The Ugly Face of Australia

This was published in the Brisbane Courier Mail recently and is worth posting in full -

from -

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26358310-952,00.html

Asylum seeker shootings bring out worst in readers

By Paul Syvret

November 17, 2009 12:00am

MONEY, guns and misery, and the ugly face of Australian bigotry, are the stench of the week. Again.

It's very rare here that we discuss the same topic two weeks running, but some of the poisonous bile that has spewed forth in recent days on The Courier-Mail website (most of it cravenly anonymous) cannot be left unreported.

As a proud second-generation Australian (and the son of a World War II refugee), I am ashamed at some of the hatred and insularity displayed by those applauding the decision by Indonesian authorities to open fire on a boatload of Afghan refugees.

In fact, I am embarrassed to call you fellow Australians.

So much for a "fair go" and values of an allegedly Christian society.

Those of you who believe the world's dispossessed and oppressed deserve to be met with a barrage of gunfire while seeking to escape persecution and hardship are more deserving of deportation to some god-forsaken detention camp than the asylum seekers themselves.

Go and live in a country like Burma or Zimbabwe, where the incumbent regimes probably more accurately reflect your core personal values when it comes to compassion, freedom, tolerance and opportunity.

Some respondents to last week's column accused me of being unfair and emotive by bringing the issue of race and racism into the asylum-seeker debate. I don't resile from that and, after reading many of the online opinions on this latest incident, I only regret not writing a piece that was even less restrained.

For those of you who still doubt that Australia harbours a rancid underbelly of bigotry and ignorance, then just read some of the following venom (edited only for spelling, some punctuation and typographical errors):

From Ron of Albany Creek: "Well done Indonesia! Keep up the good work! These illegal immigrants should not make it to Australia. Stuff the do-gooders. Send them out in a boat to meet them in Indonesian waters. End of problem."

Or: "This is brilliant, this is how we should deal with them," posted by David of Buderim, who probably sports stickers like "I shoot and I vote" on the back of his car.

Then Howard Moon ramps it up a little: "If they'd been hit by a wave we'd be raising money for their families. Instead, let's get rid of everyone who has ever come here by boat and their descendants, too."

Memo to Howard: That would mean getting rid of basically everyone from the First Fleet onwards, you goose.

Ian Holthouse of Woombye says: "It is not our problem. It is about time Indonesia did its job, and stopped them coming through their country. No pity should be wasted on illegal migrants. It is overdue using force against this plague."

Ian, you forget these people are human beings, many of whom have suffered deprivations beyond the imagination of most of us. The plague is the regime they are fleeing, not the human beings themselves.

KT reckons: "I don't find anything 'regrettable' about this, they tried to escape and they got shot. A good lesson."

KT, the facts surrounding this incident are still pretty murky, but on your logic I presume then that you would support Queensland police pumping a couple of high-velocity slugs into your children if they resisted arrest? Problem solved, mate? A good lesson, perhaps?

And the gold medal goes to Rod, who said on Sunday afternoon: "I'm racist. I don't want foreigners coming here. I have no sympathy for them. Send them home. (Now hands up anyone else who feels the same but doesn't wish to speak up in fear of upsetting the bleeding-heart brigade)."

And the hands went up. "Rod, I'm racist too. I hate them coming here – get lost I say," was the contribution to reasoned and intelligent debate from one RACINGDUDE of Gold Coast.

In the midst of all this xenophobic effluent from people who make Pauline Hanson look like an intellectual giant, there was also much heated debate surrounding the legacy of Australian servicemen in various conflicts, and what they fought for.

So what did they fight and die for, and what was their legacy?

They fought to rid the world of tyranny and oppression. They fought in World War II against a Nazi Germany that tortured and gassed those who were different from the Aryan ideal, be they Jews, Gypsies, persons of different skin colour or those with disability.

They fought and died bravely in Korea and Vietnam against the perceived threat of communism in the context of a worldwide Cold War that conducted its bloody skirmishes by proxy.

Today, Australia's armed forces fight in lands such as Afghanistan, where our troops are embroiled in a battle against religious fundamentalism and intolerance that breeds terrorism and cruelty.

