Tag: Australia

Killing Us All Tweetly


Jim Wallace‘s tweet on Anzac Day is the latest proof that this tool can be wielded most unwisely. It is probably best not to use it for any purpose other than daily mundane stuff like letting your mates know where you are so they can join you if they wish. Try using it for any other purpose (such as social commentary) and you really are asking for it.

I am sure many Christians frown deeply at gay marriage and Islamic extremists and they are perfectly legitimate areas of interests for the Australian Christian Lobby. Use that silly limited tool that is Tweeter and mix that with Anzac Day and the place it holds for many Australians and you’re on really thin ice. From hereon in, who’d listen to Jim Wallace the next time he has anything to say about gay marriage or Islamic extremism? People are more likely to remember his folly of tweeting on these issues on Anzac Day 2011, than anything else he may have to say on them, no matter how valid and true that may turn out to be.

He has damaged the role of the Australian Christian Lobby in 22 words in a silly tweet and it’d take so much rebuilding to restore things. This silly tool is killing us all tweetly. 😦

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Rosemary Sprig for Anzac Day


Tress and I caught a little bit of the Anzac Day march footage a short while ago. We were wondering what was the significance of the rosemary sprig most of the presenters were wearing on their left lapels.

Apparentlty in ancient Greek times, the rosemary was thought to strengthen memory. Wearing the rosemary is probably a reminder that we are not to forget what these veterans have done for the nation. “Lest We Forget” is a phrase often used on this day – it’s roots were in relation to a poem to remember World War I veterans of the Brittish.

So I guess if you’re looking for something to boost your memory – rosemary it is!

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Day Out


A colleague was working on a case which was potentially curly. The team had wanted to set out a consistent approach in terms of treatment of similar cases but sometimes – often in fact – so much depends on the facts of a particular case. A site visit was thought useful to verify certain factual situations and to put documented facts in perspective.

I was asked to come along for the visit. I guess it is part familiarization with site visit procedures but also good control to have more than just the one person on site visits.

So yesterday this colleague and I set out for the property in question. It was located at the start of the Great Ocean Road and it was going to take us about an hour and a half to get there.

We were at the Finance department early on to pick up the car keys and look for the necessary paper work. We then headed down to the basement where the cars were, and I was pleasantly surprised to note that the Office has a fleet of the Toyota Camry Hybrid. My colleague was even more of a novice in these things than yours truly. He pushed the power button on and then the both of us just sat in the car for a while, wondering if he had done all the right thing, as the car was so quiet we thought nothing was happening.

We finally pulled out of the parking space and made our way past the five floors underground to emerge out of the belly of the complex, onto Bourke Street, after going past 3 boom gates. Soon the wet morning pushed on and it was belting down. While waiting for the lights on Flinders Street, we thought the engine had died on us, so quiet was the thing. It felt like it had powered down to a safe mode of sorts but when my colleague engaged the gear back to drive it took off again. Soon I was fiddling around with the radio and after about 5 minutes of talk back radio on 3AW, I switched channel to an FM music channel – I think it was either Classic Rock on 104.3 or Vega on 91.5. My colleague lighted up noticeably – he must have thought me an old man, what was I doing listening to Neil Mitchell on a drive out to the Great Ocean Road.

We were soon out of the city and on the Westgate, heading towards Geelong and beyond. It was still belting down – the rain was tropical. Still, it beats being cooped up in the office so we enjoyed the ride.

At the property my colleague talked to the clients while I took some pictures. It was a basic Canon SLR model. Thanks to my (very) modest self education on these toys, I could handle the thing ok and my colleague and our boss was fairly pleased with the outcome of my photographic efforts and they sort of spoke the thousands of words the report needed to attend to the clients’ file.

We got back around 1.30pm after stopping in town for coffee and a very good apple and rhubarb cake (it was labeled as a fancy pastry with some French name but it was a cake to me). I told my colleague this morning I think I have an idea for a day trip this coming Easter long weekend. I think he had the same idea.

Regards,Ian

Sent from my iPhinity (and beyond)

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Church can be relevant and alive


There is a current stream of discussions concerning the decline of evangelicalism. A number of factors have brought the steady flow to a head. Recent missteps by prominent evangelical leaders, political leaders’ alignments with evangelical groups and the increasing disconnect of the twenty-something generation from evangelical churches have all conspired to paint a stodgy, out of touch and irrelevant and even hypocritical image of the evangelical church.

