garota

CSD-14: T-5hrs

2006-05-01T05:54:00.000+10:00

The Youth Blast was a, well, blast. Great workshop - covering stuff from CSD mechanisms + history, to nailing down priorities, to an environmental justice scavenger hunt workshop.

Check it out here.

Also, yesterday's NGO caucus at the Crown Prince Hotel was really useful too - it's so much a bigger world than that of the Youth Caucus, and opened my eyes to the labyrinth I'll need to navigate over the next 2 weeks.

More here.

I know I'm being really slack about blogging, but I'm really tired, and it's time to get ready to face the first official day of CSD-14. I haven't even read through the Non-govt Liaison Service Compendium on UN civil society engagement yet - egad!

Technorati: UN, environment, youth, international affairs

in NY

2006-04-29T09:28:00.000+10:00

After a marathon flight SIN - KUL - ARN - EWR, I am finally here.

NY is so lovely in the spring. It's a side of this warped city I haven't seen, and am getting to love, and I almost can't bear the thought that I'll be gone in a coupla weeks.

For now, though, it'll be nice enjoying the sunshine in Central Park. And throwing myself into the almost unnavigable rivers of UN meetings, of course.

Off to my first meeting with the CSD Youth Caucus - looking forward to meeting other mad radical greenie lefties!

The slow-motion trap

2006-04-19T04:57:00.000+10:00

Very quickly now -

Yet another gem by Blumenthal (View an ad to read). Will comment later. Go see.

(Apologies - it's a little dated)

Technorati: US, Bush, politics, Republicans

QOTD

2006-04-15T04:26:00.000+10:00

On so-called youth leaders who are in it not for the cause, but for themselves. Even if it means disempowering others to get there.

i have no (more) time to waste on self-absorbed power-hungry losers who put on a hypocritical do-gooder mask to achieve their self-indulgent power wanks

Note to self: Never - let yourself get to that. Don't you. Fucking. Ever.

We have acceded

2006-04-14T04:48:00.000+10:00

To the Kyoto Protocol!

As a non-Annex I country, we won't actually be bound by collective emissions reductions obligations, or directly cut deals in the emissions trading barter.

But, this positive step (by this government!) to engage in the shared battle plan for climate change by the international community, to me, is just... fantastic. At the very least, we're now able to get involved in Clean Development Mechanism projects with Annex I-ers, and start the whole CER (Certified Emissions Reductions) ball rolling.

Simple things make me happy.

Next on my wish list: India and China get tagged as Economies-in-Transition, making them Annex I-ers. Do we have to wait til after 2012 though?

See also:

Singapore Law Blog post

Essential background on the relevant international agreements - a whoop-ass orientation for the uninitiated

Carbon Briefing by CO2e.com - a great resource for the market-oriented

A Kyoto Mechanisms 101 by the International Emissions Trading Association - easy reading

Ps. My Youth Environmental Envoy project proposal due in 24 hours - gah! Have yet to whip up some brilliant idea pulled out of my arse and plonked onto paper.

Technorati: Kyoto, environment, Singapore

We the shitizens

2006-03-30T05:30:00.000+11:00

A petition entry on the petition against the link between upgrading of HDB flats and the PAP. Too funny not to share.

291. We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as many divided people, according to party, wealth or status, to build an elitist society, based on money and leequality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for my familee.

You can check out other signature entires here, some of them are quite funny / bizarre. And while you're at it, go put down your 2 cents too¹.

¹Signature entries that are taken seriously tend to have correct full information, and a reasoned tone. (Just to throw that in.)
Technorati: Singapore, politics

Activism gets the goods

2006-03-28T12:04:00.000+11:00

And this is why.

All those damn sleepless nights, researching, coordinating, lobbying, writing, postering, strategising, petitioning, going a bit nuts.. was all worth it. Fuck yeah.

It's been 4 days now, and I'm still feeling overwhelmed by it all.