They are standing up for, and always have stood up for, freedom and a fair go, and in the process have built an enduring legacy of egalitarianism and the Aussie belief in giving a people a chance, and lending a generous hand to those truly in need.

Our troops are fighting against exactly the sort of prejudice and narrow-minded brutality evident among so many of those who support using live ammunition to deal with asylum seekers.

These are desperate people, who – if their plight is assessed as genuine – should be welcomed as a part of the great Australian dream, like countless generations of immigrants (official and otherwise) before them.

To turn our backs, to extend odium and resentment, and to support the use of potentially deadly force, lessens us as a people. It brings us closer to the brutality and cruelty of the homelands that these people are fleeing.

We are the lucky country. Let us not diminish ourselves by becoming ugly Australians.

Doing Online Business with Indonesia

"Be extra cautious when dealing with international buyers, especially those from Indonesia, Romania and Africa who insist on paying with credit cards or ask you to send by courier and offer to pay you more. These buyers often use invalid or stolen cards".

This is the warning given on an online auction site. It is not the only time I have found this sort of message warning of Indonesia as a risk to do business with. It seems Indonesia has earned itself the reputation of being probably the number one source of online hacking and credit card fraud.

Other online businesses I've seen will state at the bottom of their pages to the effect of "will not do business with Indonesia".

It's hardly surprising. Go into any bookstore in any Indonesian department store and in the Computers sections will be rows of titles devoted to the art of hacking. Of course, they go under the guise of teaching us how to hack our own computer platforms to improve its security features....really now...

Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like

is a very funny (most of the time) blog. Although it seems they are beginning to run out of ideas as the posts are appearing less and less frequently.

Hercus BR Lathe - All Clean and Running Smoothly

This is the lathe after I have thoroughly cleaned and reassembled it. When I first inspected it prior to purchase, the thing needed a little manual help to get the chuck spinning. I thought perhaps the motor was worn. After cleaning, it starts up nicely even on the highest gear with no help at all. All that built up gunk was causing unwanted strain. On the other hand, the layers of greasy rubbish had also prevented the lathe from suffering any rust whatsoever.

Click on pics for a much closer view -

Overhauling the Lathe - Hercus BR

Before I can use the lathe, I need to strip it down and give it a good once-over with kerosene to get rid of years of built-up grease and grime. I use kero because it soaks in and really shifts the crud and also because it leaves a nice protective layer. Lathes require their surfaces to have a layer of oil on them to prevent rust and keep everything moving smoothly, so kerosene helps in this regard too.

I used to work for a watch and clock maker back in my high school and university days. This job reminds me of all the times I used to strip down complex mantle and grandfather clock movements to give them an overhaul and sometime replace worn bushes. Only this time it's on a slightly larger scale.

The carriage before cleaning

The carriage after cleaning

My Bagpipe Making Workshop - Hercus BR Lathe

I'm in the process of setting up a workshop for the manufacture of bagpipes - Irish Uilleann Bagpipes more specifically. Today I brought home some significant purchases - a metal turning lathe mainly but I also managed to pick up a bench grinder and linisher for very cheap from the same guy who sold the lathe.


The lathe is partly dismantled for ease of transporting and because I have to give it a thorough going-over to clean it up. It's a Hercus, one of the most popular and well-built lathes of the 1960s - 1980s. A good lathe to start out with.




The linisher on the left (minus an attachment that should go just next to the wheel - easily fixed) and the bench grinder on the right. It's called a bench grinder because it is attached to the work bench, not because it grinds benches.

The Fewer Choices, The Better

I once saw on TV a thing about how businesses which offer too many choices of product actually do themselves a dis-service. Those that offer fewer choices actually sell more products. As evidence they set up a test stall selling jam products. When potential customers were presented with only 6 to 7 choices of jam, fewer sales were made compared to when they were offered only 3 choices.

We went to McDonald's today because my 4-year-old has been pointing it out every time we go past (thank you TV child-targeted marketing). So as a reward for not even letting out the slightest whimper when she had two booster shots at the doctor, we took her to get a Happy Meal.

What we were confronted with was a confusing array of choices. Waaaaay too many choices. Long story short, we aren't going back there again. Not only that, but their orange juice was more like water with a hint of orange cordial flavour. Even my daughter rejected it after one sip.

