Ashes to ashes


First test got under way in Brisbane this morning and Australia has got off to its usual disastrous start.

At tea, we’re 6-153 (Clarke out for 1, Broad on a 5-wicket haul) .

I think we’ve been on a sugar hit of Warne and Co for far too long. The likes of McGrath, Gilchrist, Hayden, Langer, Ponting et all alongside the genius of Warne, were always going to surround Australia with such a coat of invincibility that once removed, the all too frail internals would fray and be oh so ugly.

Of the current crop now, who’d provide some semblance of solidity? Only Clarke has any valid claims to such status and with his always crook back it was always going to be an uphill battle. The only one coming close is perhaps Watto but he too is alwways fragile and succumbs to injuries all too often.

It’s going to be an awfully long summer cricket wise. Sigh…

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ANZ Visa Rewards Program


If you have an ANZ Visa credit card and use the Visa Rewards program to redeem stuff, make sure you check your statement. They charge an annual fee of $42 and every year, I have to ring them to have it waived. It’s a 5 minute call and you’d save $42 but unless one checks statements regularly, that is $42 down the gurgler.

I made that call again a few minutes ago and they waived it again as usual. They said “Ah, you’ve been with us a since 2005, so that’s not a problem”. So why not automatically waive the fee for anyone who have stayed, for say 3 years, or even 5 years?

Banks and their fees – the fees are always negotiable but one always have to ask.

So if you have an ANZ Visa Rewards card, make sure you check your statements and have them waive the fees. It’s easy enough to walk away if they dont.

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Smartphone and changed lives


I was in the men’s room at work a short while ago. All 3 cubicles were occupied. Someone was laughing in one of them. I didnt go in to use the cubicle and was only in there for a couple of minutes or so but the whole time, that guy was laughing.

I guess it had to be a smartphone thing. Pre-smartphone days, if someone was laughing inside a cubicle of a men’s room, you’d think funny.

Smartphones have come a long way in changing lives and behaviours.

In so many ways.

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Asylum seekers and duty of originating countries


Tress and I watched the Four Corners program last night. It was another one of those asylum seekers story. I wondered aloud, not for the first time, why countries are allowed to mismanage themselves so badly and other countries are expected to pick up the pieces or deal with the fallout.

Perhaps that is what Jesus would have wanted western nations to do – to reach out and help people in need. People who have suffered and now want to move away from these sufferings. But is having a softer policy where “all are welcomed here” approach best suited to help?

Perhaps the next time America “interferes” in domestic issues of a foreign country, one can point to asylum seekers issue as a justification? If leaders of say, Somalia, don’t look after their own backyard and their people leave so that the shores of say Australia, are peppered with rickety boats and dead bodies, can’t Australia say to Somalia that unless it does more, it will come into Somalia and fix it for them?

I remember Ryland v Fletcher from my property law lectures well. Can we not design something in the international community along the principle borne out by the rule in Ryland v Fletcher?

Often we have despotic regimes or warped governments whose policies and laws drive their people away. Those who can leave for another country properly do, but others who can’t, have to do it “illegally”. Their destination countries are then faced with the dilemma of balancing the competing interests of protecting their sovereignty and applying humanitarian assistance. On the rule in Ryland v Fletcher these countries can act against those despotic or warped regimes, no?

For sure the judicial ruling of an English court has no legal application in this context but that principle is intuitively correct to a simple mind like mine. If we speak of an obligation to help asylum seekers, surely we can also consider a right to demand action by the originator of the problem.

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Celebrating Little Ezra and those before him


 

The trek

We woke early on Friday and our ride arrived promptly at 5.30am. He was a slow and steady driver – the sort that stretches one’s patience. We needed to be at Tullamarine no later than 6.30am and we arrived with just a few minutes to spare. We made our way quickly to the departure gate but somehow, boarding was only about to start so we ended up being the first in line.

On arrival, we looked for a bus into the city and arrived at the Rundle Mall part of Adelaide CBD just before 9am. We found a little café,  and had a coffee and something to eat. We then thought we’d walk to the Holy Trinity church – the oldest church in Adelaide – but instead of walking towards the west we headed towards the east. The address was one of those which could be either one of two ends of North Terrace and we chose the wrong end.

When we realised our error, we headed back and Tress stopped at the St Peter’s college to ask for directions. An elderly couple very kindly pointed out we were at the opposite end of town and said they would take us there in their car as it would be too far for us to walk back there. What kindness…

We got to the church and saw my uncle Stephen just walking outside near the entrance. We sat down, talked a little bit with him and Ruth and Jonathan, and sat down to get ready for the service.

The service

I have known the songs “Jesus loves me, this I know” and “God is so good” since I was a little boy. Until last Friday however, I had never sang these “children’s” songs in the context of a funeral/memorial service. They were simple songs and I had never expected these songs to cause my eyes to well up.

