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and the United States, as well as military police from Australia and New Zealand. I’ d guessed that these investigators had been called‘ malae’ as the official investigation had been undertaken and had resulted in charges being laid against twentyone Indonesian officers. I’ d hoped that‘ malae’ was actually a term of endearment, and I stood by that.
More evidence of this presented as Vanda and I reached Balibo, a small town just ten kilometres from the Indonesian border. Balibo has a place in Australian history, as well as that of Timor-Leste, for it was here that the Indonesia invasion of this nation came to a head and began twenty-five years of brutal occupation when five journalists representing Australian media were murdered by Indonesian Special Forces. Known as the Balibo Five, the scene of their demise has become a museum and is known as“ The
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