The Time I Snubbed a World-Famous Musician

Well, I didn't really snub him; I just didn't realise who it was and thus didn't muster up the energy to carry on the conversation.

The year was 19, no, 2000 and about, no it must have been last century...anyway, I was once in a band called Jack the Lad. Not 'THE' Jack the Lad, but a small Brisbane-based band that played what I guess could be called contemporary Irish traditional music. We looked up to bands such as Planxty and Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span and Altan and well, that'll do, for our inspiration.

I as an Uilleann Piper took my inspiration from Liam O'Flynn who had learned the art of piping from such greats as Willie Clancy and Seamus Ennis.

So, around 1999/2000 we played, once again, at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland. I can't remember the year exactly because we played there a number of years in a row, but this was a particularly big event.

At this particular Woodford event we happened to be listed for gigs alongside such numbers as -

Battlefield Band
Lunasa whose autographs I collected on a CD which was then later stolen from my apartment in a day-light burglary
Andy Irvine who I sat with and chatted for a long time over a Guinness (Andy drank VB which I cannot fathom how he or anyone could possibly like) and whose autographed CD was also among those stolen in above-mentioned burglary
and
Fairport Convention whose bassist was none other than Dave Pegg who also played for Jethro Tull.

Anyway, one of our performances was on the main stage under the big tent. We were listed between Andy Irvine and Lunasa followed by Fairport or something.

A gig can be stressful at the best of times, especially when you are the piper and are the one that carries the tunes, and provides that something special that other piper-less bands cannot hope to ever provide. And so, even the most miserable low-key events such as playing at crowded 'Irish' pubs where the patrons keep asking if you can play 'Dirty Old Town' or 'U2' can be quite draining on the psyche and physique.

So this gig was one of those very rare occasions where you actually played for a crowd that was there because you were (oh and because Fairport etc were there too), and where you were in the line-up with people you considered too worthy (or considered yourself not worthy - you know what I mean)...

We played...I played....I concentrated...I got through the gig...the crowed roared...well, clapped... and we stepped of the stage.

As usual, I headed straight for my pipes case. The guys from Lunasa complemented me on my piping...COOL!!! thanks guys!...They were on next so it was in passing...no worries. Throwing my pipes into my case I was pondering all the mistakes I made (as you do) as well as taking pride in being complemented by Lunasa.

It was then than a guy in a cap came up to me and told me how great I played...he smiled, I said 'thanks....yeah....' and that was it...I was out of breath and flustered because that's the effect gigs like that had on me.

His smile kind of faded and then he left and went to talk to some of the other members of the band.

Fast-forward to our next rehearsal back in Brisbane. We were talking about the Woodford gig and I mentioned the guy in the cap to our fiddle player, Fred Graham. He then said to me -

"You know who that was, don't you?"
"No." I answered.
"That was Dave Pegg," Fred said
"D'OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So, Dave Pegg, if you happen to read this....I'M SOOORRRYYYYY!!!!!!... It was nothing personal...

Perpustakaan - Kamus Unggah-Ungguh Basa Jawa

This is an incredibly valuable resource for students of Javanese. Published in 2001 by Kanisius Publishers, The Javanese Speech Styles Dictionary (a rough translation of the title) provides the student with a fairly good illustration of how speech styles are structured. Individual lexical items are followed by examples of how the word is used in a particular speech style ( or level of speech) such as ngoko, ngoko alus, kromo, kromo alus etc.

Obviously it cannot provide the student with a comprehensive illustration as Javanese speech styles are very much influenced by regional and local speech habits, but it certainly provides a good basis upon which to develop one's understanding of how the various speech styles within Javanese are structured.

Joke

An Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman, a priest, a rabbi and a pastor walk into a bar and and bar tender says, "Is this some sort of joke?"

Perpustakaan - Max Havelaar (Multatuli)

Max Havelaar was written by Edward Douwes Dekker who went under the pseudonym Multatuli. Published in 1860, it brought strong criticism upon the Dutch East Indies and in particular the 'Cultivation System' or 'Culture System' which was in place between 1830 and 1870. The story of Max Havelaar helped sway public opinon in the Netherlands against the policies of the Colonial administration in Java and thus helped to bring an end to the Cultivation System.

