By CARLOS H. CONDE
Published: January 14, 2007
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations made progress toward its goal of economic and political integration at a summit meeting here on Saturday, but it was sidetracked by tensions over how to deal with Myanmar, which has come under fire for its poor human rights record.
Leaders of the 10 members of the organization, known as Asean, agreed to establish a free-trade zone by 2015, intensify their fight against terrorism, protect the region's migrant workers and improve their campaign against H.I.V./AIDS. They also agreed to draft a new charter with broad enforcement powers -- a break from the 40-year-old group's tradition of consensus and noninterference.
''We want to advance the sense of community in our shared interest to look after each other in terms of justice, economic development and common security,'' President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines said during her speech at the opening of the meeting.
Mrs. Arroyo emphasized Asean's drive to expand trade, ''to create one of the world's greatest trading blocs.''
But the group failed to find common ground on Myanmar, formerly Burma. On Friday, China and Russia vetoed a United States resolution in the United Nations Security Council that criticized Myanmar's persecution of opposition groups.
''How are we going to help you if you are not making progress?'' Indonesia's president, Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono, told Myanmar's officials late Friday, according to Reuters.
Nitya Pibulsonggram, Thailand's foreign minister, told reporters on Saturday that Asean should redouble its efforts ''to see what we can do to help one another,'' to give the Myanmar issue what he called ''a regional focus'' rather than ''have it internationalized.''
Asean's new charter, which will be drafted this year, is expected to include mechanisms to monitor and enforce agreements among members, along the lines of the European Union's charter.
Two years ago, Asean formed a body called the Eminent Persons Group to create guidelines for the new charter. On Friday, it released a list of 28 recommendations, including the ''strengthening of democratic values, good governance, rejection of unconstitutional and undemocratic changes of government, respect of the rule of law, including international humanitarian law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.''
In a sense, the charter is a bid to remain relevant as the economic power of China and India grows, something the group itself acknowledged. ''While the Asean charter will bring about a long overdue legal framework, Asean must reposition itself,'' it said in a statement. ''It must address the growing challenges and opportunities of regional integration, the major shifts in the Asian landscape brought about by the rise of China and India, and Asia's widening links with the rest of the world.'' China and India are not members of Asean.
Asean leaders also signed a counterterrorism agreement that, among other things, makes it obligatory for each member country to share information about terrorist suspects and possibly allow their extradition. The accord called on members to disrupt terrorist financing and to train counterterrorism forces.
Southeast Asia is home to some of the world's deadliest terrorist groups, among them Jemaah Islamiyah, which has links to Al Qaeda, and Abu Sayyaf, a group in the southern Philippines.
Asean's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE3D61330F937A25752C0A9619C8B63
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thailand deports thousands of Hmong to Laos
Thailand has removed about 4,000 ethnic Hmong from a northern refugee camp to deport them back to communist-ruled Laos, despite international criticism.
No violence was used as all of the Hmong were moved out of the camp in Phetchabun province, officials said.
Thailand describes them as economic migrants. The Hmong say they face persecution in Laos because they backed US forces during the Vietnam war.
The United Nations urged Thailand to stop the deportations.
Col Thana Charuvat, who is co-ordinating the repatriation, said about 5,000 soldiers, officials and civilian volunteers had entered the camp in Huay Nam Khao village late on Monday morning.
By late afternoon, the last of the Hmong had been driven from the camp in army trucks to buses that were waiting to take them to the border with Laos.
"There was no resistance from the repatriated Hmong because we used psychological tactics to talk with them, to assure them that they will have a better life in Laos as the Lao government has confirmed," Col Thana said.
Possible threats
No journalists were allowed into the camp during the operation, which went ahead despite calls from the UN, the US and several European nations to halt the deportations.
"We also urge the Lao People's Democratic Republic to treat humanely any Lao Hmong who are involuntarily returned, to provide access for international monitors, and facilitate resettlement opportunities for any eligible returnee," said the US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly.
Map
He noted that both the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Royal Thai Government have deemed many of the Hmong in need of protection because of the threats they might face in Laos.
Thai government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn told the BBC that officials had concerns for about 100 of those being deported.
But Thailand had been assured that those people would be pardoned on their return to Laos, he added.
Hundreds of thousands of Hmong fled Laos after the communist Pathet Movement took power in 1975.
Many have settled in the United States, Australia and other countries, but a sizeable population remains in Laos and complains of persecution from the authorities.