Just to add:
The work isn't over. This simply means there is a legal imperative to start the legislative amendment process. (Someone correct me if I'm off on terminology.) Not sure how long that will take, which is highly determinant on possible attempts to appeal the decision, and the amendment process in general. NLC, keep it up - the fight isn't over til we can walk up to the ticket counter, ask for a concession ticket, and not get rejected because we "ain't got no concession stamp".

Technorati: australia, international students, activist, NLC

Touching Base

2006-03-26T11:22:00.000+11:00

Apparently it's a phrase I've been using a lot.

Touched down about 12 hours ago.

Speaking at the UN Youth Conference was.. interesting.

Church, get real about condoms

2006-03-21T16:23:00.000+11:00

Here's a question for condom condemners: What do you do when sticking to your beliefs means that half your nation's population may die from HIV/AIDS? (And that's only in the next 2 decades.)

***
[Transcript of an interview on the ABC radio current affairs program 'PM' broadcast from Sydney, Australia.]
PM - Wednesday, 15 March, 2006 18:41:44
Reporter: Dhana Quinn

MARK COLVIN: An Australian Catholic AIDS charity is calling on the Church to "get real" about the use of condoms to fight the HIV epidemic in the Pacific.

The issue has again flared after a Papua New Guinea Government minister asked for church groups to put aside their religious biases and support condom use in the country.

The Catholic Church in PNG has responded by saying the minister is asking the church to abandon its beliefs.

Dhana Quinn reports.

DHANA QUINN: Brian Haill is the President of the Australian AIDS Fund, a Catholic not-for-profit charity based in Melbourne, and he's tired of the Catholic Church's failure to change its stand on condoms.

BRIAN HAILL: Condoms do have a critical role in HIV prevention. It is true that the church has a hang-up over condoms, but that goes back 20 years or more before HIV was ever heard of. The church then railed against condoms as a birth control device – it blocked life. But today, with AIDS amongst us, the condom blocks death, and that's what the archbishops and the cardinals and the curates need to grasp and understand quickly.

DHANA QUINN: For 20 years Mr Haill's organisation has been involved in AIDS care work, including work in Papua New Guinea, where the issue of condom use has again been raised.

A PNG Government minister has asked church groups to put aside their religious and moral biases and support condom use. The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference in PNG, Bishop Francesco Sarego, has responded in a statement, saying the minister is asking churches to ignore their beliefs, in effect to act against their consciences.

The Bishop says churches cannot be expected to become agents for dispensing condoms.
Mr Haill.

BRIAN HAILL: The Bishop does wrong to intimidate his flock in this way. The reality is that the HIV infection rate in PNG has reached such a runaway situation that there is the real reality that half a million Papua New Guineans could be infected by 2025.

Figures from the Australian Government's aid agency AusAID show PNG has the highest incidence of HIV and AIDS in the Pacific region, and is the fourth country in the Asia Pacific region. AusAID funds a number of programs in PNG, but it was a condom promotion campaign which outraged some church leaders last year. Given the PNG Government also wants to promote condoms, is it possible for the Catholic Church to work in harmony with other agencies in the
region?

The Catholic welfare group Caritas Australia, which has worked in PNG for years, believes it is.

Its Chief Executive, Jack de Groot.

JACK DE GROOT: It's not difficult at all when the Church in Papua New Guinea and the churches of Papua New Guinea provide 40 per cent of health care services throughout the nation for us to be a very significant player in a comprehensive strategy to prevent HIV infection.

DHANA QUINN: He says the Catholic Church works closely with the Government, and each has its own areas of expertise to offer.

JACK DE GROOT: The Church's education program in PNG will be to educate about all means of prevention, including condoms. But it will not actually get into the business of promotion and distribution of condoms. It will play to its other strengths of the issues of the protection of family life values, the issues of fidelity, the protection of rights of women, and the addressing of violence against women. It will do those things that it does best and it will allow the Government to do the things it does best.

DHANA QUINN: Annmaree O'Keeffe is Australia's special representative on HIV/ AIDS at AusAID. She says the Catholic groups play a vital role in PNG and, regardless of the rhetoric, things are not as black and white on the ground.

