Toko Lay, Commercial building in central Dili, Timor-Leste

Toko Lay is a four-story building with a stone facade and high ceilings located on Rua 25 de Abril in central Dili. The structure operates as a hardware store serving the local construction and maintenance sector with plumbing supplies and related materials.

The building was established in 1959 during the Portuguese colonial period and served as a refuge during the 1975 invasion when over 100 Chinese residents sought shelter within its walls. Its existence reflects decades of continuity through multiple political transitions in the region.

The Lay family from Guangdong built a commercial presence that shaped Dili's trade sector over decades. Their hardware business reflects how immigrant communities became integral to the city's commercial life and local commerce.

Toko Lay stands on Rua 25 de Abril in the Colmera suco of Dili's city centre, a short walk from the waterfront and the government palace. The building is a working hardware store, so visitors enter as customers among plumbing supplies and building materials rather than as sightseers. Look for the 1959 date inscribed on the façade.

On 7 December 1975 an Indonesian paratrooper's parachute caught on the roof of Toko Lay and the soldier was left hanging dead there. James Dunn told a US House committee in March 1977 that an informant said soldiers were enraged by an Australian flag protruding from the third floor.