It's been a rough ride for Timor-Leste: 450 years of neglect under Portuguese colonialists, 24 years of systematic abuse under the Indonesian military, two-and-a-half years of experimentation under a UN transitional government and now nine rocky years as Southeast Asia's newest nation. With parliamentary and presidential elections slated for 2012, Southeast Asia's youngest democracy is about to be put to …
Oct 10, 2010
Timor-Leste
It really is great.
Sep 22, 2010
What Timor-Leste has given me
I’ve been in Timor-Leste for a little more than two years and today I’m leaving, flying to Bali then KL then London, going back to school to do a master’s at SOAS. I remember when I first arrived in Dili. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I knew nothing about the country and my career as …
Apr 22, 2010
Some people just own life
Not only is he wearing a Vespa T-shirt and a towel on his head, but I have no idea what kind of homemade cigarette he is smoking. It looks like a piece of bamboo. From the rice fields of Baucau…
Apr 14, 2010
Times of change
It's been five years since I left the UK. Throughout this time I've been adamant that I wouldn't go back aside from the occasional visit. But now I'm faced with a dilemma. Last year, I applied to do a master's in Southeast Asian Studies, majoring in government and politics of modern Southeast Asia, at the School of Oriental and African …