ANNMAREE O'KEEFFE: There are certain parts of the Catholic Church that do distribute condoms and do it quite openly, and there are other parts that feel that this contradicts some of the requirements coming out of certain quarters, particularly the Vatican. But those that do distribute the condoms believe that it is very much in keeping with the 10 commandments to do so.

MARK COLVIN: Annmaree O'Keeffe, Australia's special representative on HIV/ AIDS, with Dhana Quinn.

Technorati: HIV/AIDS, Papua, Church

Contempt of Court

2006-03-20T05:33:00.000+11:00

A little late, but nonetheless.

The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org

***********************************************
(March 15, 2006) Democracy Alert:
Participant of the World Movement for Democracy Faces Imprisonment

Dr. Chee Soon Juan, leader of Singapore Democratic Party is under threat of imprisonment after he was charged with the contempt for court for making critical comments about Singapore Judiciary. The trial against him will begin on March 16. 2006.

Sydney once more

2006-03-18T06:39:00.000+11:00

Yes, I am in Sydney, and in one piece. One stretched-out piece that is.

It was a whirl touching down from Sydney airport tonight and then going straight to 3 clubs, one after the other, for the birthday do of one of my best friends. Now, the ringing in my ears has subsided, the sky is starting to get light, and I type this from the apartment I would be staying at if I based here as originally planned.

It's weird to see Sydney again, in all its juxtaposed familiarity and simultaneous strangeness, of an uncle who migrated many moons ago struggling to retrieve the memory of the niece he used to carry atop his shoulders.

***
I am almost overwhelmed by the thought of seeing Coogee beach later - and the surge of associations that will bring.

I can't wait.

Whazzup

2006-03-09T07:48:00.000+11:00

Ok, so this space has sorta degenerated to personal updates. Maybe sometime the social/political rants will be resurrected at some point in infinity.

Anyway, for the benefit of friends and those wondering what the hell is up with me:

Organised a 2-part workshop series on sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Got coverage for the project in the UN Millennium Campaign website, and got briefly quoted in TODAY (local press)

Working with UNIFEM Singapore to organise a film screening on human trafficking. It's showing March 15 @RJC.

Speaking at an Australian UN Youth Conference - this time on the MDGs, youth involvement in development, & the Singapore youth front of things. Sydney late March.

Representing UNIFEM Singapore at the upcoming UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD14). New York late April. This is part of a broader campaign to push for youth representation on Singapore govt delegations to the UN, eg. UN General Assembly, on an ongoing basis.

As part of the push for youth at CSD14, we are organising a grassroots workshop to skill-up and consult on relevant themes. We are coordinating a youth position, based on grassroots views and perspectives, which will be brought to the meeting. All part of abovementioned campaign.

Representing Singapore on the international youth secretariat of Halifax 2006 - series of global conferences on sustainable development. Halifax early July.

Going on a delegation to the inaugural Asia-Europe Youth Festival on Sustainable Development. Manila late July.

Also, recent weeks have seen major life decisions. Considering the possibility of basing myself in Singapore instead of Sydney, largely sparked by incidentally stumbling upon a job opening @Singapore International Foundation. I don't know if I can see myself working here and staying sane. But - as I often say - only one way to find out.

I'm also unsure about how SIF might take my wanting to go to all the upcoming conferences, but - maybe them dropping me like a hot potato in response to these networking opportunities will tell me enough about the kind of organisation they are. (Or maybe I'm just preparing to console myself.)

And then. The States. A tall, ancient, Irish, monumental figure located in Boston has captured my imagination, triggering an intense desire to locate there for a period of time - before circumstances get in the way. This is a potentially huge sliding door for me, and I'm not about to let it slide past me - as far as I can help it.

BRB

2006-01-21T07:06:00.000+11:00

Have been roped in to help out at the APEC Business Advisory Council conference happening now. And then sieving through applications to select SEAYPD steering committee members the week after. And then organising the Exploring Sustainable Development workshops the week after that. And getting cracking on SIYC after.