Some Hmong have been fighting a low-level insurgency against the government since 1975.
No violence was used as all of the Hmong were moved out of the camp in Phetchabun province, officials said.
Thailand describes them as economic migrants. The Hmong say they face persecution in Laos because they backed US forces during the Vietnam war.
The United Nations urged Thailand to stop the deportations.
Col Thana Charuvat, who is co-ordinating the repatriation, said about 5,000 soldiers, officials and civilian volunteers had entered the camp in Huay Nam Khao village late on Monday morning.
By late afternoon, the last of the Hmong had been driven from the camp in army trucks to buses that were waiting to take them to the border with Laos.
"There was no resistance from the repatriated Hmong because we used psychological tactics to talk with them, to assure them that they will have a better life in Laos as the Lao government has confirmed," Col Thana said.
Possible threats
No journalists were allowed into the camp during the operation, which went ahead despite calls from the UN, the US and several European nations to halt the deportations.
"We also urge the Lao People's Democratic Republic to treat humanely any Lao Hmong who are involuntarily returned, to provide access for international monitors, and facilitate resettlement opportunities for any eligible returnee," said the US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly.
Map
He noted that both the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Royal Thai Government have deemed many of the Hmong in need of protection because of the threats they might face in Laos.
Thai government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn told the BBC that officials had concerns for about 100 of those being deported.
But Thailand had been assured that those people would be pardoned on their return to Laos, he added.
Hundreds of thousands of Hmong fled Laos after the communist Pathet Movement took power in 1975.
Many have settled in the United States, Australia and other countries, but a sizeable population remains in Laos and complains of persecution from the authorities.
Some Hmong have been fighting a low-level insurgency against the government since 1975.
Khmer and Thai troops clash at border near temple
Phnom Penh - Cambodian and Thai soldiers exchanged fire early Sunday 20 kilometres from a disputed ancient temple site on Cambodia's northern border, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.
General Chhum Socheat told the German Press Agency dpa that the clash occurred on the morning that Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was visiting the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.
Chhum Socheat said Thai soldiers had crossed 200 metres into Cambodian territory near an abandoned village 20 kilometres from the temple when they encountered Cambodian soldiers.
"When they saw our soldiers they shot at them, and after (our soldiers) shot back there was no more fighting," he said, adding that the Thai troops subsequently withdrew.
Chhum Socheat said none of the Cambodian soldiers were injured or killed, but he had no information on whether Thai troops had suffered casualties.
He said he did not expect further fighting since senior officers on both sides had since spoken with each other.
"Now it's quiet, they solved the problem by telephone," he said.
Late Sunday the Foreign Ministry said Hor Namhong was unaware during his visit that the clash had taken place, and had since returned to Phnom Penh.
The relationship between the two nations has been tense for more than a year with sporadic clashes between troops near the disputed area surrounding the temple. Much of the border between the two countries has yet to be demarcated.
Diplomatic relations worsened markedly in October when Cambodia appointed Thailand's fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra as a government adviser.
General Chhum Socheat told the German Press Agency dpa that the clash occurred on the morning that Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was visiting the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.
Chhum Socheat said Thai soldiers had crossed 200 metres into Cambodian territory near an abandoned village 20 kilometres from the temple when they encountered Cambodian soldiers.
"When they saw our soldiers they shot at them, and after (our soldiers) shot back there was no more fighting," he said, adding that the Thai troops subsequently withdrew.
Chhum Socheat said none of the Cambodian soldiers were injured or killed, but he had no information on whether Thai troops had suffered casualties.
He said he did not expect further fighting since senior officers on both sides had since spoken with each other.
"Now it's quiet, they solved the problem by telephone," he said.
Late Sunday the Foreign Ministry said Hor Namhong was unaware during his visit that the clash had taken place, and had since returned to Phnom Penh.
The relationship between the two nations has been tense for more than a year with sporadic clashes between troops near the disputed area surrounding the temple. Much of the border between the two countries has yet to be demarcated.
Diplomatic relations worsened markedly in October when Cambodia appointed Thailand's fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra as a government adviser.
Philippines General Election Coming Up
Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections in the Philippines are scheduled to be held on May 10, 2010. The elected president will become the 15th President of the Philippines, succeeding President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is barred from seeking re-election due to term restrictions. If current Vice-President Noli de Castro should not retake office, his successor will be the 15th Vice President of the Philippines. The legislators elected in the 2010 elections will join the senators of the 2007 elections and will comprise the 15th Congress of the Philippines.
