Fundasaun Mahein, 21 Juñu 2012
Komunikadu Imprenza
Mahein Nia Lian No. 35 (Versaun Tetum.pdf)deskuite kle’an konaba isu sira ne’ebé iha relasaun konaba politika lingua kontinua hanesan aitarak boot ida. Tinan 10 liu tiha ona depois restorasaun ba ukun rasik an, maibé dalen Portugez sai lian ofisial ida ne’ebé hakerek iha konstitusaun no ema minoria liu ba bele hatene liu-liu ema elitu sira iha nasaun ne’e. maibe, RTTL ho Governu hili atu utiliza informasaun ka iklan sira iha dalen Portugez.
Maske nune’e lingua Tetun ho Portugez hetan status ofisial iha Timor-Leste, governu failla halo tradusaun lei sira ba lingua Tetun iha tinan 10 ne’e nia laran nudar lian ne’ebé ema barak maka hatene koalia iha nasaun ne’e. draft barak liu mak hakerek iha dalen Portugez, ne’ebé konsekuensia tradusaun oituan liu ba iha envaironmentu Tetun ne’ebé hetan imput mos oituan liu husi Timor oan sira iha prosesu lejizlasaun. Ho ida ne’e implementasaun hetok aat liu no iha potensial impaktu boot ba povu nia moris iha Timor-Leste.
Relatoriu ida ne’e mos ke’e sai ema elitus sira ne’ebé iha Timor-Leste koalia dalen Portugez kontinua fo presaun ba impregadu governu nian uza dalen Portugez atu halo ba dokumentus governu nain iha Timor-Leste. Ida ne’e hatudu momos iha nivel sira balun hasoru difikuldades boot husi ema barak iha seitor publiku atu halo kna’ar diak ho efetivu. Uza lingua ida ne’ebé ita la hatene koalia diak hodi halo kna’ar atu halo dezenvolvementu ba nasaun ne’e la’os ideal. Empregadu governu nian barak liu gastu sira nia tempu atu estuda dalen Portugez liu-liu iha seitor justisa nian.
Ita moris iha nasaun ida ne’ebé bebeik, ema boot sira hasai informasaun governu nian ba publiku uza dalen Portugez no ladun hatene kle’an konaba saida maka sira le’e. Iha seluk ida mos, draft lei sira mos iha lian Portugez no halo debates iha lian Portugez husi membru Parlamentu Nasional ne’ebé la hatene lian ne’e. nune’e mos monitorizasaun mos limitadu ho kapasidade atu fo feedback, maske nune’e lian Portugez kontinua utiliza iha nasaun ne’e.
Nune’e mos, ejizensia husi elitus sira atu utiliza lingua Portugez hodi aplika iha vida politik ho sivil nian. Ba ema foin sa’e sira senti obstaklu boot atu kria opiniaun atu fo kontribusaun ne’ebé ikus mai hamosu frustrasi no deskontenti barak. Ho numeru dezempregu ne’ebé ass hetok aat liu tan ho sentementu frustrasaun boot husi foin sa’e sira ba tempu ne’ebé serbisu loke deit ba ema ne’ebé hatene Portugez.
Ida ne’e hanesan problema boot iha ita nia seitor siguransa nian. Membru PNTL ho F-FDTL ne’ebé la hatene lei organikus sira ho lei seluk-seluk tan wainhira lei ne’e iha implementasaun. Ida ne’e sei hamosu risku ne’ebé boot husi sira ne’ebé implementa ne’e ikus mai komete iha krime.
Iha sosiadade sivil komum nia laran, problema edisional hetok aumenta tan rezulta husi ejizensia lian Portugez. Hanesan lei konaba propriadades nian ne’ebé hakerek iha lian Portugez ne’ebé rezulta problema balun, tanba barak maka la asesu ba lei sira ne’e no barak laiha ideas. Issu lingua mos mosu tanba iha menus eskrutinasaun husi media no sosiadade sivil sira, uniaun estudante no organizasaun seluk.