I have colleagues here in our very own Melbourne who when they start a family and want to return to church, look to orthodox churches instead of evangelical ones. These are couples in their late twenties to early thirties, educated and bright and have the world at their feet. They will soon be leaders of society. Young people in evangelical churches have also voiced their frustrations with too many instances of church leaders, pastors and teachers who don’t provide a good grasp of the bible and theology and have sought orthodoxy as a solution. So while the discussions may be taking place mainly in America, the experience and phenomenon that is the crossroads of evangelical churches is a real issue here in Australia too.

The evangelical churches of today are not attracting young people and the young who grew up in these churches are leaving – either for other (orthodox churches) or the church altogether. They would deny that they have left Christianity – they still profess the faith and still have deep connections with that part of their lives which seek to have a relationship with God, and it is the institution of the evangelical church which they are turning away from. One can convincingly argue that such apparent connection is flawed as a real relationship would compel fellowship thus church attendance but the disconnect experienced by this group is very real. They would probably want – long for – fellowship with other believers but would probably loathe association with any element of the institutional church.

One therefore is often confronted with groups of young people who don’t like anything which smells of large church. They would be happy to be meeting in small groups in homes or small school halls or anywhere informal. They don’t like the building, the boards, the governance structure, the legal and financial baggage, the governing theology, tradition and creeds and all the ensuing rules and regulations which come with this stodgy sounding components.

I think it is the duty of those who have been trained, not to discard these components but to unpack them in a way which is honest, vigorous, relevant and applicable to them. The gospel of the saving grace of God is and will always be relevant because it is real, it is necessary and it is entirely within the plan and purpose of God.

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So Long Punter (Ponting retires)


I will always remember the Boxing Day Test match in the MCG in 2005. Ricky Ponting scored centuries in both innings against South Africa and I was there in the MCG in the first inning. A mate rang to ask I come to his barbie but I said I was at the MCG and wouldnt miss what looked like the Punter’s tonne – my first in the G. I’m glad I hung around for the landmark and it was special.

Thanks for the memories, Punter.

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Ziggy Switkowski on the Carbon Tax


Ziggy Switkowski was once the head honcho of Telstra. It was before the days of the Sol Trojullio – the “Mexican” who came to reign Telstra in a tumultuous period and carted away a tidy pot of gold for himself.

Ziggy has just written a piece in the Business Spectator about how futile the Australia’s attempt to reduce emission can be, when our contribution to the problem is miniscule. He has of course written in a much more convincing manner, setting out the economic and technological aspects of the issue and how green house gas emissions is really an economic and technological problem for now, not quite yet an environmental one. So for the Bob Brown and Christine Milne and the Greens to push this agenda and for Julia Gillard to be capitulating to their interest so easily appears a bit out of whack.

That was the approach taken by the Howard Government – the economic angle – and it is now the defence piece of useless rhetoric for people like Wayne Swan in attempting to defend the carbon tax. What a shameless manipulation of facts. But then again these – other than Ziggy – are all politicians, they do that for a living.

Ziggy’e piece is hot fresh off the oven – google it.

Regards,Ian

Sent from my iPigeon

Leave Malaysia If You Can


Someone emailed me this letter I wrote to Malaysiakini more than 3 years ago:

Leaving Malaysia because I had to
Ian Teh | Feb 10, 06 2:18pm

MCPX
Smita Elena Sharma may have re-affirmed what many Malaysians have experienced for so long. My family and I left Malaysia more than a year ago. Smita was right – we left Malaysia reluctantly, especially me. My wife and I had well-paid jobs, were debt-free and had only one child. We had great friends, wonderful relatives and a strong network of social circles to make life a thoroughly enjoyable journey. We could see however, that it was a fast eroding paradise.

Our employers were successful only because of political patronage. Our child remained a second-class citizen as far as education was concerned, and this was going to be only the first of many more discriminations to come. The public institutions could not be relied upon to do the right things. In fact, few bothered with doing the right thing. Malaysian society was disintegrating because the leadership was distracted in all sorts of ways.
We have been here in Melbourne, Australia for more than a year now. We had to start all over again. Re-build our careers. Start new relationships. Find and build our home. We bump into Malaysians all the time. They are all here for the same reason – to give their future generations a fairer go. They are here to raise their children in a place where work ethics, intelligence and industry count for more than skin colour and political patronage. They are here where wrongdoings are highlighted and challenged and their perpetrators are put under the spotlight. They are here to give and take in a fair exchange.