The 2010 election will be administered by the Commission on Elections in compliance with the Republic Act No. 9369, also known as Amended Computerization Act of 2007. It will be the first national computerized election in the history of the Philippines.
Local elections are also to be held in all provinces, cities and municipalities.
http://english.sina.com/world/2009/1124/288129.html
Saturday, November 28, 2009
SEA Games Starts on the 9th
History of SEA Games
The Southeast Asian Games owes its origins to the Southeast Asian
Peninsular Games or SEAP Games. On May 22, 1958, delegates from the
countries in Southeast Asian peninsula attending the 3rd Asian Games in Tokyo,
Japan had a meeting and agreed to establish a sport organization. The SEAP Games
was conceptualized by Laung Sukhumnaipradit, then Vice-President of the Thailand
Olympic Committee. The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will
help promote cooperation, understanding and relations among countries in the
Southeast Asian region.
Thailand, Burma (now Myanmar), Malaya (now Malaysia), Laos, South
Vietnam and Cambodia (with Singapore included thereafter) were the founding
members. These countries agreed to hold the Games biannually. The SEAP Games
Federation Committee was formed.
The first SEAP Games were held in Bangkok from 12-17 December, 1959
comprising more than 527 athletes and officials from Thailand, Burma, Malaysia,
Singapore, South Vietnam and Laos participating in 12 sports.
At the 8th SEAP Games in 1975, the SEAP Federation considered the
inclusion of Indonesia and the Philippines. The two countries were formally
admitted in 1977, the same year when SEAP Federation changed their name to
Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF), and the games were known as the
Southeast Asian Games. Brunei was admitted at the 10th SEA Games in Jakarta,
Indonesia, and East Timor at the 22nd SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The 23rd SEA Games held in the Philippines, which started from 27
November and ended on 5 December 2005, hosting the biennial event for the third
time
East Timor aid "where did billions go?"
By ANTHONY DEUTSCH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
September 27, 2009 12:00 AM
Dartmouth judge evaluating justice system
Massachusetts Appeals Court Chief Justice Phillip Rapoza of Dartmouth was appointed by the United Nations to lead an international team of experts to evaluate East Timor's justice system over the summer.
Rapoza was in the country last week because the team was presenting its report to U.N., international and national officials, said Joan Kenney, spokeswoman for the state courts.
From 2003 to 2005, Rapoza, then an associate justice of the Appeals Court, took an unpaid leave of absence to work for the U.N. as chief international judge of the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor, according to his biography on the state's Web site.
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DILI, East Timor — A decade after tiny East Timor broke from Indonesia and prompted one of the most expensive U.N.-led nation-building projects in history, there is little to show for the billions spent.
The world has given more than $8.8 billion in assistance to East Timor since the vote for independence in 1999, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press from the U.N. and 46 donor countries and agencies. That works out to $8,000 for each of East Timor's 1.1 million people, one of the highest per person rates of international aid.
But little of the money, perhaps no more than a dollar of every 10, appears to have made it into East Timor's economy. Instead, it goes toward foreign security forces, consultants and administration, among other things.
In the meantime, data from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Food Program, U.N. Development Program and others show the money has done little to help the poor. In fact, poverty has increased. Roads are in disrepair, there is little access to clean water or health services, and the capital is littered with abandoned, burned-out buildings where the homeless squat.
"The international intervention has preserved the peace, which was always its primary objective," said James Dobbins, director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center. "Its success in promoting political reform and economic development has been more limited."
East Timor was once seen as the poster child for U.N. nation-building.
After a bloody 24-year occupation by Indonesia that left 174,000 dead, the people of this predominantly Catholic former Portuguese colony voted overwhelmingly in a U.N.-managed referendum on Aug. 30, 1999, to separate. The vote triggered a rampage by Indonesian soldiers and proxy militias who killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed much of the infrastructure.
A provisional U.N. administration restored basic services, repaired buildings and resettled hundreds of thousands of people who had lost their homes. With greater powers than any previous mission, the U.N. was supposed to help create the pillars of a new country, virtually from scratch.
The vastness and complexity of the job became apparent in early 2006, just as the U.N. was pulling out its last staff members. Fighting broke out between rival police and army factions, killing dozens and toppling the government. Then, last February, President Jose Ramos-Horta was nearly killed by rebel gunmen in an ambush.
