the same thing to say about sipping ice cold beer by the river banks. Backpackers can up and go anytime they want, so they want to preserve the 'idllyic' countryside for their enjoyment. but think of those who have no opportunity to study and are relegated to a life of hard labour in the fields. Anyways, just because the developed world has had its chance at modernity, doesn't mean, the developing world should stay 'rustic' for our enjoyment. That's not fair.

I'm not saying that the developing world should steam ahead and kill trees, pollute the air etc. If there are good ideas for sustainable and ecologically sound development, go for it. But show me a country that hasn't made any developmental mistakes. Cest la vie!

most importantly, we should be hearing the voices of the civil society to indicate what they want. how do the citizens feel about development? what do THEY want? In Singapore, the country went through a mad phase of development, tearing down quaint old colonial shophouses. But eventually, the madness came to an end, and now there is an active conservation of notable buildings and institutions. Even the preservation of heritage trees! Beijing is also going that crazy bulldozer's path by destroying the 'hutongs' but we hope there will be some left when the leaders' craziness subside. Anyways, civil society , we have to hear your voices! Don't be surprised too that in the initial years, people do express a preference for high-rise Hello misters and coffin-like resorts...... cos many Timorese who have travelled abroad return starry-eyed about Bangkok, New York, Singapore and Japan....

i'm definitely sticking around to see how cristo rei turn out to be!

fila fali

back in action again after a hiatus.... lots has happened over the past 2 months! i am now timor feto foun having signed on the dotted line with my timor doben.....i am glad his sister got married before us because we had a real taste of a timorese wedding (read = real loud blasting music that shook our thin walls till the wee hours of the night; men getting drunk and refusing to leave; not being able to sleep all night because we had to stay up alert for any trouble)!!! so after that wedding, my doben and i put our foot down and insisted that we go home for our casamentu instead.........so yeah, we took off, with my new ah pa and ah ma, and had a rowdy time back home.....
been a crazy 2 months as i was also struggling to finish up my second paper for my first semester in Masters in Community Development at Deakin Uni..... everything just kinda got squashed together.........but finally.... 2 weeks ago i managed to scrap some things together that faintly resembled coherent papers and got through that.............
of course, our current preoccupation here in Dili has been the elections..... last night, there was shooting near the WFP compound ... apparently some people had provoked the FFDTL standing guard at the Timor Telecom compound and the troops fired some warning shoots that apparently hit close to an ISF post, causing some response from the ISF..... I didn't hear anything cos we live in Becora which is like another world......... but many of my colleagues did and got quite panicky........ no official response as to what really happened. Investigations are underway..
oh and while i was away, blogger actually thought my blog was a spam blog so i was blocked from posting..... now they officially realise there's a human behind this blog... guess i better continue blogging!
will try to write more again..............