Thousands celebrate East Timor's 20th anniversary but the scars remain
Alison Bevege
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Thousands of people turned out on Friday night to celebrate East Timor’s independence on the 20th anniversary of the 1999 referendum that led to the end of Indonesian occupation.
Fireworks, music and song erupted at Tasi Tolu outside Dili, where the crowd sang the national anthem “Patria†which means “Fatherlandâ€, ABC News reported on Saturday.
East Timor celebrates the date as August 30 was the day they got the chance to vote for freedom from 24 years of a brutal Indonesian occupation marked by torture and extrajudicial killings.
Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-timor-anniversary/thousands-celebrate-east-timors-20th-anniversary-but-the-scars-remain-idUSKCN1VL0H9
We had the Papua New Guinea stories about a week ago (and it still goes on). It did ring a bell about this and East Timor which was in the news as said, 20 years ago. And I think they are Christian too.
I guess, if one was from Indonesia, you would be concerned about your country shrinking, though, for me, you've got to respect these cultures that have been there all this time.
We were in the South Pacific in WWII in New Guinea, I don't know the details though.