Timor still faces grave challenges:
* Between 2001 and 2007, the number of Timorese living in poverty jumped nearly 14 percent to about 522,000, or roughly half the population, according to the World Bank.
* Children make up half of the poor, and 60 percent of those under 5 suffer malnutrition, the World Bank and World Food Program found.
* The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation concluded in a 2007 report that very little aid was channeled into "productive activities, including private sector development."
* The unemployment rate for 15- to 29-year-olds in the capital, who make up the vast majority of the national work force, was more than 40 percent in 2007, according to the IMF and the state.
Atul Khare, who has headed the U.N. operation in East Timor since mid-2006, dismissed the World Bank and IMF figures as "absolutely incorrect" and not representative. He said the country has made "considerable progress" since 1999, and the U.N. East Timor mission has been effective and successful.
"All these figures are a cause of concern, but they are extrapolations, they are not the real figures, and I would not rely on those figures for making assessments," he said. "In the last 10 years, with their own efforts ... assisted by the international community, this country has largely, yes, been a success."
"Were you here in 1999? If you were not here, you cannot gauge."
Khare cited increased fertility rates, among the highest in the world, new buildings and fewer potholes in Dili as positive signs. He said accurate numbers will emerge after 2010, when the next national census is held.
But groups that study East Timor have concluded that a mere fraction of aid money is trickling into the economy — just 10 percent of about $5.2 billion, estimates La'o Hamutuk, a respected Dili-based research institute. Its figure excludes more than $3 billion in military spending by Australia and New Zealand.
The rest went to international salaries, overseas procurement, imported supplies, foreign consultants and overseas administration, the institute said. About 20 percent of pledged aid was never delivered, it said.
Another group, the Peace Dividend Trust, concluded that as little as 5 percent of the U.N. mission budget trickled into East Timor's economy between 2004 and 2007.
The U.N. spent $2.2 billion on missions in East Timor between 1999 and 2009. Roughly $3 billion in donor aid — the bulk of it from Australia, Japan, the European Union, the U.S. and Portugal — was channeled through 500 nonprofit groups and institutions like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
The World Bank has expressed concern that too much is being spent on consultants, but could not provide a comprehensive figure. High-level Timorese government officials told the AP that millions of dollars have been wasted on projects that overlapped or were not completed, donor rivalry, mismanagement and corruption. They asked not to be named for fear of a backlash from donors.
President Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace laureate, said the world needs to rethink its aid model.
"Where has this money been invested? That is the question the donor community needs to ask itself," he said. "If that money were to have been spent mostly in Timor, it would have transformed this country, economically and socially."
Much of the money has gone toward security, for which the impact is difficult to measure. An AP tally shows that $3.6 billion was spent in the past 10 years on troops from Australia and New Zealand, who make up the bulk of a foreign intervention force.
Timor's leaders and most experts agree that without outside help East Timor would have been at risk of becoming a failed state. Thousands of foreign soldiers, U.N. police officers and staff remain across the country, but will start departing early next year.
Today, East Timor's streets are calm. The economy is starting to grow under a new government that took over in 2007 after peaceful elections and is tapping into a $5 billion petroleum fund from oil and gas fields. The fund will be exhausted by 2023, and analysts say if the non-oil economy is not stable by then, people will starve.
Under the current government, compensation has also been paid to a third of the armed forces who deserted in 2006. Pension payments have also started for the generation of guerrilla fighters who battled Indonesian troops in the mountains for more than two decades.
In the meantime, the people are still waiting for help.
Domingos Pereira, a 40-year-old street vendor, lost his father, siblings and other family members in the fight for independence, and his house was destroyed in riots in 2006. He now supports his wife and six children by selling sodas, cigarettes and candy.
"My expectation was that when East Timor became an independent country, small people like me would see an improvement in our lives," he said. "But after 10 years of our independence, I don't have it yet."
Duarte Beremau sleeps in a two-room, dirt-floor shack with eight family members, including four unemployed adult children. The shelter is cobbled together from rusting sheet metal and has no water, electricity or sanitation.
Beremau, who is illiterate and doesn't know his age, earns $10 a week from a coffee factory, part of which he bets on a Sunday afternoon cockfight in the dusty back streets of the capital, Dili.
