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TRAVEL- TIMOR-LESTE
LEIGH WILKINS
MALAE, MORE THAN JUST A SMILE
Rounding another bend in an otherwise nondescript track it wasn’ t uncommon to be greeted with a friendly wave, an eager smile, and the cry of‘ malae’. In fact, for the Indigenous Timorese of Timor-Leste,‘ malae’ has become a universal cry or welcome to anyone they see as being a foreigner, especially those that look different. Over days,‘ malae’ became a little endearing although its history seems to be steeped in controversy, first being used to describe the people“ who came from the sea”, perhaps from neighbouring islands then ascribed to the Portuguese colonialists who settled on the Timor island in the sixteenth century,‘ malae mutin’ were seen as the‘ white lords’.
Understanding the history came as a shock, I’ d realised it meant‘ white’ yet hadn’ t taken account that the term had a perhaps not so pleasant past. When the kids yelled it as we passed I hoped that they too didn’ t recognise the history and were yelling it as a form of greeting to someone who was different, I’ ll let the innocence of childhood, and the naivety of a traveller run with that.
Enthusiastic waves and friendly smiles definitely diminished any thought of negativity from the local people, in fact it was the complete opposite. Adults would watch from afar, cautiously moving forward while children would sneak a cheeky glance, a smile, then approach as only children will. An innocent curiosity drawn by the often much taller and fairer skinned foreigners. It had first become noticeable when riding a pair of scooters along Timor-Leste’ s north-western coast. Passing Liquicá, a smallish town around thirty kilometres to the west of Dili, Timor-Leste’ s capital city, was the first sign of‘ malae’. My travelling companion, Vanda, who’ s mother was born in Timor-Leste
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