Do we miss anything in Malaysia? Absolutely. We miss our family and friends. We miss, just as Smita wrote, the wonderful food. We miss the familiarity our previous home gave us. We were reluctant leavers.

Yet we were a lot more fortunate than many. Poor Malaysian’s Emigration not an option, stuck here for example, rightly pointed out that many simply can’t leave. Traditional destinations are not open to them as they don’t meet the criteria. There are also many who, by default, remain in Malaysia. They cannot bear to sacrifice the life they have in Malaysia. Lifestyles many more times more opulent than the one my family and I enjoyed.

Some of these people have accused us of running away. Some say we are armed and equipped to fight for the less fortunate in Malaysia, to help bring about a more just and equitable country. By running away, so we have been accused, we have not discharged our moral responsibility to help bring about this change.
YMM in his letter Not giving up hope on Malaysia echoes this tune. It is an admirable tune. I hope one day it becomes a battle cry to bring down this racial and religious barricade. Such lofty aspirations were mine too, some 15 years ago. When I first returned to Malaysia after studying in Australia, I vowed not to follow the steps of those who left the country. I decided to stay and make Malaysia my home, and try to make it a better home for my fellow Malaysians as well.

Soon however, this decision was faced with the harsh reality of being a victim of discrimination. Let us not mince words, the vast majority if not all of us who are not bumiputeras are victims of discrimination. We put up with being victims because the scraps are always enough to fill our coffers.
In spite of such discrimination, most stayed on because there is money to be made. It wasn’t to fight for equality that those who could leave decided not to. It was the fact that there was material wealth to be accumulated and it was also due to inertia. Our lives have simply continued without us pausing to think and plan ahead and, if necessary, make major changes. If we do, I cannot imagine anyone seriously believing that Malaysia offers a better chance of a better future for our children than many other countries.

The one thing which would swing my assessment is the total abolishment of the current pro-bumiputera policies, in toto. I don’t see this happening, no matter what I do. Was it I who tucked tail and left, or have those who, recognising such a change would not come about, be the ones who tucked tail in remaining?

I decided I had not put up a sufficient fight after 15 years. I decided I was not about to spend another 15 years trying, while my child foregoes an opportunity to go and fight her battles elsewhere, where there is a fairer go for her.

Do I miss Malaysia? Only the people there. My family, relatives and friends. I remain a reluctant leaver. There are many things we do in life not because we want to, but because we need to. Leaving Malaysia was one of them.

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Malaysia Loses – More Brain Drain


Last Saturday we had dinner in Alex and Li Har’s home with a family who arrived as migrants just a week earlier. This family represents a classic case of brain drain that has been plaguing Malaysia. The man is a neurologist and his wife is a dental surgeon.

The wife was offered a job back in April, with the RoyalDentalHospital in Melbourne. She had to ask for a later start as they weren’t ready to leave Malaysia in April. The man was also offered a job with the Footscray Health Group. He is contemplating holding out for a role closer to home – they live in the eastern suburbs and in any event Footscray isn’t exactly the sort of suburb you’d want to work odd hours, which will be required of this highly talented doctor.

Also at the dinner was a family with a child suffering from a very rare condition called Alagilles syndrome. While the neurologist did not seem familiar with this condition (it is very rare) he could intimately describe all the attendant symptoms and alternative but consequential treatments in the most coherent and intelligible manner. I can easily picture a patient being totally at ease with a doctor who obviously knows what he is talking about and can easily engage queries without pretending to know everything.

The couple was very engaging but was at the same time, very unassuming and humble. We enjoyed their company and we believe this family (they have 2 bright and very well behaved children) is an indictment on the racist and bigoted government who stupidly, is too happy to see the backs of such people simply because they aren’t Malays. He is only 41 years of age – at the height of a very bright career. Assuming his wife is a touch younger than him, she too has so many years of fantastic service left to offer. Malaysia loses, again, and it doesn’t seem to care.

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