I'm just saying that I might not be blogging for a bit. (Again)

For now, gotta run off to the MCYS Feedback Unit conference. Throwing metaphorical darts at certain ministers should be fun.

BRB. (as long as you don't hold your breath)

ruff muakz

Fast

2006-01-18T15:17:00.000+11:00

Everything's been a bit of a fast-paced whirl since touching down.

raw

2006-01-15T10:57:00.000+11:00

de la Radu până la mie -

Home Base

2006-01-14T04:37:00.000+11:00

It feels so strange to be back. It's only been, oh, 3 hours since I stepped back into this house. But somehow I don't feel the ease that's supposed to come with being at home. It seems counter-intuitive, and I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the fact that I've only spent 5 summers here - as opposed to my 5 years (and then some) in Sydney - or if I have grown so accustomed to being on the move that being in a "base" now feels weird.

Colourful Curitiba

2005-12-19T01:24:00.000+11:00

There was a bit of itinerary drama the day before I left São Paulo because I was told I couldn´t be granted a visa to Paraguay unless I was on a round-trip ticket. I decided to cross out Bogota and Asuncion, saving about USD800 (the ticket to Bogota was gonna be a killer), and getting to actually spend decent time in the other cities - Curitiba, Buenos Aires, Recife, Rio. The date changes were meant to clock up about USD120, but somehow I managed to dodge all of that with the sweet ticketing counter lady at TAM airlines and get away with cooler dates (chronos, not homo-s) and not a cent.

Speech Patterns

2005-12-17T07:41:00.000+11:00

In keeping with the theme of drama, in the Brasilian style caipirinha-induced stupor of a party in my hotel room, my baby got kicked off the table - 7 hours before I was due to speak. She didn't get any brain damage, or broken bones, but lost her sight completely. Along with my speech.

Latin America, baby!

2005-12-11T12:34:00.000+11:00

Just a really quick one - for those who need to know my whereabouts, my itinerary within the continent is on my trotter calendar (to the right). You'll need to enter my gmail address, which shouldn't be a problem if I actually know you.

I leave NY at 7pm tonight.

New York, New York

2005-12-11T05:39:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I got my visa. Finally. All that fuss over a silly little piece of sticker on a page of my passport. It's funny how I kept looking at, and touching, and reading the words on the visa for about a whole 20 seconds after.

I'm just so glad all this hassle was worth it.

F Luck

2005-12-08T01:36:00.000+11:00

It has been absolutely mad. A recap of the last 72 hours:

Moved out. Moved everything out. (It's amazing the amount of crap you (I) accumulate over just 2 years.)

Packing for South America and US. (It's just that bit trickier packing for both hot and cold climates. And the fact that I'm going away for 2.5 months all up.)

Arranged to meet up - and be (conveniently) hosted by - friends in São Paulo, Santos, Curitiba, Recife, Rio, Asuncion, Buenos Aires, Bogota. (See, this is why you have international friends. Lol.)

Had a major rethink about the working draft of my speech for Brasil, almost entirely. (I am scrapping the whole SEA thing completely; going to focus on Singapore, despite - and almost in defiance to - the sound of ~~alarm bells~~ handcuffs clicking over my wrists rings in my head, as I shudder at the imagery of me walking under close watch towards an interrogation room at Changi Airport upon touchdown.

Was informed by the Brasilian consulate in Sydney that they would NOT be able to process my visa in time. Panic.

Deliberating on my 2 so-called options: stay longer (than the original overnight transit) in Narita and get the consulate there to help with the visa. I even got dear S in Singapore, who speaks fluent Japanese, to talk to them explaining my (urgent) situation. They are not helpful. OR, the terribly imaginative idea of postponing arrival in São Paulo til a recommended date that falls after the conference.

It does not look good.

Frantic emails; to conference organisers, embassies and friends alike. Serious thoughts about how to deliver my speech through video conference.

