Uis Kokoh, The Queen of Baun

The village of Baun is about 30km away from Kupang. The road there is a pleasant climb into the hills, and it is much cooler than in the city. There is a very large weekly market there. The Queen of Baun lives near the large weekly market place.  The title is, of course, not recognised by the Indonesian Government,  but comes from earlier times when small kings ruled. One informant from one of the  royal families of Rote can still remember people bowing to her in the street in the late 1930s.

Originally from West Kalimantan, her father was taken by the Japanese when she was seven. They never saw him again. She married into an aristocratic family in Timor, and has become a Queen in their region. Her fine house was built in 1938 and designed by an Australian. Everyday she receives visitors who come to chat or buy her very high quality selimut which are made with natural rather than chemical dyes.

Japanese and Allied War Ruins

Along the road to Baumata, out past the old Penfui Airbase, there is a creek. In the dry season one can wander down this creek that has carved a narrow gorge through the hills. All along the sides of the gorge are man-made caves and tunnels. Being in the gorge would make it both difficult to see, and bomb from the air. They were used to hide in by the Japanese during the Second World War.

These tunnels were carved out of the limestone hills by the Japanese with forced Timorese labour.  The caves are large enough to house vehicles.   At the end of the small gorge is a pool of water that remains during the dry season, this was used by the Japanese for their water supply.

The Japanese occupation was a bitter experience for many Indonesians. They came promising Co - Prosperity and freedom from European colonial rule. In fact they were just another colonial power. The Japanese did, however, train some Indonesians to be armed militia. These troops later became the core of the Tentara National Indonesia, the Indonesian National Army who fought the Dutch for Independence after World War Two.

On the Tenau road in the villages above the old Ausindo Hotel, Kupang,  there are a number of caves dug into the hill, facing out to the harbour. In several of these gun emplacements there are still cannons. The one in the photo is a 150mm cannon used by the Japanese to defend the harbour in the Second World War. Dutch cannons can also be found in the area. In recent years a number of the guns have been stolen.

Copra Processing

Along the road to Baun there are many coconut trees. The coconuts are used to make copra - the dried flesh of the coconut. The copra is sent to a factory in Java to be processed into cooking oil. Coconut cooking oil is used throughout Indonesia.

Baumata

Baumata is only 18 kilometres west of Kupang past the airport. It is mainly known as a recreation area for locals. Large spring fed pools are great for swimming. Like most places Baumata is crowded on Sundays as people come to relax after a busy week.

Lasiana Beach

12 km North East of Kupang is the popular surf-less beach called Pantai Lasiana. Locals flock there on Sundays.

Questions / Activities

1.  Apart from the cannons, what other war remains would you expect to find throughout Timor and the surrounding islands? 2. What goodies are for sale at the stall? Ask your teacher about the more interesting ones that you don’t know! 3. What is copra? 4. Do you use coconut oil at your house? If not, what sort of oil do you cook with? Have you ever tasted coconut oil? Do you like it? 5. Investigate kingship in pre colonial Timor. 6. What kinds of things are sold at weekly markets? 7. What were the intentions of the Japanese for Indonesia? Use a history text. 8. List as many uses for coconuts as you can find. 9. Find the places mentioned in the reading on the map and give the co-ordinates. 10. Find the quickest walking route from:

Hotel Fateleu to Karang Mas, the Bemo terminal to Tenau etc. 11. On the net find hotels around Kupang. Name several, give URLs. What prices can you expect to pay? Which do you think is the best deal? 12. Who is Uis Kokoh? 13. What does the Queen of Baun make? 14. How did the Japanese employ the Timorese during WW2? 15. How are the Japanese thought of by their other former (WW2) colonies? 16. What is the issue of ‘comfort women’? 17. What factors brought the Japanese into WW2?