The Timor Man (44 page)

Time passed unnoticed even as his work-load increased and suddenly Stephen was aware that it had been some seven months since he had seen Wanti. After a year had passed Coleman was convinced that his wife was destined to spend her days locked in her dream-like world forever. At the end of the second year he returned to discuss her condition directly with the doctors and Albert. Even the specialist was no longer confident of a recovery and suggested politely that maybe Stephen might consider having his wife institutionalized.

Albert now doted on Wanti like a younger sister and at his request Stephen agreed, reluctantly, to leave her in his care. The nursing visits were reduced to twice per week. The doctor's visits were discontinued. Stephen and Albert made arrangements for a more permanent stay for Wanti through the Immigration office, having her passport endorsed as a Permanent Resident. As the wife of an Australian citizen she was entitled to do so.

Coleman had smiled thinly when preparing to leave as Albert had spoken to him softly regarding his future.

“
Stephen, this is very difficult for me to say and, no doubt, more difficult for you to accept. However, as we are close friends. . .
” He then smiled kindly at the Australian, permitting his words to trail away, unfinished.

“
Stephen, you will probably never forget Wanti but you should now make plans to get on with your life.
”

Coleman understood what his close and dear friend had so much difficulty expressing.

“
It's okay, Albert,
” he sighed. “
It isn't easy leaving her here like this but you are correct. It is time for me to think ahead. ”

Albert was pleased and put his arm warmly around his former student's shoulder, not needing to say anything more as both understood what had just been said.

As the taxi sped away heading for the airport Coleman looked back and caught his last glimpse of Wanti standing radiantly beside Albert as they raised their hands together waving him good-bye. He felt his heart tearing apart.

It was then he realized just how much he had really cared for her, grieved that now she might never know, her mind no longer capable of dealing with such realities.

Stephen looked back quickly, again, for one final glimpse. They had already disappeared from sight and, as the taxi slowly turned the corner obliterating his last view of the beautiful woman he'd married, he knew, although he did not understand why, she was lost to him forever.

Timor
— 1975-1978

 

The Portuguese colony was in turmoil and the population felt abandoned. After four hundred and fifty years of trading and more than one hundred years of direct colonial rule, the Portuguese had virtually thrown their hands in the air and walked away from this isolated outpost on the edge of the chain of thousands of Indonesian islands.

In Dili, the capital, violence had already broken out between the inexperienced and politically naive groups including disillusioned expatriate Portuguese who had been caught by the sudden change in circumstances. The confused and bewildered government civil servants who no longer appeared to have any official or legal status to oversee the former colony's administration, looked for leadership, but there was none.

Many Portuguese-trained Timorese soldiers turned mercenary overnight. Others formed armed bands and commenced pillaging shops and raiding outlying farms. Weapons were easily stolen from the poorly equipped armories located in the small towns and from the departing contingent of Europeans, who were ecstatic at being permitted to return home to Lisbon to escape the political upheaval.

The successful and bloodless
coup d'etat
the year before had all of Portugal's military in a festive mood.

A disgruntled group of some two hundred service Captains who, dissatisfied with the long, unsuccessful and drawn-out wars in the African continent as Portugal strove to maintain control over its colonies, overthrew the mediocre regime of Anonio de Oliveira Salazar in the
Captains' Revolution
. The new leadership, the generals who had been catapulted into power as a result of the
coup d'etat
had then set about cutting the burdensome cords to Portugal's colonies.

East Timor
was not mentioned in the initial proclamations. As Portuguese Guinea and the African colonies, Mozambique, Angola and the others gained their independence, the embryonic separatist movement in Timor rapidly developed momentum. And outside support.

Almost immediately, Angola was seized by the Marxists who had received substantial military aid from Fidel Castro. The
coup d'etat
in Portugal had resulted in rapid decolonisation of her territories. Unfortunately there had been no transition period and this resulted in the creation of an administrative, political and military vacuum which could not be filled by the inexperienced and poorly trained Timorese.

The region surrounding Timor suddenly became hostile and extremely volatile.

The military leadership of East Timor's giant neighbour, having eradicated Communism less than ten years before, were aghast at the events associated with Portugal's uncontrolled decolonisation process, particularly when militant Marxist groups were permitted to assume power in the former colonies.

The Indonesians were perplexed by the rapid change of events. Suddenly they faced the possibility of a new independent country on their doorstep. And not only a new neighbour, but one that threatened to spread Communism across the borders into Indonesia itself. And their antagonists already controlled more than one half of an Indonesian island.

The unthinkable had happened. Indonesia was suddenly faced with an enemy potentially more dangerous than they had ever known before. The military knew that a consolidated Communist force located within their own country's borders could only spell catastrophe for Indonesia and could even be a threat for Australia.

 

Nathan Seda had great difficulty concealing his pleasure. It had finally happened. This was the opportunity he had dreamed of and had planned towards for almost ten years. Now it was about to become a reality.

A free and independent Timor.