Aaron, my trustee travel consultant is seriously worried for me.

Breakthrough in NY! In the morning on the eve of my supposed flight, Consulado do Brasil says they can do me a visa in 2 days! "1 day for application, 1 day for pick-up." Wooot!!

Aaron frantically tries to get the JAL HQ in Tokyo to let me stop over in NY. Flights are packed. Chances are grim.

Meanwhile, I suddenly realise - fuck! I'd totally forgotten about fixing up my air pass for the intra-continental travel in South America! Egad. Frantic calls.

Aaron gets back to me. I got myself a stopover - with the prerequisite 2 working days! Aaron warns that it may not be enough time to process a visa, despite with the consular division says, but my options are limited because all other flights - arriving in time for the conference anyway - are full.

I take the chance.

Air pass guy gets back with a tentative itinerary. Very efficient. But, it's almost 4pm, and I'd completely forgotten (again) about the leg from Rio - my last stop in South America - to São Paulo where I take my flight back to Sydney. Ugh! More crazy phone calls, amid whizzing around in the car with J to do last minute moving-house stuff.

In the final business hours before my flight: Confirm South American itinerary; pick up SYD-TOK-NY-SP ticket; pick up the South American air pass itself; pick up prepaid phone kit to transfer my account (of sorts) so I don't get the huge obligatory monthly charge while I'm away; finish my business with the old house (oh, the memories).

Air pass guy tells me I MUST get vaccination for yellow fever (I thought he was pulling a pun at first). Before leaving. Cripes.

Whiz around some more, to the clinic. Doctor Tan, the only one licensed to administer the vaccine, has left the building! Receptionist, ever sympathetic to my desperate situation, makes more calls for me. After 15 excruciating minutes - "you can get the vaccination done at the medical centre at the airport. They open at 8am, so you have time before your 10:15 flight." Woot!

The rest of the night was sorting out last-minute housekeeping I'd neglected, and packing proper for the trip.

In the morning: I am told, as I check-in my bags, that I get to get out of Narita while on transit - and stay at a "transit hotel"! Dig out my big coat from my luggage, right there and then in front of the check-in counter - who cares! (Not me, evidently)

Frantic calls (we're really developing a theme here) to another friend S in NY, at the medical centre, while waiting to get my shot. (Turns out to be four of them - yellow fever, tetanus, Hep A, Typhoid.) So I may have a place to stay in NY. Not confirmed. S is helping me ask around his friends for charity shelter too.

The shots - and a bunch of sleeping pills, at my behest - come up to $217. This is an expensive exercise.

Crap. I finish with the medical centre right smack at 9:45am - exactly boarding time. No time to email Japanese friend in Tokyo, who I met at the World Youth Congress in Scotland.

Frantic SMSes to (another) J, in the UK, who has access to the WYC delegate database, to email her on my behalf to ask if she'd like dinner, and hang out some in Tokyo. Didn't get a reply from J, so I have no idea how that went.

And now, here I am on JL722, sitting in my nice 60C aisle seat, amazed at the course of the last 72 hours. (On a random, the stewardesses here are so nice!)

I am freakin' lucky.
(Even if I still have my speech to ~~stress about~~ work on.)

***
Update: Now posting this from Nikko Narita Hotel - where I discovered I have a free night's stay because of my overnight transit! Tomorrow, before zipping off to NY, I will be traipsing around Tokyo city. Don't get too green.

QOTD

2005-12-04T20:07:00.000+11:00

If agriculture companies were as aggressive as Coca-Cola, everyone would eat.

- Kenyan economist James Shikwati

Full story here.

For agri subsidies?

2005-12-01T03:51:00.000+11:00

Another perspective on the EU agriculture subsidies.

Dear all,

there has been growing voices about EU trade barriers, mainly due to the EU's sponsoring of their own agricultural industry.

I know that with this email I am hanging myself out of the window as we say in Germany THESE ARE SOME PERSPECTIVES ON THIS MEGA ISSUE that I have nowehere yet seen answered.

