Richard Lloyd Parry Quotes & Sayings

Just before we left, Jean said, 'You know what else? Falintil is here. They're not armed, but they're keeping an eye on things. Can you spot them?' I peered among the hill people, and thought that perhaps I could: an older man with an air of authority; a young man with a vigilant look about him, moving from group to group, appearing to direct and advise the other voters. I couldn't be sure. But that was Falintil, after all: never wholly present nor completely absent, a sense of reassurance rather than a physical force: something watching over you. — Richard Lloyd Parry

Cricket is a team game where individuals inspire each other to achieve performances which surpass what might otherwise be beyond them. — Richard Lloyd Parry

among the country's senior — Richard Lloyd Parry

How different South Africa's cricketing achievements, and indeed the future of the country itself, might have been if racism had not denied Frank Roro the opportunity of batting with Bruce Mitchell in the Lord's sunshine. — Richard Lloyd Parry

Once again, I was conscious of the paradox of the compound: that here, at the heart of the unfolding events, we could catch no more than a glimpse of them. Fires were burning all over Dili; the smell was in our nostrils from the moment we wok up, and occasionally we could see columns of smoke. But the flames themselves, and the faces of the fire starters, were invisible. At the computers in the Unamet press room, we waited in turn to log on to the news websites and learn what was happening to us. — Richard Lloyd Parry

Among them was a middle-aged man supported by two broken sticks. His legs were bent permanently beneath him by accident or disease, and it took him five minutes to cross the room, collect his ballot and shuffle into the booth in front of me. It was painful to watch; as he edged forward I became aware that my heart was racing. Finally - finally - the referendum really was under way. What would happen next? Could Eurico and Basilio have more support than I had assumed? How could the violence of the last seven months fail to have an effect? I should have looked away, but I watched, and saw the man on sticks painstakingly mark his cross in the lower of the two boxes, the one rejecting continuing association with Indonesia. Then he folded the paper, turned his legs around, and began walking slowly towards the ballot box. — Richard Lloyd Parry

Even those we know best are strangers, whom we understand, if we ever do, intermittently. — Richard Lloyd Parry

There may indeed have been an order from the top, but when the time came nothing so direct as an order would have been necessary. Everything had been laid so carefully in place, responsibility had already been dispersed across so many different departments, commands and individuals, that no words were necessary. Jakarta's silence was the command. In Timor, the army knew what to do and once the thing had started it gathered speed and power and continued until it had exhausted itself. This was the strangest and most fearful aspect of the violence in East Timor: that it could be so meticulous and methodical, and at the same time so completely out of control. — Richard Lloyd Parry

Later on, I read the end of the New Order described as being 'like sex without orgasm'. It was an unmomentous a historic moment as could be imagined - perfunctory, anti-climactic and unconvincing. — Richard Lloyd Parry