When Jonathan and Ruth spoke, I was able to know little Ezra a little better. He was loved so much and the short 22 days he lived provided a lot of joy to Jonathan and Ruth as well as to others such as my Uncle Stephen and auntie Paddy, his uncle, Caleb and auntie Cariss and the French family.

The video Jonathan made, showed little Ezra – particularly his last days in the paediatric intensive care unit. We had watched it the day before when Jonathan sent it out via email but I still found myself fighting back tears (and failing). The minister – Chris Joliffe – spoke on Jesus’s “calling out” of Lazarus and said Jesus wept too.

It also became obvious to me how strong Jonathan and Ruth were. They attributed this to their relationship with God. They knew God is all knowing and all loving. They know they needed to continue to abide in His Son because this gave meaning and purpose to everything that happens. With God at our side, there is less urge to know why. If He chooses to reveal the reason, that would be nice but it would not affect their faith in and relationship with Him.

The legacy

It is the sort of knowledge, belief and response that is made possible through years of dependence on and obedience to God. That in turn, is made more possible through legacies bequeathed by both sides of the family – a legacy that has truly been “from faith to faith”.

Graeme and Susan have been missionaries for years and indeed, had returned from Hungary prematurely, from where they continue to serve as missionaries. Graeme gave a short message at the service, which showed where Jonathan’s strength came from.

My Uncle Stephen has been serving God for years in different capacities. I have made entries in this blog about his role in my faith during the our years (my brother and I) as boys in Klang. He in turn, has been a beneficiary of the legacy bequeathed by my late grandfather, whose role I have also made entries on.

And so I came away from this experience convinced of the role of the family in providing younger members with tools to build a stronger relationship with and dependence on God.

After the service we went to Jonathan and Ruth’s home, and spent the afternoon just talking to the family, before returning to Melbourne. It was a long day but one that helped us immensely. We hope it helped Ruth and Jonathan go through this period of waiting on and seeking the Lord as they celebrate and remember little Ezra’s brief but joyous and loving life.  

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Kevin Rudd and Anor


Last night while cuddling up with Tress on the couch and watching tv, we caught the news that Kevin Rudd was retiring.

I wanted to recall my thoughts about this complex man, who was prime minister of Australia for the bulk of our time here. We came to Melbourne in 2004, and Rudd became PM in 2007.

I saw this entry in Nov 2007 which I made but also caught this extract in the same entry:

We’ve been having a family (just the wife/mom and their 10 year old boy) with us for about a week and a half now, and last night when we got home, Theresa and I caught up with her to chat about how she has been doing with all the preparatory work. I feel her fear and her concerns and generally, appreciate her disorientation.

There is so much to do.

I’m disappointed with some of her friends, who helped her find their rental property. Against my advice, they committed to the lease without even seeing the property, when they were still in Malaysia. They relied on their friends to inspect the property and committed to the lease on that basis. It turned out that the property is in shambles. It is dirty and parts of the house are dilapidated, with a backdoor even missing a knob/lock. Their friends have not offered to help her with the fixing or cleaning and generally left her to her own defences. They came around and took her out for dinner last Friday but did little else. I’m sure they have their reasons but I feel that having committed her to a property which required so much work they could have at least asked if they could help. I kept asking myself how these friends could have advised this family to apply for a lease for a property like that. As a result, this family has been extremely slow in getting this place ready and despite having the lease approved and keys collected well before they arrived the house is still not ready and they are still squatting with us.

Maybe I’m being unfair. She’s a nice person and the boy is generally well behaved so they have not been bad guests in any way and are welcomed to remain as long as they need to.

On the other hand, I felt she should do more to quickly settle into her own house and prepare to live this new phase of their lives as early as possible. Postponing this would not help her in any way, except maybe save a few dollars. If this was her motivation for not expediting preparation of her house then it is disappointing and she is being near sighted.

Would I do the same for this family again today? At a drop of a hat. Would I feel the same way thereafter as I do today? As the drop of a hat.

I guess I’m simpler than Kevin Rudd.

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Work… Value…?


We’ve been chasing a client for payment for a few months now. Over a million dollars’ worth of development work has been expended to make their system compliant with a suite of legislative changes. Also, their service agreement is way overdue and they have not committed to a renewal.

So some 3 months ago, my big boss wanted a memo on options. I worked on it, discussed with my boss and submitted it. The big boss discussed options identified with other big bosses and we then drafted a letter seeking payment or meeting. My draft was kicked around and the relationship manager tried all sorts of tricks to keep the letter at bay.

The relationship manager is based in another state, as is that client. They maintain close contact and for a substantial debt that is undocumented in terms of potential dispute, the lack of formal communications was not desirable.

After tossing back and forth for 2-3 months, last week we settled on a letter. The commercial manager was a bit caught up in a cross fire between legal and client relationship management and in seeking not to rock the boat, acceded to the latter’s demands for a softer letter than we at legal would have preferred.

Sadly, the signatory – one that sits near the very top of the echelon – signed both versions of the letter. The dilemma of which version to be sent out (the instructions were that the letter had to be sent by such and such a date) was compounded by a raft of emails circulating amongst that commercial manager, her boss who was on study leave, my boss who had a million other matters on his plate, and that client relationship manager.