I have not anywhere read serious input on the following issues:

Europe has a fair standard of living. This goes along with high worker's wages and production costs. As a consequence, EU foods cannot compete with sweat shop and slave work conditions in "developing" countries.

Cutting down the subventions will trigger the disintegration of the european agricultural sector. Farmers are already not making much of a living. Already, the EU is practically importing all toys, electronics and clothes from Asia. Maybe some find that all food should also come from outside the EU?

Once Europe's agricultural sector is destroyed, it will not be possible to rebuild it in foreseeable time. Hundreds of thousands or million of people in the European farming industry will lose their livelihoods. The resulting free vast areas of land will be bought up by large corporations, like it has been done in the American West after the depression and "dust bowl". What and how will they produce in those areas? To their interest, whcih is ... you answer.

A further destabilized "Europe in crisis" will be more occupied with its own issues. This means the main continental voice for GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY etc will be LOST. I cannot see many G8 countries making serious efforts in these areas but the ones from the EU. Not much coming out of China and Russia or the USA. Maybe, this wil also increase European military investment in securing "their interest", like the USA.

Then again, FEEDING A CONTINENT FROM ABROAD will cost another unprecedented amount of shipping. Current cargoi fleets cannot take any more. Shipping can only be done on fuel, and fuel prices are expected to rise big time due to oil depletion. The energy costs are enormous.

All SOUND best practice counsel to developed and developing nations is to BET THEIR FOOD INDUSTRY on REGIONAL MARKETS to ensure stability, food quality, reduce production costs, minimise energy waste etc.

I can hardly see the amplification of global food transports as a solution for the 21st Century. I cannot see sweat shop work on corporate farms producing genetically altered broccoli for Europe in Africa as a solution for the local African populations either. It will affect the culture, the food culture, and not bring about prosperity.

THESE ARE SOME PERSPECTIVES ON THIS MEGA ISSUE that I have nowehere yet seen answered.

I would HIGHLY appreciate if the advocates or non-advocates of the "EU-barrier-lift as a major global panacea" sent me some information and solutions on this. I do not believe the issue is seen HOLISTIC ENOUGH. We do not need SHORT TERM MAYBE-Solutions but real ones that WORK.

Sincerely,
Eric Schneider

So many things to say to that. But time is a luxury now.

If you have a response you'd like to post to the same forum this came from: youthactionforchange [at] yahoogroups.com

ps. ideas for speech have been totally changed. I'm scrapping SE Asia altogether, and focusing on Singapore. Will be much less academic, much more narrative. But I have less than 24 hours to submit. Gotta get cracking (haven't started actually writing!).

Technorati: agriculture, WTO, trade, trade justice

damn SEA democracy!

2005-11-29T13:50:00.000+11:00

Rant rant rant.

I have been thinking talking breathing nothing but democracy and civil rights in SE Asia for the past week (only?!) and I am going rather batty.

Conversations with Yawningbread, Chong Kee, Samydorai, Mina Roces and others - and tab-saturated window upon window (nevermind if you're not a mac user) - are swimming around in my rapidly burning-out dendrites... gah.

See, I actually thought I was going somewhere when I had identified 4 key ideas I wanted to talk about --

Asian values / Confucianism

Power concentration in corporations

Democracy as a means to development

Implications on the SEA civil rights experience on global democracy

And now it seems I need to scrap 3 and talk about 1. ONE.

And I can't choose.

Some of you are going to get batty emails from me soon. (Don't mind me.)

Police brutality in Azerbaijan

2005-11-28T04:13:00.000+11:00

On behalf of a friend.

Brazil, baby!

2005-11-26T18:18:00.000+11:00

For those who don't yet know - I'll be going to Brazil next month!

It's for a conference on democracy and political participation. And ... I'll be speaking (!).

