If
natural spirits, a Christian god or a Buddhist style of karma caused my
motorbike accident a year ago, the question and options of causality do not
preoccupy me. At the one year anniversary I remain grateful and mystified that
my body healed so well. My feelings are very secular, as I focus on the
extraordinary capability of the human body. In addition my appreciation of the
highly advanced scientific knowledge that came from the orthopedic surgeons, orthopedic
registrars and the physiotherapists who contributed so much to my rehabilitation,
is my focus.
Who is to
blame for my accident has recently been asked by some Timorese friends. Did I
think that the natural spirits (lulik) and I were back in harmony? Or did I
think that someone had used their black magic abilities to curse me. If I had
been in Cambodia, local colleagues would have asked similar questions. I asked
how did they identify black magic versus something happening due to lulik and
they disagreed between themselves, revealing strong regional discrepancies
about these matters as some were from west Timor and some from the east. One
said he would have to confess on Sunday to his priest as the new priest was
saying no-one should believe anymore in lulik. One fervently disagreed, saying it
was okay to be Catholic but to keep the traditions of lulik and black magic. Another
began her usual rant about Catholicism reminding us that she was equally
passionately against the colonial religion and that only lulik was significant
to modern Timor.
 |
| taxi windscreens 2/3 unusable by green |
For
myself, I was unlucky? Seven years full time in Asia on little 125 motorbikes in
atrocious traffic conditions and I had one accident. My first time on a
motorbike was about the age of 6 on the wonderful little 50cc bikes made for
kids, under the supervision of my parents. Now I was unlucky one Monday
afternoon at 5pm, having a bizarre accident of being knocked from my moto by
someone on foot!
Years
ago a young Ratanakiri, Cambodia, colleagues’ new family timber house had burnt
down within months of it being built. He and his village immediately knew that
someone in the family had made a mistake when cutting down the trees they used
and had evidently disturbed the local spirits. Many animist ceremonies in accordance
with their indigenous beliefs were held after the fire, to appease the spirits,
to apologise to their village’s spirits and ask the spirits to not do further
damage to the family. Our Buddhist majority culture Cambodian colleagues knew
that the fire was not from natural spirits but of course was from upsetting
their personal karma, possibly in a previous life but maybe more recently. They
accepted that such things happen as the cycle of life and one had to go to the
temples and pay respects to Buddha, your ancestors and elders in your family.
Myself and my expatriate colleagues wondered how the fire was started. Was it a
candle falling over, a child playing with matches or could it be deliberately
lit by jealous neighbours? We had conversations about if others had heard of
houses burning down and there were discussions about the duty of a work place
employer to help out (days were given off to the young man and a cash advance on
his salary) and the role of the Cambodian Red Cross’s assistance. The common
word used by all expatriates, from many diverse developed countries and
religious backgrounds, was that the indigenous family were very “unlucky”,
especially since it was the family’s first ever timber house after always
living in bamboo traditional style housing.
A year
after smashing my upper arm with approximately 14 fractures, I celebrate that I
am physically capable to do all the things I love to do. I consider myself
lucky.
