STUDY OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRY: TIMOR LESTE

WHO: Democratic Republic of Timor Leste

WHERE: 640km northwest of Darwin, West Australia, in SEA, eastern half of the island of Timor, largest and easternmost of Lesser Sundar Islands

SIZE: 14874 square km, population 1,115,000

CLIMATE: tropical, hot and humid with rainy and dry seasons

INDEPENDENCE: colonised in 1600s by the Portugese, declared independence in 1975, but was occupied by Indonesia and finally relinquished in 1999, gaining independence in May 20th,2002

LANGUAGE: Portugese or Tetum, Timor Leste is one of the few Portugese colonies where an indigenous language became a lingua france. however there are also many other languages, as the mountains of Timor Leste separated the original settlers and allowed for the preservation of culture.

ORIGINS: related to the principal indigenous groups of New Guinea and Australia and arrived around 40,000 years ago. Malays then arrived from South China and North Indochina

ECONOMY: mostly lower-middle-income economy, used to be known or its sandalwood and has an ongoing project with Australia for natrual gas and petroleum. it also sells Fair Trade organic coffee

RELIGION: nominally Catholic since the Portugese occupation and occasionally animist. the number of Catholics increased with the Indonesian occupation. it is also one of two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the other being Phillipines

MUSIC: affected by Indonesian and Portugese influences, uses the gamelan and the fado

CULTURE: poetry,craftsmanship,music,weaving,song and dance. influences on their legends and beliefs have Austronesian and Catholic influences

information taken from wikipedia.
i apologise for the dullness and lack of and wit whatsoever in this post as it was done in class.
comments on this and the previous post would be appreciated.
tank yew.

Exactly WHO is Singaporean?!

  A fairly frequently asked question around here.

  Exactly WHO is Singaporean,may i ask.Is it the genius of a China born permanent resident studying with us?The Bangladeshi construction worker who,almost undoubtedly, played a part in building our school?Our Malay teacher whose parents were born in Malaysia.Or me,for that matter, with my dad whose father was Malaysian and my mother who has Peranakan aunts.

  The issue here is not just racism,foreign talent or even our roots. It is simply identity.Consider the examples.

  It has been in the newspapers many times,the issue of foreign talent. Are they benefiting us or not?We see workers in offices complaining about how China born workers are "stealing" their jobs and lowering their chances of getting a job.In the schools,some of us complain that our China born friends are getting the top marks and making us lose opportunities to them.However,do consider that our forefathers came from the same country as them and that we are given the same education as them.It is not that they are better,or rather not necessarily,but that we are often not working hard enough to compete with them since they often have more at stake than us.Consider that ultimately,foreign talent was brought in to make Singapore a better place and to improve our economy,not to benefit just US on a small scale.From another perspective,does it not motivate us to work harder to keep up with the friendly competition?I feel that we should see our fellow Chinese as Singaporeans as well, simply because they live, work and study with us. How can we say that they aren't Singaporean at heart,never mind the passports, when they do share all our unique Singaporean traits like kiasu-ness?Also, sooner or later they do acquire Singlish, undoubtedly part of our Singaporean identity whether encouraged or not,albeit with an accent. Again,i feel that the answer to this question lies with our identity,not what nationality is stated on your passport.

  Another example,the construction workers in Singapore.While the may play a part in literally building our nation,they are still widely discriminated in Singapore. With valid reason, sometimes yes,but often exaggerated.An example of this is the recent protest of the residents staying at Serangoon when they were notified that Bangladeshi construction worker dormitories were going to be built around that area.Instances such as the vandalism of void decks in that area,congestion and blatant ignoring of traffic laws are reasons behind such protests. However,i would like to comment that often such protocol or laws are ignored simply due to pure ignorance of the law.Congestion of areas where they live or shop like Little India are often because their living quarters are no better than the outdoors.In any case,while most Singaporeans have gone for white-collar jobs,the discarded(yes!even in this age of rising unemployment rates)job of literal building goes to them.It is undeniable that they have played a part in Singapore's history.However,why is it that they are not considered Singaporean?They,like our forefathers started off as coming here to seek a new life and a job.They,like our forefathers are making do with what they have and are carving out their own place in Singapore,whether we like it or not.Reminds you of the Colonial British-Singaporean Forefathers relationship?Sure does to me.

  Now an example closer to our hearts.Many of us have parents or grandparents who were from China,Malaysia or India.While both of the examples above are from these places,they are often NOT considered Singaporeans though we originated from the same place.What this tells us is most of the time,what makes us Singaporean is how we behave as well as our identity as a Singaporean,the fact that almost all of us,regardless of our parents or our passports take the pledge and sing the anthem in the mornings and go by is for the rest of the day. To the rest of the people who deserve to be treated like Singaporeans,i feel that since they display the traits of one they should be treated as one of us too,not as a foreigner who makes trouble for us.

  In conclusion,I feel that while we can all agree that our "kiasu-ism",Singlish as well as perpetual wearing of beachwear (sandals,bermudas and T-shirts)and a high degree of patriotism (as compared to the US citizens)makes us Uniquely Singaporean (GO,SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD!),we should try to make an effort to treat our fellow Singaporean trait displayers feel at home. We should NOT define a Singaporean by his or her roots or citizenship,as most of us Singaporeans never really originated from this random little isle accidentally discovered right?

  After all,in answer to the main question,exactly WHO is Singaporean?!,the people in the examples do qualify!My definition of a Singaporean is one who has contributed to our nation in one way or another and most of all that you call Singapore,whether temporary or permanent,home.