The topic is human rights and economic development. More specifically, a critique of the argument that civil rights should be suppressed for the sake of economic development, in the context of SE Asia. To grotesquely over-simplify, think LKY vs Amartya Sen. (Wouldn't I love to put the both of them in a room.)

I'm rather nervous, this being my first major speaking engagement - and on such a scale. It doesn't help that I'm speaking next to a Harvard academic and a World Bank consultant, or that my speech could potentially bring me libel threats, detention and/or other such whimsical treats from our grand Party.

Currently putting my speech together, so if you want to share with me your burning thoughts/input on the topic, send them merrily along to ipanema.garota [at] gmail.com .

Technorati: democracy, youth, civil rights, Southeast Asia

Peace and Conflict

2005-11-25T12:43:00.000+11:00

Was just doing a bit of prep reading on the above topic before the World Bank video conference in less than an hour, and came across this powerful para I feel compelled to share - which happens to be the opening to the UNESCO Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy:

wtf, WTO?

2005-11-24T00:18:00.000+11:00

The upcoming WTO meet in Hong Kong is set to be a monumental moment for developed world leaders to lift millions in developing countries out of poverty.

So far, progress has not been good: the EU's impressive proposal to cut EU farm subsidies by almost half has been met with acrimony from French farmers, who are proving to have quite a hold over Chiraq in the wake of racial riots just weeks before.

I feel so.. exasperated. This is a really important opportunity for the major trade blocs - EU, US, Japan - to make good with trade reform to do some kickAAS good for developing world agriculture.

In fact, it's probably greater access of agriculture to overseas markets that would be worth more to regions like Africa, than the doubling of aid and increased debt relief agreed by the G8 nations.

But of course politicians like to look like heroes when they talk about debt cancellation. So generous.

Still, I'm glad for folks like Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner and Rob Portman, US trade rep - who are showing good value on (respectively) advocating agri subsidy cuts, and emphasising the importance of breaking through the agri deadlock in order for talks to progress on other issues.

For the moment, to quote Oxfam's Phil Bloomer, "It's outrageous that Europe is trying to blame developing countries for the impasse when all they are doing is standing firm on essential reforms they were promised four years ago."

The thing with trade justice is, rich world leaders need to see that getting rid of subsidies isn't just being magnanimous to developing countries: it is really in their own interests when resources - like the billions in subsidies (30% of OECD agri spending!) - can be freed up for more productive uses where there is comparative advantage.

Also! It's just silly to spend so much on an industry that would thrive so much better in more suitable climates, creating loads of jobs at the same time. I leave you with a great para from Guardian's fair trade special report:

The trouble with trade talks is they rarely make headlines, except when there is a crisis. Many people find the subject tedious and complex. They should not. The issue is simple: it is immoral, and economic madness, to give (as the US does) huge subsidies to farmers to grow cotton, a labour intensive activity that could generate millions of jobs in Africa; also to grow sugar beet in Europe rather than in more favourable climates; and for Europe to subsidise cows by over $2 a day - a larger sum than half the world's human population lives on.

Check out also:

The Free Trade myth - from maketradefair.com

Guardian's collection of special reports on fair trade

Technorati: WTO, agriculture, trade, trade justice

Dancing Rabbit

2005-11-23T14:28:00.000+11:00

- the name of the eco-village and site of season finale of 30 Days.

I thought it was ingenious. Getting two of your average ravenously cosuming (not that I claim not to) Americans and look at sustainability from their eyes.

Extra at City Extra

2005-11-14T16:51:00.000+11:00

Few nights ago, I was out having a late night supper at City Extra at Circular Quay.

In between talkative bites of my chicken panini, J pointed out a middle-aged guy sitting in the open-air area on the other side of the glass, alone. J's assessment of the guy was, "homeless": raggedy clothes, unkempt hair, tattered rucksack, staring blankly at food.

Damaged Goods

2005-11-08T15:54:00.000+11:00

I was touched by a poem I received in an email today.

Poem by Survivor of Trafficking

Trafficking - "Damaged Goods"

When the word "Damaged Goods," enters my mind,
I think of items being returned,
Mainly, shattered products,
Unable to bring a profit to the company . . .

