The
Timor
Man
Published by:
Sid Harta Publishers for Kerry B. Collison and
Asian Pacific Management Co. (S.A.) Ltd.
Telephone: (61) (0 414) 958623
fax: (61) 03 9803 4414
Address: PO Box 1102 Hartwell,
Victoria , Australia 3125
First published 1996 as The Tim-Tim Man Revised Edition, January 1998 Third Printing, March 1999 Copyright © Kerry B.Collison, Sid Harta Publishers and Asian Pacific Management Co. Ltd. S.A, 1998
Text: Kerry B.Collison Cover Concept: Guy W. Collison Typesetting Corrections: Rachel Carn Final Proof Reading: Judith Bibo Author’s Photograph: Courtesy of Ned Kelly and the Bundaberg News Mail, Queensland
This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of the copyright owners.
Collison, Kerry Boyd
ISBN 9781877006128 (Epub)
Dedication
To my wife Ni Nyoman Sukasani
and our children Sinta Dewi and
Guy Winston Collison
Kerry B. Collison followed a distinguished period of service as a member of the Australian Embassy in Indonesia during the turbulent Sixties followed by a successful business carrier spanning thity years throughout Asia.
Recognised for his chilling predictions in relation to Asia’s evolving political and economic climate and as the only Australian ever to have been personally granted citizenship by an Indonesian President, he brings unique qualifications to his historically-based vignettes and intriguing accounts of power-politics and the shadowy world of governments’ clandestine activities.
The author’s biographical data is avaliable on the Internet at: http://www.sidharta.com.au
“And the beast was captured, and with it the
false prophet who in its presence had worked the
signs by which he deceived those who had received the
mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image .
These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire
that burns with sulphur. ”
Revelation 19, verse 20 From the Revelation to John
(The Apocalypse )
New Testament, Holy Bible
Contents
Prologue
Map of S.E. Asia
Book 1, 1965, Indonesia in turmoil
Nathan Seda, Jakarta — January 1965
Albert Seda, Stephen Coleman — April 1965
Kampung Semawi, Java — October 1965
Magelang Detention Centre for Communist Detainees
Jakarta — 1966
Canberra — Australia
Jakarta — Irian Barat
Book 2, 1975, Timor
Map of Timor-Timur
Canberra — Jakarta
Jakarta — the Kongsi
Wanti
Jakarta — the riots
Melbourne
Timor — 1975-1978
Canberra — Jakarta
Canberra — East Timor
Jakarta
Jakarta — Timor-Timur
Timor-Timur
Book 3, the Present
Saigon
Jakarta — Macau
Canberra — Ho Chi Minh City — Jakarta — Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Canberra
Canberra
Independence Day — Canberra
Epilogue
Glossary
Acknowledgement
There are many who have assisted with this novel.
On more than one occasion, I wanted to give up and surrender all hopes of finally completing this tale and had it not been for the support of those who believed in me then this book would not be a matter of fiction but merely a figment of my imagination.
Determination is obviously not enough. And by itself, neither is energy. Together they are sufficient to see one through the endless months and in this case, years, of work and self examination.
Often, just one critique is sufficient to break a writer’s spirit; I was fortunate to have the critic and the guide who provided the way out of the dark literary jungle I had created for myself. In this respect, I wish to acknowledge the support and assistance of Denise Cox, without whose honest criticism this novel would not have been published.
I also wish to thank Judith Bibo for re-proofing the new release and the many readers who have written to support my work on the trilogy.
Author’s Note
The Timor Man is a work of historical fiction.
Originally, this story was released with the title The Tim-Tim Man , however, out of respect to the East Timorese people I have re-titled the book.
Fact and fiction are often held to be difficult bedfellows. In this novel, I have attempted to weave both into a narrative that general readers will enjoy, readers who have not had the benefit of witnessing at first-hand the incredible changes that have occurred in Asia over the last few decades.
Perhaps some of the descriptions of events and military hardware could be challenged, but for the greater part, the novel is supported by what I believe to be a solid foundation of fact.
In 1965 and 1966, during the time which many of us later understood as the ‘Year of Living Dangerously ’, almost half a million people died in one of the worst blood lettings since the Jewish Holocaust.
Later, between the years of 1975 and 1990, almost a quarter of a million East Timorese were killed by Indonesian soldiers. More died, in fact, than were lost in the terrible wars in what are now known as the Former Yugoslavian Republics.
Although this story was not written with a political purpose, I hope it will reach your heart and appeal to your soul. As our world enters the twenty-first Century, we still go about killing each other more than ever before. Human nature doesn’t seem to change.
Only the historical facts do.
Kerry B.Collison,
Kompong Som
Prologue
The Present
The explosion erupted through the assembly.
Figures