Sorin ida, bele dehan katak minoria husi povu Lusophone iha Timor hakat liu konstitusaun RDTL ne’ebé dala barak koalia konaba Bahasa Indonezia (husi ida mos husi lian rua Inglez ne’ebé sai lian serbisu nian iha konstitusaun) bolu ho bahasa Melayu no laiha biban atu koko dezenvolve lian Tetun ba oin.
Iha elisaun ida ne’e mos , ema barak hatene problema ida ne’e, no Fundasaun Mahein (FM) fiar katak nia impaktu boot ba povu nia moris. FM rekomenda ba Governu atu halo tradusaun ba lei sira hotu ba lian Tetun, no aplika sistema governasaun ida ne’ebé lei hotu-hotu otomatikamente halo tradusaun ofisial.
FM mos halo rekomendasaun ba Governu atu dezemvolve lian Tetun no uza linguista Timor oan sira ne’e. No husu projeitu ida ne’e sei tau matan diak husi Parlamentu Nasional no fo relatoriu ba Presidenti Republika. Nune’e mos halo standarizasaun ba Tetun ne’e moderniza Tetun sai preoridade tebes no FM fo benvidu ba loke Departementu Tetun iha Universidades sira iha Timor-Leste. Nune’e mos Governu tenki kampania ba Tetunizasaun iha nasaun ne’e no hahu ho sinais sira ho lian Tetun hodi posting sai. Ikus liu, FM husu atu uza kriteria id aba ajensia internasional sira ne’ebé operasaun iha Timor-Leste atu halo tradusaun dokumentus sira ba lian Tetun ho obrigatoriu.
Rohan husi ne’e, FM la’os sai rival ba lian Portugez, maibe FM fo hanoin ba estadu ka governu Timor-Leste atu seriu halo promosaun ba dalen Portugez ba povu tomak no eskola sira iha tempu dadaun ne’e no mestre sira ne’ebé barak tebes no persiza livru barak atu uza hodi hanorin. FM husu, ita tenki tau hanesan Tetun ho lian Portugez, tanba konstituisaun fo lian ofisial rua no ita tenki respeitu ida ne’e. Ida ne’e barak liu ba ita nia governu atu implementa lian ne’ebe ema hotu hatene?
Atu hatene klean liu konaba asuntu ne’e bele kontaktu
Nélson Belo,
Diretor Fundasaun Mahein
www.fundasaunmahein.org
Email: nelson@fundasaunmahein.org
Tlp +670 737 4222
Fundasaun Mahein, 21 June 2012
Press Release
Access to Security Information and Language Policy in Timor-Leste
FM’s Voice Number 35 (English Version.pdf) deeply discusses the issue of language in Timor-Leste which remains a thorny one. 10 years have now passed since the restoration of our Independence, yet Portuguese, one of this country’s official languages set by the constitution, is still only spoken by a very small minority of people, most notably the country’s elite. However, TVTL and the government choose to disclose information and advertisements in Portuguese.
Despite also gaining the status of official language in Timor-Leste, the previous two governments in 10 years, have failed in translating all legislation into Tetun, which is the most widely spoken language in this country. Most legislation is drafted in Portuguese, which consequently translates into less involvement and input by Timorese in the legislative process. This renders its implementation harder and has a potentially high impact onto the lives of people in Timor-Leste.
This report also highlighted that the Portuguese speaking elite in this country have a strangle hold on the running of affairs in Timor-Leste and have forced all government workers and civil servants to operate and handle documents in Portuguese. This explains to a certain degree the difficulties faced by many in the public sector to conduct their work effectively. Working in a language one is not fluent in, when attempting to develop a country is not ideal. Many public servants spend a large chunk of their time taking Portuguese lessons, especially in the judicial sector.