This story was made into a film in 1976 as a Dutch-Indonesian collaboration. It's very difficult to get a hold of but I was fortunate to obtain it from a Dutch friend who bought the DVD in the Netherlands.

Perpustakaan - Radikus Makankakus: Bukan Binatang Biasa (Raditya Dika)

This one's quite funny. Books by Raditya Dika are quite popular at the moment and stem from the popularity of his web blog.

I especially like his opening because it reminds me of the time I had to search for a dissertation topic and the title ended up being very long. His opening goes like this (edited for brevity)...

"Gue sirik sama temen-temen gue.
Alesannya sih simple aja; saat ini mereka udah kuliah tingkat akhir dan mereka lagi dalam tahap pembuatan skripsi.

I'm envious of my friends. The reason is quite simple. At the moment they're in the final stages of their university studies and in the process of producing dissertations.

Gue pengen aja kayak temen-temen gue itu, yang bolak-balik bikin daftar pertanyaan kepada ibu-ibu rumah tangga, atau pergi ke Bogor dalam rangka penelitian lapangan. Hmmm, penelitian. Kayaknya seru banget tuh.

I'd like to be like my friends, who are going about making surveys of housewives or going to Bogor for field work. It seems to be pretty exciting.

Daripada ketinggalan zaman, gue lalu berencana bikin penelitian sendiri. Gue nyari-nyari ide, kira-kira penelitian macam apa yang cocok buat gue...

Instead of being behind the times, I decided to search for my own research topic. I searched here and there, wondering what would be a suitable topic for me...

(chop)

...Setelah melalui process meditasi yang lumayan menyedot seluruh jiwa-raga, akhirnya gue nemu tema penelitian gue. Ya, sebuah karya ilmiah superkeren: meneliti kehidupan badut dengan menjadi badut.

After a process of meditation which really zapped my body and soul, I finally settled on a research topic. Yup, a really super-cool topic: investigating the life of a clown by becoming a clown.

Tema ini gue pilih karena hampir seluruh keluarga gue takut sama badut. Dari gue sampai adek bungsu gue, pas kecil sama-sama takut sama badut.

I chose this topic because almost all my family are scared of clowns. From me to my youngest brother, when we were young we were all scared of clowns.

Nah, berhubung kata temen gue, bikin karya ilmiah itu judulnya harus panjang, ribet, dan kalau bisa pake Bahasa Inggris, jadilah karya ilmiah pertama gue berjudul: Monitoring Altruism Banality On Clowns Doing Unprecedented Responsive Environment Nuisance (atau disingkat: MABOC DUREN).

Now, according to my friend, a thesis topic's title must be long, complicated and if possible, use English. So my first dissertation would be titled: Monitoring Altruism Banality On Clowns Doing Unprecedented Responsive Environment Nuisance (or in short, MABOC DUREN [DRUNK ON DURIAN])

Of course, as usual, the humour gets kind of lost in translation...

Perpustakaan - R.A. Kosasih Comic Books

Seems there isn't much to write about at the moment so I thought I'd highlight a few books from my Indonesian collection. Today's feature is a series of comics by renowned author R.A. Kosasih whose comic-book versions of the Hindu epics are much sought after. I stumbled upon these during my inaugural trip to Plaza Semanggi one weekend at this little shop -

These comics, first published over 40 years ago according to the blurb on the back cover, have been compiled into 4 hardcover and one softcover editions. Each compilation contains between 300 and 640 pages. There are 5 compilations available -

Mahabharata A (640 pages)



Mahabharata B (608 pages)


Bharatayudha (672 pages)


Pandawa Seda (320 pages)


Parikesit (318 pages)


Prabu Udayana (I didn't manage to obtain this one; it'll have to wait till I get there again next time)

Two Interesting Videos About Australia Day

Here's a couple of videos from YouTube about the current trend in patriotic flag-waving yobbo culture -

"How Australian Is Australia Day?"

(I like the photo of a Face-lifted Bert Newton at 5:02)


"To The Australia Day Hypocrite"