10 Interesting and Unusual Facts Concerning East Timorese Society

10 Interesting and Unusual Facts Concerning East Timorese Society

Located in the eastern portion of a small island within the Indonesian archipelago, Timor-Leste (East Timor) is one of the world's newest nations. Its transition to nationhood in 2002 was paved with a long and brutal fight, a fact that has deeply shaped its national mindset. To the rest of the world, it's little more than a blip on the map, but inside its mountainous boundaries is a people of remarkable resilience, very old traditions, and social niceties that can be contradictory, mysterious, and deeply lovely. To understand Timor-Leste is to look past the political and poverty headlines and into the strange and powerful realities of daily life. The following ten things in Timorese society are strange but essential in understanding this intriguing nation.

#### 1. The Crocodile as the Sacred Ancestral Father

Throughout most cultures, crocodiles are terror-inducing predators. In Timor-Leste, they are revered as ancestors. The central origin myth of the island is the story of a young boy who saved a small crocodile. For this, the crocodile transformed into the island of Timor itself, providing the boy's people with a place to stay. The crocodile's spine became the central mountain range, and its scales the rugged terrain.

It is not just a neglected folktale but a living belief that shapes social mores. They refer to the crocodiles as *avô* (grandfather). To hurt them is a grave taboo, an offense against one's own family. In a strange and powerful turnabout in nature, there are all sorts of stories of Timorese men endangering their lives to rescue crocodiles trapped in fishnests, or of crocodiles apparently rescuing Timorese swimmers and destroying foreigners. It creates a strange ecological morality, in which one of nature's most efficient killers is integrated into the spiritual fabric of the society as a protector, albeit a terrifying, ancestor.

#### 2. The "Lulik" - The Forbidden and Sacred Concept that Governs Life

It is practically impossible to understand Timor-Leste unless one understands the concept of *Lulik*. Often translated as simply "sacred," its connotation is richer and broader. *Lulik* could refer to a place, a thing, a house, a custom, or even a crumb of information charged with religious power and hence subject to taboo. It is the foundation of customary law and social life.

What is peculiar to an outsider is how *Lulik* dominates everyday life. A specific hill may be *lulik*, so you cannot build anything there or even yell there. A family heirloom like a sword or a piece of cloth is *lulik* and must be addressed with some rituals. The *uma lulik* (house of sacred things), a typical tall, pointed structure in each village, is the nexus of this spiritual power, housing the village's sacred objects and ancestor relic bones. To disregard *lulik* is to invite bad luck, sickness, or even death. In a world modernizing, this old system of spiritual leadership remains so powerful, building a society in which the unseen is as real and as governing as the seen.

#### 3. A "Youth" Nation: Tetun Prasa

The two official languages of Timor-Leste are Portuguese and Tetun. Tetun Prasa, the spoken lingua franca, is an intriguing linguistic tidbit. It is a very analytical and straightforward language with grammar that can seem strange and wonderfully uncomplicated to learn. There are no tense or person verb conjugations, no grammatical gender, and the sound inventory is severely limited.

The oddity lies in its provenance and function. Tetun Prasa evolved as a contact language, a vehicle for communication between different ethnic groups who each speak a distinct mother language. It was not intended to be a language of complex science or philosophy, but of practical day-to-day communication. This has created a society in which communication is often literal and contextual. In addition, its revival as a national language is an act of defiance for the linguistic dominance of the Indonesian occupation. Tetun does not merely talk; it pronounces a hard-won, collective identity.

#### 4. The "Barlake" - A Negotiation of Marriage, Not Dowry

A dowry in Western culture is typically cash paid by the bride's family to the groom's. In Timor-Leste, there is often a misunderstanding of the institution of *Barlake* as being simply a dowry, but it is really an infinitely more complicated and unusual institution. *Barlake* is an exchange of gifts between both the bride's and groom's families, but its most important function is not economic; it is symbolic and sociological.

The bridegroom family might contribute traditional goods like swords, gold, animals, and hand-woven attire (*tais*). The bride's side contributes other valuable goods. The strange fact is that this exchange is a social commitment contract. It is legally a union of two families, and they establish relationships and obligations that last for generations. A wedding is not considered totally legitimate unless the *Barlake* has been done. While modern and urban Timorese are adopting the practice, failing to reach consensus over the *Barlake* among many can lead to a wedding cancellation, as it is seen as the foundational framework which sanctifies the marriage for the community and ancestors.

#### 5. The "Bidau" Lingo: A Secret Language of Resistance

During the 24-year Indonesian rule, the Timorese resistance was not just waged with arms but also with language. Among the most strange and innovative weapons of resistance was the employment of *Bidau* lingo, a cant or jargon that developed in the Bidau area of Dili. It was a purposeful inversion of sounds of Tetun and Portuguese words.

