Venidora Oliveira – The government has been urged to establish regulations for traditional ceremonies to reduce the costs involved in funerals, weddings and engagement parties in Timor-Leste.
National MP Francisco da Costa said although many Timorese people had the opportunity to be more financially secure, the high cost of paying for traditional ceremonies often led them into poverty.
For instance, when a member of the wife's family gets married, her husband's family should bring a buffalo, goat and horse, as well as money for the dowry. In return, they usually receive a pig and tais (traditional woven cloth from the wife's side of the family.
The arrangements are similar for funeral ceremonies. When the deceased is a member of the wife's family, the husband's family is obliged to bring a buffalo, a horse, five goats and money in exchange for a pig, tais, a sack of rice and wine.
"It is compulsory and expensive, I think we should establish a law or regulations to reduce the cost of ceremonies, [but] this doesn't we mean we want to eliminate these traditions." da Costa told National Parliament.
He said that although cultural traditions helped teach people respect for each other and strengthen solidarity, better controls and regulations needed to be in place so that it did not impact on the sustainability of community life in the future.
He also urged parents to prioritize their children's education rather than spending all their money on ceremonies.
"In the past, our ancestors saved money just for attending ceremonies; they always had money for the ceremony, but didn't have any money to send their children to school," he said.
National MP Jacinto Viegas Vicente said he agreed with the initiative because such traditional practices were not appropriate for current living conditions. "It does not mean we will lose these traditions, but just reduce it (the cost) because the ceremonies in some places are so expensive," he said.
"Lots of money is spent on ceremonies and sometimes when people get home they only have rice to eat because they don't have any money and married couples fight and split up."
However, Deputy President of Commission A (responsible for the constitution, justice, administration, local authorities and anti-corruption) MP Arao Noe said reducing or changing traditions should not be based on laws or regulations, but is a matter of time and community awareness.
As countries develop, he said traditions like those practiced in Timor often decreased as people became better educated.
He said it was important to educate traditional elders and young people to understand that it did not mean to remove but should control or reduce the expense.
"Rather than spending a lot of money on 10 buffaloes, eating and drinking then finishing all in one day and having a debt for a whole year, why don't we collect the money to buy just one buffalo and then eat and drink together?" he said.