Tales from Timor Leste

Flying to Timor Leste, South East Asia’s newest country, from the busy and tourist heavy Bali is a visual delight.

The short 1hr40min flight from Denpasar to Dili takes you over a myriad of blue and green hues. Islands of different sizes, Lombok, East and West Nusa Tenggara, Latuna, Alor Island all surrounded by the Flores Sea, some occupied and others looking sparsely settled. The numerous volcanic cones and rich fertile soils providing perfect growing conditions for farmers while the oceans supply an array of seafood.

Timor Leste is a visual delight, sitting in the Pacific Ring of Fire and its volcanic beauty. Image: Supplied/Anna Thomas

On approach, there is nothing special or different that sets Timor Leste apart from the others we’ve just flown over. That is, until you’re coming in to land. Like Rio De Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, Timor Leste has its own slightly smaller monument to Christ. Christo Rei, meaning Christ the King in Portuguese, sits on a promintory at the east end of the city, welcoming people to this small island nation with open arms, much like the residents who live here.

It has been 23 years since this country claimed independence from Indonesian occupation and reminders of that time are everywhere. As you move around Dili there are statues, plaques and memorials marking an horrific chapter in the young country’s history. Visiting the national Resistance Museum gives a detailed account, on an easy to follow timeline, of exactly what went down when the Portugeuse colonisers left the country in 1975 and Indonesia invaded just days later.

Timor Leste's Christo Rei, meaning Christ the King. Image: Supplied/Anna Thomas

It’s a gruesome story which, using text, audio and visual exhibitions, shows the shocking brutality of the Indonesian invaders. The forced starvation, the massacres, murders, rapes, torture and disappearances continued for years with an estimated 300,000 Timorese, about a third of the population, losing their lives. A New Zealand journalist Gary Cunningham, working for an Australian media outlet was also ruthlessly executed by the Indonesian military alongside four of his colleagues.

What is astonishing though, is the forgiveness of the people. It’s a mindset that has come from the very top, from the man who played a pivotal role in gaining independence for his country.

President José Ramos-Horta was a leader in Timor Leste’s struggle for sovereignty. While thousands of resistance fighters, including the current Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, took up arms, Ramos-Horta left the country to advocate for his people on the world stage.

He spent 24 years in exile before returning.

Timer Leste President José Ramos-Horta. Image: Supplied/Anna Thomas

Honoured in 1996 with a Nobel Prize, Ramos-Horta says his biggest achievement has been to maintain peace in the country and reconcile a divided society and a divided country. “It is about putting the past behind us, not forgetting it of course, but not letting those bad experiences cloud your life today.” Ramos-Horta says it was important the people of Timor Leste would not become a hostage of the past, or seek revenge.

“No revenge killings, no witch hunt. We have a zero political violence, we have a zero ethnic base or religious base tensions or violence.”

Ramos-Horta says they managed to normalize relations with Indonesia quickly and he takes a lot of credit for that.

Not only have they normalised relations, they now rely heavily on their former adversary with 70% of their imports coming from there – primarily food; rice, vegetables and fruit. Australia supplies Timor-Leste with petroleum while China, Singapore, Malaysia and Portugal provide other essential goods.

Timor Leste is South East Asia's newest country. Image: Supplied/Anna Thomas

Birthing a new country is no easy feat. Timor Leste is struggling economically and still remains one of the poorest nations in the world. It is also the most expensive, because of the reliance on imports.

The US dollar is the currency, and according to the 2021 Labour Force Survey puts the average monthly wage at US$250, with a minimum wage of $115. Women earn 6.6% less. But the national trade union organisation last year reported that of 300,000 people registered, nearly half earned just US$15 a month, and almost half the population live on the poverty line.

Walking the back streets of the capital Dili gives you a peak into the lives of some of the locals, and the poverty. You only do this in daylight hours, as the roads and footpaths are inundated with potholes and uncovered drains just waiting for a mis-step. Mangy dogs and flea ridden cats hang around the rubbish skips and open drains.

Ramos-Horta is not blind to the needs of his people. When I ask about how the country can get ahead, he answers in two words. “Greater Sunrise.”

The Greater Sunrise gas field, located in the Timor Sea, sits approximately 450km northwest of Darwin, and 150km south of Timor-Leste. It represents one of the region’s most significant untapped natural resource reserves and holds huge economic potential for the country.

The backstreets of Dili gives a glimpse of some of the struggles the country is working to overcome. Image: Supplied/Anna Thomas

But the development has been plagued with delays because of disputes and differing economic interests with Australia over the shared fields future.

The delays are a source of frustration for Ramos-Horta. “Greater Sunrise is the best option, the only option for our economy, so let's stop the delaying tactics.”

He says once the agreement is signed, tens of millions of dollars would flow into Timor Leste’s economy immediately. “It would start creating thousands of jobs for the next ten years and the economic growth would be over the double digits.” He added that if he was Prime Minister he would know what to do to accelerate economic development. “But I am not the Prime Minister.”

In the interim, the country is relying on a fast depleting Petroleum Fund. At the beginning of 2025 it was worth US$18 billion, however it took a big hit after the US tariff announcements, with much of the sovereign fund invested in stocks and bonds.

A 2023 OEC report is a sobering read. Product exports amount to $163m, while imports run at $988m. Export growth is -68.2%.

Oil and gas exports aside (90% of total exports) other significant products include coffee $19.1m, sandalwood, and seafood.

While Indonesia remains Timor-Leste's largest trading partner, the country has been working to diversify markets, signing trade agreements with countries like New Zealand and Australia.

And Ramos-Horta is also hoping accession to ASEAN will benefit the economy. This month (May) the country is expected to get the nod, with admission by October, a move the President says is very, very important to his country.

Time will tell.

Next time: New Zealand’s partnership with Timor Leste – opening the borders.

Asia Media Centre