"Nothing has changed my suffering," he said. "My life is still like it was."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090927/NEWS/909270316/-1/rss01
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
September 27, 2009 12:00 AM
Dartmouth judge evaluating justice system
Massachusetts Appeals Court Chief Justice Phillip Rapoza of Dartmouth was appointed by the United Nations to lead an international team of experts to evaluate East Timor's justice system over the summer.
Rapoza was in the country last week because the team was presenting its report to U.N., international and national officials, said Joan Kenney, spokeswoman for the state courts.
From 2003 to 2005, Rapoza, then an associate justice of the Appeals Court, took an unpaid leave of absence to work for the U.N. as chief international judge of the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor, according to his biography on the state's Web site.
Most Viewed Stories
* Inside Boxing: Suddenly, it's 'Money' who needs the big fight
* Police: Dad doing errand locked kids in trunk
* Overturned tractor-trailer shuts down section of highway
* Beautiful historic home in Marion Village
* Fairhaven woman leads her mother into the military
* Black Friday draws early-morning crowds in SouthCoast
* Death notices
DILI, East Timor — A decade after tiny East Timor broke from Indonesia and prompted one of the most expensive U.N.-led nation-building projects in history, there is little to show for the billions spent.
The world has given more than $8.8 billion in assistance to East Timor since the vote for independence in 1999, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press from the U.N. and 46 donor countries and agencies. That works out to $8,000 for each of East Timor's 1.1 million people, one of the highest per person rates of international aid.
But little of the money, perhaps no more than a dollar of every 10, appears to have made it into East Timor's economy. Instead, it goes toward foreign security forces, consultants and administration, among other things.
In the meantime, data from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Food Program, U.N. Development Program and others show the money has done little to help the poor. In fact, poverty has increased. Roads are in disrepair, there is little access to clean water or health services, and the capital is littered with abandoned, burned-out buildings where the homeless squat.
"The international intervention has preserved the peace, which was always its primary objective," said James Dobbins, director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center. "Its success in promoting political reform and economic development has been more limited."
East Timor was once seen as the poster child for U.N. nation-building.
After a bloody 24-year occupation by Indonesia that left 174,000 dead, the people of this predominantly Catholic former Portuguese colony voted overwhelmingly in a U.N.-managed referendum on Aug. 30, 1999, to separate. The vote triggered a rampage by Indonesian soldiers and proxy militias who killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed much of the infrastructure.
A provisional U.N. administration restored basic services, repaired buildings and resettled hundreds of thousands of people who had lost their homes. With greater powers than any previous mission, the U.N. was supposed to help create the pillars of a new country, virtually from scratch.
The vastness and complexity of the job became apparent in early 2006, just as the U.N. was pulling out its last staff members. Fighting broke out between rival police and army factions, killing dozens and toppling the government. Then, last February, President Jose Ramos-Horta was nearly killed by rebel gunmen in an ambush.
Timor still faces grave challenges:
* Between 2001 and 2007, the number of Timorese living in poverty jumped nearly 14 percent to about 522,000, or roughly half the population, according to the World Bank.
* Children make up half of the poor, and 60 percent of those under 5 suffer malnutrition, the World Bank and World Food Program found.
* The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation concluded in a 2007 report that very little aid was channeled into "productive activities, including private sector development."
* The unemployment rate for 15- to 29-year-olds in the capital, who make up the vast majority of the national work force, was more than 40 percent in 2007, according to the IMF and the state.
Atul Khare, who has headed the U.N. operation in East Timor since mid-2006, dismissed the World Bank and IMF figures as "absolutely incorrect" and not representative. He said the country has made "considerable progress" since 1999, and the U.N. East Timor mission has been effective and successful.
"All these figures are a cause of concern, but they are extrapolations, they are not the real figures, and I would not rely on those figures for making assessments," he said. "In the last 10 years, with their own efforts ... assisted by the international community, this country has largely, yes, been a success."
"Were you here in 1999? If you were not here, you cannot gauge."
Khare cited increased fertility rates, among the highest in the world, new buildings and fewer potholes in Dili as positive signs. He said accurate numbers will emerge after 2010, when the next national census is held.
But groups that study East Timor have concluded that a mere fraction of aid money is trickling into the economy — just 10 percent of about $5.2 billion, estimates La'o Hamutuk, a respected Dili-based research institute. Its figure excludes more than $3 billion in military spending by Australia and New Zealand.