I know my boss would have wanted me to stick my head in and hold my own. I did. I said legal had always wanted the first version. That the signatory signed a second version meant an executive decision was taken to allow a second, softer version to go out.

I knew, from the moment that commercial manager came to me late on Friday last week, that this was going to swill with no value-add. I wasn’t going to take another drink from this chalice. If the top man was going to sign a second version of a letter legal had recommended, a decision had been taken to allow something other than the legally recommended version to be sent. Decision taken, move on. And yet, the signal which came back was that the fact of a second letter having been signed did not mean the first version could not still be the one to go out. So why was a second version signed? Who would decide which version is to go out? Isn’t that decision sealed by the signatory ie a second version could go out without batting an eye lid because much labour had gone into the first version anyway?

I understand now why this place has such a high turnover of staff, not least in the legal department. But…I’m here to do my job during the stipulated days and hours. So I will do so… and leave all such dramas to those who like to be part of such things…

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The first certainty


A friend was relating to us yesterday, the sad story of his co-worker being terminally sick. It must be such a confronting matter to deal with. I cannot imagine what a person does, when confronted with the reality of an impending death – and one that is near. If there is luxury of time to absorb the initial shock before emerging to make the most of what time remains, it would indeed be a triumph of sorts, given the circumstances. Absent such luxury, how does one work out priorities and action at this time?

I guess that dilemma, pressing and focused as it is, is simply a microcosm of life generally. 6 months is a lifetime for some. That lifetime is 70, 80 or 90 years for others. Or if you live in a place like Ikarian or Okinawa (I think), perhaps 100. Whatever the number, it is finite. The end comes – sooner or later. For little Ezra that was 22 days. For JFK it was 46 years. My late grandfather (who was 90 when he died, I think) often quoted Psalm 90.

Psalm 90

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

We are to acknowledge our mortality so that we may be wiser. Accept death’s reality and one lives wisely. There is a lot to be said and done in response to this pearl, no?

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Little Ezra’s mark…


Tress and I visited a family on Friday night. They’ve been in Melbourne for over year. They have the usual challenges for a relatively new migrant family and we just wanted to make ourselves available as friends and for company. We sat in their kitchen, as we listened to their stories.

The next morning, I woke early and went to St Alf’s for a men’s breakfast talk. Mark Sneddon talked about the challenges of balancing professional, family and personal issues and how his faith and Christians around him helped him deal with those issues. It was a highly personal and thought provoking talk. It invited compassion, understanding and camaraderie as men, to come alongside each other and support each other through life’s often hard journey.

Having visited the new migrant family and talked to them the previous night, listening to Mark really reinforced the reality of life’s many challenges many people have to face. Little did I know how these two encounters were to pale into insignificance in terms of the impact on Tress and I, compared to what lied ahead of us.

Tress and I were working on the garden on Sunday afternoon, and Tress had then gone into the house to do some cooking while I continued working in the garden. When I started cleaning up, I picked up my phone and read a text from my uncle Stephen which left me completely shocked and speechless.

Little Ezra came into the lives of my cousin Ruth and her husband Jonathan in Adelaide on October 18. He was little but otherwise looked healthy and well. His photographs, taken with proud beaming parents holding him in turn, were of the usual angelic beauty of baby pictures. My uncle Stephen and auntie Paddy had then joined them from Malaysia a week or so later and had been staying with them, cooking traditional confinement meals for Ruth which Jonathan also enjoyed. All seemed well and everyone were truly happy.

So it came as a shock when we were told that baby Ezra had passed on. He went to be with the Lord on the morning of 10 November. He was just over 3 weeks old.

For the next few hours, I was numbed, not quite knowing what to think or say. I tried to ring my uncle but someone picked up the phone but did not say anything. I then thought I’d leave them alone for a while, but I still do not know what to say to them. All I wanted was for them to know that they have people who would pray and be at their side if they needed or wanted this. God is all loving and all knowing – we are often asked to relate to our Creator from His purpose, not ours. And yet, often it is our narratives, our experiences, our journey that shape us and put us in a position to relate to Him. How do these two spheres interact? When and how, does His purpose make sense of our individual journeys? CS Lewis’s Screwtape said this:

Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks around upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.

Only He can make us respond that way, and only we can decide to respond that way…

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Roger Scruton


I was reading a newsletter from the Institute of Public Affairs, which carried a promo on the English philosopher Roger Scruton who would be visiting Australia early next year.

I clicked on a couple of links on the newsletter and was immediately sucked in. A link to a you tube “clip” was an hour long and I thought I’d watch a couple of minutes to decide if I’d watch it later. I ended up watching the whole hour. It was an interview in the US in an organisation known as the “Common Sense Society” and the topic of discussion was mainly on moral relativism.

I’m now wondering if I’d seek out his books for reading over the summer months…

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