Douglas Kammen

Oct 30, 2024 | newmandala.org | Douglas Kammen |Gatra Priyandita |Wang Lezhi |Edward Aspinall

For Timor-Leste, the 20th century was a century of repeated mass violence. While the Manufahi Rebellion of 1911–1912 is celebrated by East Timorese as the last great uprising against Portuguese rule, and the terrible loss of life under the Indonesian occupation (1975–1999) is viewed as the tragic price of freedom, the impact of the Japanese occupation (1942–1945)—both demographic and social—has been all but neglected.

Mar 28, 2023 | newmandala.org | Gatra Priyandita |Douglas Kammen |Sana Jaffrey |Eve Warburton

“Please tell me how I can make companies obey the law,” the official said. He was exasperated by the companies whose oil palm plantations saturated the sub-district he headed in Indonesian Borneo. Their managers refused to give him information, address complaints or even come to his office when called, he told me and my co-researcher Pujo Semedi. His complaint was not unusual.