The rest went to international salaries, overseas procurement, imported supplies, foreign consultants and overseas administration, the institute said. About 20 percent of pledged aid was never delivered, it said.
Another group, the Peace Dividend Trust, concluded that as little as 5 percent of the U.N. mission budget trickled into East Timor's economy between 2004 and 2007.
The U.N. spent $2.2 billion on missions in East Timor between 1999 and 2009. Roughly $3 billion in donor aid — the bulk of it from Australia, Japan, the European Union, the U.S. and Portugal — was channeled through 500 nonprofit groups and institutions like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
The World Bank has expressed concern that too much is being spent on consultants, but could not provide a comprehensive figure. High-level Timorese government officials told the AP that millions of dollars have been wasted on projects that overlapped or were not completed, donor rivalry, mismanagement and corruption. They asked not to be named for fear of a backlash from donors.
President Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace laureate, said the world needs to rethink its aid model.
"Where has this money been invested? That is the question the donor community needs to ask itself," he said. "If that money were to have been spent mostly in Timor, it would have transformed this country, economically and socially."
Much of the money has gone toward security, for which the impact is difficult to measure. An AP tally shows that $3.6 billion was spent in the past 10 years on troops from Australia and New Zealand, who make up the bulk of a foreign intervention force.
Timor's leaders and most experts agree that without outside help East Timor would have been at risk of becoming a failed state. Thousands of foreign soldiers, U.N. police officers and staff remain across the country, but will start departing early next year.
Today, East Timor's streets are calm. The economy is starting to grow under a new government that took over in 2007 after peaceful elections and is tapping into a $5 billion petroleum fund from oil and gas fields. The fund will be exhausted by 2023, and analysts say if the non-oil economy is not stable by then, people will starve.
Under the current government, compensation has also been paid to a third of the armed forces who deserted in 2006. Pension payments have also started for the generation of guerrilla fighters who battled Indonesian troops in the mountains for more than two decades.
In the meantime, the people are still waiting for help.
Domingos Pereira, a 40-year-old street vendor, lost his father, siblings and other family members in the fight for independence, and his house was destroyed in riots in 2006. He now supports his wife and six children by selling sodas, cigarettes and candy.
"My expectation was that when East Timor became an independent country, small people like me would see an improvement in our lives," he said. "But after 10 years of our independence, I don't have it yet."
Duarte Beremau sleeps in a two-room, dirt-floor shack with eight family members, including four unemployed adult children. The shelter is cobbled together from rusting sheet metal and has no water, electricity or sanitation.
Beremau, who is illiterate and doesn't know his age, earns $10 a week from a coffee factory, part of which he bets on a Sunday afternoon cockfight in the dusty back streets of the capital, Dili.
"Nothing has changed my suffering," he said. "My life is still like it was."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090927/NEWS/909270316/-1/rss01
Jakarta-KL controversy
By Lynn Lee, Indonesia Correspondent
JAKARTA - A BROUHAHA in Indonesia over Malaysia's usage of the Balinese pendet dance in a tourism commercial has now shifted to another controversy involving the Malaysian national anthem.
Indonesians see Malaysia as appropriating their cultural assets, while Malaysians say these have been part of their culture for as long as anyone can remember.
... more
Indonesians were up in arms after seeing the commercial on Malaysia that featured the pendet dance.
Kuala Lumpur had apologised for the use of the Balinese dance but said the mistake was made by a third party who was paid by Malaysia's Tourism Ministry to produce the commercial.
The Malaysian embassy in Jakarta said in a statement earlier this week: 'Nobody in Malaysia claimed that the pendet dance originated in Malaysia.'
But that is not the end of the story.
A report in yesterday's Jakarta Globe newspaper quoted an executive from a state-owned recording company as asking why Malaysia's national anthem 'Negaraku' (My Country) sounded like the Indonesian song 'Terang Bulan' (Moon Shine).
Mr Ruktiningsih, the head of recording company Lokananta, urged the Indonesian government to act on the 'violation of intellectual property rights'.
'We have to unite against Malaysia, as they keep stealing Indonesia's assets,' he added.
An Internet search found that both songs do indeed share the same roots. Malaysia acknowledges as much on a government website detailing its monarchy system.
The song Terang Bulan comes from a popular French melody in the Seychelles, that spread to the Malay archipelago in the early 20th century.
It was adopted as Perak's state anthem in 1901. And in 1957, it became the national anthem for Malaysia with the lyrics changed.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_423219.html
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