Lyr Add: Waltzing East Timor

Subject: Waltzing East Timor
From: alison
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 09:02 AM

Hi.....

thought you'd like to see a song a friend sent me about the current situation

Waltzing My Timor

Once a jolly Digger
Stumbled down a jungle trail
Under the guns of the Red Rising Sun
And he sang as he bled and sweated through that killing ground:
"Help me, oh help me, East Timor, I'm done!"

Help Me, East Timor
Help Me, East Timor
Though your blood floods the jungle
You'll carry my gun
And he sang as he bled and sweated through that killing ground:
"Please come and help me, East Timor, My Son!"

And the call had its answer as thousands helped the Diggers through
Risking their lives and their families' too
Without stint, without let they brought food and aid and comfort too
Helping the Diggers to get the job done!

Help Me, East Timor . .

Then the Rising Sun fell and the Diggers took the short way home
"Thanks very much boys," they called as they sailed
"And if you ever need us, just send a note and we'll return
"Ask for our help and we never will fail!"

We never will fail you
Never will fail
Though our blood floods the jungle
We never will fail
If you ever need us, just send a note and we'll return
Ask for our help and we never will fail!

Now Howard and Downer sit on their big fat useless bums
Selling the honour of the Diggers down the creek
The human cost is agony and treachery and burning flesh
Dja-Kali rides rampant and we turn the other cheek

We never will fail you . . .

Up groaned the Timorese, and limped to concentration camps
Those that didn't burn and that still had their heads:
And their ghosts may be heard as you stroll down the East Timor trail
"Help us, Australia, don't leave us . . . for dead!"

Help us, Australia
Help us, Australia
Our blood floods the jungle
We've nowhere to run:
You fiddle and equivocate and dither while East Timor burns
Help us, Australia - ah, too late - we are gone . . .

Bugle plays the Last Post . . . for the soul of East Timor, and Anzac, both

© September 9, 1999 Richard Mills Unrestricted for non-profit use

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: Cara
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 10:04 AM

Thanks for posting that alison. Gave me the chills. The situation in East Timor is terrifying.

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: Richard Mills
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 10:35 AM

Thank you Cara . . . just as I was finishing the song there was a doorknock from a Labour member canvassing for the council election on Saturday - he has taken the song to Canberra via our local MP

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 10:43 AM

Thank you Alison and Richard. Important and chilling. What a terrible and very frightening situation as well as heartbreaking. It feels so stupid to sit here, half a world away and not do something, esp. while the world leaders twiddle their thumbs in delay after delay of decisions which might've saved some lives.

Glad your song will get heard there and I will share with everyone I can where I am and via email.

Thank you,

kat

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: Richard again
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 10:53 AM

kat, thank you so much, but - saved SOME lives? try 600,000 since 1975 - and rising rapidly beyond belief hour by hour

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: Art Thieme
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 02:59 PM

Noam Chomsky has been shouting into the wind about East Timor's sad problems since back then too, but the U.S. has never taken note of anything the man ever said.

Art Thieme
Peru, Illinois

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: Cara
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 04:58 PM

So much for a worldwide stand for humantarianism like we supposedly took in Kosovo...

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 11:29 PM

Thank you, Richard. I didn't mean to imply a small number. That is incredible. And, still it goes on in places like Tibet, too. I am off to research so I can do that editorial.

kat

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: GeorgeH
Date: 10 Sep 99 - 01:35 PM

am I alone in finding the most depressing thing in the current situation in East Timor its PREDICTABILITY?? Did the West's politicians really think it was likely there would be NO violent reaction against a vote for independence?

Sorry . . just feeling a need to get that thought off my chest!

G.

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: rich-joy
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 08:13 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: rich-joy
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 08:28 PM

Australians (and anyone else who may care about such things), are being asked to write to the powers-that-be regarding the destruction of Timor's cultural history and the Truth Commission (and Serious Crimes) records, by politically motivated looters :

e.g. from Australian Archivists

" I am writing to express my concern about an immediate threat to vital cultural material in Timor-Leste.

In the past day there have been reports of looting at the premises of the former Truth Commission in Timor-Leste. Stored at the Truth Commission are records including 8,000 personal submissions to the Commission. These records tell an in-depth story of Timor-Leste from 1974 to 1999 and document human rights violations, forced displacements, famine, etc and contain much private and sensitive material.

Apparently the rooms containing the records have not yet been attacked, however security at the premises has been breached and the records are clearly vulnerable to looting and destruction. Despite requests for assistance, security guards at the Commission were advised that nothing could be done to prevent looting. Given the recent looting of the 1999 Serious Crimes records in Timor-Leste, there is a very real possibility that the Truth Commission records could suffer the same fate.
see report from the ABC 31 May 2006
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1652287.htm)

I am gravely concerned for the safety of these vital records, as they represent a very significant part of the history and culture of Timor-Leste. The Truth Commission records are unique, and cannot be replaced if destroyed. It is essential to ensure that these records are not looted or ransacked, and that they are kept secure so that their evidential integrity is preserved. If they are looted or ransacked, not only is the work of the Commission undone, but there is also considerable risk of danger to the people who have entrusted their stories to the Commission.

In a volatile situation it is critical that protection be given to prevent looting and damage to cultural property which may document personal rights. International conventions call on governments to protect cultural property, and Australia has ratified the First Protocol of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Australia, as the principal provider of security in Timor-Leste, clearly has a responsibility to ensure the protection and preservation of this vital material.

I am writing to seek immediate action by the Australian Defence Forces, to pre-empt the very real possibility that these unique and vital records will be looted.
Yours sincerely ... "


Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 10:12 PM

I saw on TV news the other day, that it had been looted, including having human remains kept for DNA testing, scattered, and computers stolen.

BTW, Aussie servicemen will not get 'danger money' and other benefits, including a 'service medal', because in the words of the Defence Minister, 'nobody is shooting RPGs at them!'

Subject: RE: Waltzing East Timor
From: rich-joy
Date: 08 Jun 06 - 01:41 AM

just linking this thread to the "Ko Le Le Mai" Timorese song thread :
thread.cfm?threadid=92061&messages=3


Cheers, R-J