We live in a country where very often, Government officials diffuse information to the public in Portuguese without a clear understanding of what they are reading. Moreover, draft legislation in Portuguese is debated and ‘scrutinized’ by parliamentarians who do not understand the language. As well as limited scrutiny, enforcing solely Portuguese in state matters, results in the public being restricted in its ability to provide feedback. Despite this, Portuguese continues to be solely applied.
Additionally, the elite’s insistence on using Portuguese limits people’s ability to contribute to political and civil life. People and most notably this country’s youth find it hard to form opinions and contribute, which results in a growing sense of frustration. With already high rates of unemployment, this frustration is made worse, when many job vacancies request fluency in Portuguese.
This is also a great problem within our security forces. Many within the PNTL and F-FDTL do not understand their organic laws and other relevant legislation and this causes quite some trouble when it comes to their implementation. This also leads to the greater risk of officers committing crimes.
Within the general population and civil society, additional problems will result by the insistence on Portuguese. The recent land laws for example drafted in Portuguese may cause some problems, as many will not have access to them or will have no idea on their existence. The language issue also results in less scrutiny by the media, civil society, student unions and other organizations.
Furthermore, it can be argued that the Lusophone minority violates the constitution by often referring to Bahasa Indonesia (one of two working languages along with English recognized by the constitution) as Malay language and by not attempting to develop Tetun further.
In this election, unfortunately not many people have highlighted this issue, which Fundasaun Mahein (FM) believes, has a great effect on people’s lives. FM recommends the upcoming government to undertake the official translation of all legislation into Tetun, and implement a whole government system whereby legislation is automatically officially translated.
FM also recommends that the next government undertake the development of Tetun with the aid of Timorese linguists. This project would be closely monitored by the National Parliament and would report to the President of the Republic. The standardization of Tetun into a modern language would be a priority and FM would welcome the opening of Departments of Tetun across the various universities in Timor-Leste. The government could implement a ‘Tetunisation’ campaign around the country and this could start by signs being posted in Tetun. Lastly, FM would welcome a requirement set to all international agencies operating in Timor-Leste that all their published documents be translated into Tetun.
Finally, so that FM is not seen as being hostile to Portuguese, we recommend that if the government is serious on promoting the teaching of Portuguese to the general population, then it must provide greater resources to our schools as currently our teachers do not even have the sufficient amount of textbooks required to teach. At FM, we simply believe that Tetun should be treated as an equal to Portuguese. The constitution clearly states two official languages and we hope that our politicians would respect this. Is it too much to ask that our government operate in a language understood by most?
For further information regarding this article please contact
Nélson Belo,
Director of Fundasaun Mahein
www.fundasaunmahein.org
Email: nelson@fundasaunmahein.org
Tlp +670 737 4222
Thanks to FM for this insightful article. There is also an article on the East Timor Law Journal discussing language policy in East Timor and its relationship and impact on the law. The article is entitledEast Timor: Language and The Law the`address of which is http://easttimorlawjournal.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/east-timor-language-and-the-law/ for those who would like to read it.
Imi moe la iha? Nu’usá mak imi husik malae sira mak deside kona-ba imi-nia opiniaun sira-ne’e, no depois mai finje katak ne’e ONG timoroan sira-nian? Testu ne’e malae mak hakerek no imi halo tradusaun ba tetun, maibé imi halo tradusaun sala no hakerek tetun runguranga ne’ebé timoroan la komprende. Lee to’ok:
“draft barak liu mak hakerek iha dalen Portugez, ne’ebé konsekuensia tradusaun oituan liu ba iha envaironmentu Tetun ne’ebé hetan imput mos oituan liu husi Timor oan sira iha prosesu lejizlasaun.” Ne’e tradusaun sala husi testu “Most legislation is drafted in Portuguese, which consequently translates into less involvement and input by Timorese in the legislative process.”
“Ida ne’e barak liu ba ita nia governu atu implementa lian ne’ebe ema hotu hatene?” Ne’e tradusaun sala husi testu “Is it too much to ask that our government operate in a language understood by most?”