THE WAY PEACE: RAMOS HORTA

LYNN KAN AND MINDY TAN – BUSINESS TIMES

TIMOR Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta believes that art unlocks the future for the children of today.

The 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of a children's book said the time has come for Asian writers and illustrators to generate Asia's own content for the younger generation.

'(It is important for) talents in this region to produce stories for children that inculcate in them values of humanity, solidarity, and compassion,' he said. 'With, of course, strong Asian content - but Asian content that is not provincial; (rather,) Asian content that recognises the values of other cultures. I think it will contribute tremendously to create a culture of peace in this region.'

Dr Ramos-Horta added that he hoped to see Internet centres in Timor Leste's 65 sub-districts within the next year.

He said: 'In this 21st century, we have to provide free information to our kids and people in general. By mid-next year, the whole country will have modern electricity. Together with fibre optics, (there is) no more reason not to have free Internet for children.'

The 61-year-old was in town to deliver the inaugural Children's Literature Lecture Series for the Asian Festival of Children's Content.

He penned The Lost World of Timor Leste, that was published in 2010 and written in Tetum, Portuguese, English and Chinese.

He donated copies of his book to his 'hero', Colombian teacher Luis Soriano. Mr Soriano was invited to Timor Leste and then to accompany Dr Ramos- Horta to Singapore on this trip.

The 40-year-old teacher is championing the same cause of educating children back in Colombia.

The founder of the biblio-burro or the 'library on a donkey', he has ferried countless books to children in towns for the past 12 years with his two donkeys to help them access books and reading more readily.

Yesterday, Dr Ramos-Horta stopped by the Little Arts Academy, where he opened a solo art exhibition by 20-year-old Looi Siao Siang, a gifted artist who faces sensory challenges.

Siao Siang's 22 brightly coloured canvases depicting wildlife will be sold to help raise money for The Business Times Budding Artists Fund (BT BAF) and The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF).

The BT BAF was set up in 2005 to fully fund training in performance arts for underprivileged children and youth, and has to date aided over 7,000 of them.

Some of the sales proceeds will also help pay for Siao Siang's visit to Timor Leste.

There, he hopes to glean fresh inspiration from the flora and fauna - the very rare one-horned rhino Badak Jawa and dugongs - for future artwork.

'For me, drawing and painting animals are integral to my life,' said Siao Siang. 'I delight in the challenge of visually interpreting our earth's varied fauna through a multitude of shapes, postures and perspectives.'