He had difficulty controlling his excitement. He knew it was now truly possible and no longer just a dream. These were dangerous times and Seda knew that he must be even more diligent than before. The other Generals would now watch him even more closely, because he was Timorese. He understood that they would no longer be as complacent. Since ascending to their rewarding positions of power under the New Order, as they insisted on referring to the current generation of military strong men, many had grown fat and lazy, their stomachs filled with the riches reaped from others as they easily carved comfortable niches for themselves.

He was not one of them. He wasn't Javanese. Even the Sumatran officers now viewed him with suspicion. But he would play their game. He would bend to their wishes as does the willow tree under a soft wind. He would smile in friendship while in his mind he would visualize images of a new Timor, one in which the children would not suffer as he and all the other village children had suffered. A Timor that could bury the bitter memories of its people forced to endure centuries of misery under the hand of the Portuguese. He would never forget the children lamenting the injustices inflicted by their cruel masters. And the fate of his family.

Seda believed the time had finally arrived. He acknowledged that earlier efforts had been badly organized or poorly timed. The West New Guineans were a miserable lot, he thought and his experiences dealing with these primitive tribes had not been memorable ones.

But this! He was amazed at the reactions he had witnessed from the Indonesian Armed Forces Strategic Committee when attending the urgently called session earlier that day. To think that this mighty country, with its now sophisticated hardware and half a million troops, could be rocked by just the threat of a Timorese uprising. He was astonished that a little sabre rattling had panicked all of them! He wanted to laugh out loud when the decision had been made to send a delegation to Portugal. The mood in the room, then filled with Indonesia's most powerful figures, supported immediate military action.

‘
Annex the potential danger area!
' they had cried. ‘
Before world opinion can grow in support of the mercenaries, and other militants
.' The general consensus was that there would be little or no resistance if they marched in immediately. The ABRI Chief of Staff even guaranteed that there could be few Indonesian casualties.

But there were logistical difficulties and many of the generals were reluctant to support such an immediate move. The High Command was embarrassed to admit that the basic difficulty was the navy's inability to transport the newly acquired hardware and, as for AURI, the nation's air force, most of its younger or more capable pilots were currently undergoing advanced training in the United States.

The non-military faction warned against occupying the eastern part of the island as, they reminded all present, less than a decade before their country had been accused of being expansionist during
Konfrontasi
when it was unofficially at war with Malaya and Singapore. They recommended that a delegation be sent immediately to discuss the crisis with Portugal's current strong man, Colonel Vasco Goncalves, in Lisbon. The debate continued well into the night and, not surprisingly, tempers flared, causing the Vice President to call an end to the Council's emergency meeting.

The President made it known that he was not supportive of meetings with a pro-Marxist government, even a military one. He had always believed that the Portuguese should have departed from the region with the Dutch, leaving the former colony to its rightful owners. His supporters knew that this meant Indonesia.

The ‘Smiling General' also clearly understood from his economic and financial strategists that, as his country desperately needed its ongoing foreign investment dollar flow to continue, any arbitrary decision to ignore the possibility of a negotiated settlement-cumacquisition of the former colony could be dangerously detrimental to his country's development. Bilateral discussions would be viewed favourably and would be far more palatable for the soft politicians in Washington, the influential heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, than being confronted with the rumblings of Indonesia's military machines from far across the Pacific. He sent his decision to the Foreign Minister, Adam Malik.

The Foreign Minister considered his own national responsibilities and then the United Nation's position. He had enjoyed the exalted chair as President of the Twenty-Sixth General Assembly and did not wish to have his international reputation tarnished.

He elected to follow the path for which historians would commend him, a decision that he knew would earn him acclaim for his objectivity and understanding of world opinion. With his eye on the Vice Presidency, he supported his President's views, although not for the same reasons.

Seda snorted privately at the presidential suggestion. ‘
To hell with Portugal,
' he thought, ‘
they are out and we are in!
' he chuckled gleefully to himself sitting comfortably in the back seat of his Mercedes.

He now maintained a fleet of five almost identical cars, the same make, model and colour with tinted windows. The only distinguishable difference for those with a sharp eye was the Department of Defence consecutive registration numbers.

General Nathan Seda now knew he had the perfect opportunity to implement the plan he'd envisaged for so long. It was the opportunity he had not dared to expect, but now that it had happened, he would take the fullest advantage of the unrest and act decisively, providing his people with the chance to advance their cause for an independent nation. He would drag his people, with force if necessary kicking and screaming, into the twentieth century. The people were still uneducated, almost primitive and desperately deserved a leader who could show them the way. He would be that man.

His mind was full of details that now needed to be addressed quickly to take full advantage of the timing and confusion. There was so much to arrange. Coleman had to be organized. Umar had to be briefed. Shipments had to be dispatched. He must send weapons and supplies to the newly formed separatist groups. They needed his help, desperately. Impatient and eager to facilitate the additional supply of necessary weapons and logistic support to the guerrillas, he urged his driver to hurry as if they were, in fact, already waiting eagerly for his deadly gifts of destruction at some predetermined destination; and he was late.