Thus, *foti* (to take) became *tifo*. *Maubere* (a euphemism for the run-of-the-mill Timorese individual) became *Brema'u*. It was not simply slang; it was a defensive language. The people of Timor could talk as they liked in public, and the listening Indonesian soldiers and intelligence officers would be completely baffled. The secret language served to create a powerful sense of belongingness and provided a safe environment to communicate and plan. It is a powerful example of what a society experiencing maximum pressure can do with creativity and language as such a weapon of survival and resistance.

#### 6. The Matriarchal Undercurrents in a Patrilineal Society

On its surface, Timorese society is patrilineal, with property and names passed down the male line. But beneath all this is a strange and powerful matriarchal undercurrent, particularly in its spiritual and symbolic life. In most of the country, it is the woman who holds the family treasure, both literally and figuratively.

Women become caretakers of the family's most sacred heirlooms and become central to the ceremonies of *lulik* objects. The sharing of the *tais*, the handwoven cloth which is national symbol, is central to *Barlake* and other ceremonies, and matrilineal passing on of knowledge of weaving takes place. The *tais* itself is seen as a representative symbol of the female body and spirit. This creates a sensitive but significant social balance, with public male authority matched by private female economic and spiritual power, a duality which often resists reductionist gender role analysis.

#### 7. A Currency with a Foreign Priest as a National Hero

Look at the face of a US Dollar bill, and you will not find the face of an outsider. Look at the face of a Timor-Leste coin. You will find the face of Pope John Paul II. His visit to Dili in 1989, when Indonesia occupied Dili, was a turning point in the resistance struggle. In a very Catholic country, his visit was an act of unequivocal solidarity.

The strangeness is in a nation opting to immortalise a religious figure from another nation on its own currency. For Timorese, it is perfectly reasonable. The Catholic Church was a sanctuary in times of occupation, and the Pope's visit lent their cause some legitimacy in the eyes of the world and gave them immense moral strength. Placing him on their coins is not an act of subservience, but one of profound thanksgiving and recognition of the role that religion had to perform in their becoming a nation. It blurs the line between the religious and the national in a way that is unique.

#### 8. The "Dragon" that is Actually a Gecko

There are myths of dragons in most cultures. In Timor-Leste, the "dragon" is a noisy, and very actual, inhabitant: the Tokay gecko. This large, boldly marked gecko is anything but a reptile; it is part of the cultural consciousness. Its boomingly loud, distinctive call—"tokay! tokay!"—is read in multiple ways, usually as an omen.

Others believe the call of the gecko is a sign of good or bad luck, or the arrival of an imminent guest. Beyond superstition, the gecko is protector of the house, its call reminding one of the presence of the world of the ancestors. Where the natural and supernatural coexist, the everyday sound of the gecko is a message from beyond, a fleeting, unusual everyday meeting with the metaphysical.

#### 9. Reconciliation as a Societal Pillar, Not Just a Policy

After a tragic 24-year civil war in which neighbor turned against neighbor, most societies would be irretrievably shattered. Perhaps one of the strangest and most beautiful things about Timorese society is the deep cultural practice of reconciliation. This is not just a truth commission operated by the government; it is rooted in customary law.

Ancient customs like *nahe biti bo'ot* (literally, "unrolling the big mat") are used to resolve disputes on a community level. The ceremony consists of lengthy discussions, acceptance of wrongdoing, and symbolic acts of compensation, all in the direction of restorative social harmony without punishing the offenders. The process has assisted considerably in allowing communities to heal and coexist after the war. It reveals a culture that values general peace over personal justice, a hypothesis that can seem strange and hard to understand for Western legal minds but is central to Timorese survival.

#### 10. The Giving Up on "Tetum" in Favor of "Tetun"

It's a minor orthographic difference to a linguist. It's a statement of identity to a Timorese. The rest of the world and most academic articles employ the spelling "Tetum," which is based on Portuguese orthography. However, in Timor-Leste, the official and preferred spelling is **"Tetun,"** which more accurately reflects the actual phonetics of the language.

This strictness might seem quaint or pedantic to an outsider, but it is very important. It is a rejection of the colonial worldview and a challenge for linguistic self-determination. As they fought to be politically independent, the Timorese are fighting an unofficial, ongoing struggle for cultural and linguistic sovereignty. To employ "Tetun" is an act of respect and proof of independence of a people who fervently prescribed their own fate in all other spheres of life.

**Conclusion**

Timor-Leste is a country where crocodiles are grandparents, geckos are diviners, and language itself was a war tactic. It is a culture that works with a sophisticated system of the sacred (*lulik*), fashions national harmony through marriage arrangements (*barlake*), and heals old traumas through remote ritual of reconciliation. These ten strange facts are not mere curiosities; they are the ingredients of a unique national character forged in resistance and resilience. To be acquainted with Timor-Leste is to know a people who have stared into the abyss of destruction and responded not cynically, but with revivified commitment to community, to spirit, and to the enduring power of its own very fine traditions.