Welcome to BASE21

By Jeong Gue-sun, President of FWR

On May 20 East Timor, the first new nation of the 21st Century, proclaimed their independence.

East Timor had been colonized by Portugal from 1524. When Portuguese colonization ended in 1975, they left resistance organisations, which had struggled for independence from Portugal, preparing for independence in November 1975.

But after only one week, their dream of independence was broken because Indonesia sent in its army and took forced occupation in December 1975, oppressing the groups that had struggled for independence and making East Timor their 27th province.

After that, violence, arrests, torture and murder, conducted by the Indonesian army, left deep wounds on East Timors people.

Then, once Indonesias Suharto regime was broken in 1997, a new atmosphere of independence amongst the East Timorese grew, and with UN intervention in 1999 it was agreed upon that East Timor would become self-governing.

Under the supervision of a UN peacekeeping force, general and presidential elections were held in East Timor. At last they realized their dream of independence state for 478 years suffering by attacks and controlled forcibly by other countries.

Sanana Gusmao, who is called the 'Nelson Mandela of East Timor' and 'Timor Larose (Rising Sun)' and is also a legendary independence activist was elected as the first president of East Timor.

Emphasising harmony and re-construction, he said in his inauguration speech, "We will be the citizens of the poorest country in the world and will be facing many obstacles. The most immediate task is construction of new state not revenge".

According to the UNDP, East Timor is one-sixth the size of South Korea; its population is only 839,000; GDP was only US$337 in 1999 - the lowest in the world; compared to international averages, half of its children under five years of age are under weight; 30 percent of children do not going to school. And they have to solve the problem of 60 thousand civil-army against independence of East Timor staying in West Timor as refugees now.

Despite being the poorest people in the world, with 41 percent of its people living on less than US$0.55 (about 700 Korean won) and 52 percent being unable to read, East Timorese have always thought the rose is more valuable than bread, which has been really valuable in the struggle for their dream, the rose. People who are deprived of bread and the rose in Afghanistan, Palestine, etc. around the world are morning and in pain.

Migrant workers in Korea are also morning under serious pain, but I hope we can all send a congratulatory massage to the people of East Timor and a message of solidarity to the people suffering in Afghanistan and Palestine.
May they have an early summer filled with red roses.