The Timor Man. Kerry B Collison

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СКАЧАТЬ to weave both into a narrative that general readers will enjoy, readers who have not had the benefit of witnessing at first-hand the incredible changes that have occurred in Asia over the last few decades.

      Perhaps some of the descriptions of events and military hardware could be challenged, but for the greater part, the novel is supported by what I believe to be a solid foundation of fact.

      In 1965 and 1966, during the time which many of us later understood as the ‘Year of Living Dangerously ’, almost half a million people died in one of the worst blood lettings since the Jewish Holocaust.

      Later, between the years of 1975 and 1990, almost a quarter of a million East Timorese were killed by Indonesian soldiers. More died, in fact, than were lost in the terrible wars in what are now known as the Former Yugoslavian Republics.

      Although this story was not written with a political purpose, I hope it will reach your heart and appeal to your soul. As our world enters the twenty-first Century, we still go about killing each other more than ever before. Human nature doesn’t seem to change.

      Only the historical facts do.

      Kerry B.Collison,

      Kompong Som

      Prologue

      The Present

      The explosion erupted through the assembly.

      Figures danced momentarily before disintegrating into heaps of lifeless flesh and bone. The blast ripped through the guests hurling musical instruments into the maelstrom of human carnage, decapitating a bandsman.

      Then, for an immeasurable moment, silence ...

      A shrill cry pierced the quiet, then a cacophony of screams emphasised the full horror of the blasts.

      Canberra bomb toll 'horrific' - PM

      By PETER JENSEN

      The Australian Prime Minister has issued a statement strongly condemning last night's terrorist attack which claimed more than 100 lives here in the Capital.

      Amongst those believed killed were the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, Mr. Nathan Seda, the Indonesian Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Umar Suprapto, and the Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Abdul Nasution, and the former Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. Duncan O'Laughlin.

      A further 337 people have been reported as seriously injured. Local hospitals where the bomb blast victims were recovering from severe burns have been placed under tight security.

      An informed source has stated that the condition of the Papua New Guinea Foreign Affairs Minister has improved but he is to remain on the critical list.

      Eye witnesses reported that the Indonesian Embassy foyer erupted into a fireball moments after commencement of the Indonrsian national anthem.

      The explosion was felt throughout the area. Local residents in surrounding areas have reported extensive window damage. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has expressed deep regret concerning the attack and has sent a personal note to the Indonesian President expressing sympathy and offering Australia's condolences to the Indonesian people.

      He stated he hoped current relations would not be further strained by what he described as "international terrorists and vested interest groups bent on sabotaging Indonesian-Australian relations."

      Yesterday's reception was held to celebrate Indonesia's Independence Day in Australia, Mr. Seda's first since taking up his post.

      Both Governments had hoped that his appointment would create an air of rapprochement between the countries since relations were strained over the Timor shelf oil disputes and New Guinea's recent border clashes with its giant neighbour.

      Border violations throughout the past twelve months have resulted in Australian military units being positioned in New Guinea to assist under the terms of existing defence commitments. A number of Indonesian RPKAD troops and New Guinea soldiers were killed during a recent clash. At the time, Indonesia claimed that their troops had been on an anti-guerilla sweep and had inadvertently strayed into New Guinea territory. Political relations deteriorated further when the Australian Embassy in Jakarta was partly gutted by fire during student demonstrations.

      It is not known whether Indonesia will now sever diplomatic ties as a result of this attack. Opposition Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister David Carroll demanded that the Prime Minister act to protect Australian interests in Indonesia as students are expected to demonstrate in retaliation to the Canberra Bombing.

      A Government spokesman has indicated that steps have already been taken in Jakarta but warned that tourists should be aware of possible incidents in response to the deaths of the senior Indonesians here.

      A man claiming to be a member of the Frente Revolucionada de Timor Lest Indepente (FRETILIN) party had phoned claiming responsibility for the bombing.

      The Prime Minister has instructed the police and security chiefs to mobilize whatever forces necessary to investigate the bombing and pursue those responsible - AAP

      PAGE 3: Continues

      

      Book One

      1965

       Indonesia in Turmoil

      Chapter 1

      Nathan Seda Jakarta — January 1965

      Lightning cracked yet again, signalling there would be no break in the tropical storm. The city began to choke as rain fell incessantly creating chaos with the traffic. Trucks, buses and cars remained stuck where they had broken down under the deluge, their electrical systems saturated and rendered useless. Scores of drivers waded through the deep and filthy flows which threatened to carry the abandoned cars over the roads into the flooded canals.

      The downpour continued throughout the day, threatening to close the capital, as most major roads became small rivers feeding shallow lakes which had suddenly appeared where once there had been parks and fields.

      The air was thick with the musty damp smell of the rain. Humidity rose to unbearable levels.

      The more congested intersections would remain blocked for hours as children played in waist-deep ponds covering the Capital’s pot-holed protocol roads. Electricity flow would have ceased almost immediately rain had commenced. Without power there would be no water — the irony of being without adequate water while rain flooded the city was not lost on the Capital’s inhabitants.

      The transition from Dutch colonial rule to Independence had thrust the archipelago’s one hundred and fifty million people into a political and economic quagmire peppered by religious rivalry and diverse cultural differences.

      Soekarno’s СКАЧАТЬ