Straight outta Castro

2005-11-07T00:52:00.000+11:00

I loved loved loved this week's episode of 30 Days.

It was the beautiful creation of the Gay/Straight Alliance, so to speak.

Transition to Citizenship

2005-11-03T01:44:00.000+11:00

Doesn't sound mersmerisingly creative, but that's this (penultimate) week's theme of the World Bank's WDR07¹ youth consultations.

Just sent off my contribution for the week, and thought it might be worth sticking it up here.

***

> 1. As a young person how do you wish to be involved and participate in
> public activities, including governance, decision-making and policy-making?
> What hindrances do you face when trying to participate in political and
> social life? How can you overcome them?

The first instinct would be to say "youth consultation". I think this mechanism has been practiced in several European and North American countries, and Singapore has also emulated it in recent years.

However, no matter which region you come from, there is the risk that (depending on the politicians directing the consultations) this becomes a tokenistic exercise. That is, to hold youth consultation for the sake of telling the press "we consult our youth on policy" rather than actually listening to us. This is where I think accountability measures need to be put in place, and more strongly enforced where they already exist. Like, you've consulted your youth - so what? Is there anything to show that youth concerns are being incorporated in national strategies? This is what I mean by accountability.

One way of ensuring ongoing youth input to policy-level decision-making is by formalising youth input into consulation mechanisms, this way, it is not only at the intelligence-gathering level that youth are allowed to speak, but further into formulation and perhaps even recommendations on policy text. But this is just one example - other areas of decision-making could also likewise formalise the structures for youth involvement.

Apart from tokenism from government, another 3 obstacles which have been mentioned are negative attitudes towards youth credibility, power-hungriness of authorities, and apathy from our own peers. The point I wanted to highlight was youth apathy.

I think there is somehting youth can do to target all 3 obstacles, and that is: to coordinate ourselves in an organised manner. And that must start by targeting youth apathy. By joining youth organisations and movements, we are adding our voice to the body that demands attention to youth concerns. It is only through numbers that we can build clout - Masahiko-chan has alluded to this. Sometimes, undemocratic governments will try to ignore us, but it does not change the fact that we are often more than 40% of the population. How does a nation ignore almost half of the country?

Also, being organised is very effective for building legitimacy in the public opinion; when they see that youth really care about certain issues, and are willing to put in time and effort for their cause, it develops a credibility that is hard to ignore.

> 2. What Practical solutions do you have for the problems experienced? How do
> you view ICTs as tools of transition to citizenship?

I've suggested some solutions above; as for ICTs - it is certainly very important and is crucial for democracy and e-governance. I don't need to list the obvious cost and outreach benefits of ICTs, but what I will raise is the reminder that a lot of our rural peers do not have such a luxury. In this regard, further investment in ICT infrastructure is necessary for greater youth participation and a stronger democracy.

Another consideration, even if ICT investment is increased, is the issue of censorship. Certain Asian countries (I will not name) practice censorship of varying degrees, and these tend also to have less-than-excellent civil rights records. So then it is important to think beyond ICT when organising a youth voice, and be creative in pushing the boundaries in our respective societies for more political freedom. (Of course this is easier said than done.)

> 4. Do you trust your government? How would you like it to be run? How would
> you like to be involved in governance? What changes would your like to see
> your government carry out?

I could be put in jail for answering this question in Singapore! Seriously though, I trust that my government - I say this with much generalisation and MUCH reservation - wants the best for my country. However there are issues with distribution of power, and the only one ruling party that has ever run Singapore is unwilling to yield to "western" democratic practices, decrying it as westernisation in a culturally negative way.

I would like my govt to be more democratic and transparent. I want my country's leaders to be accountable to the people, and to actually genuinely consult public opinion on all issues possible. I would like to be involved in advocating youth priorities in various issues in ways that the govt takes seriously and actually values (yes, I am idealistic). Finally, I would like them to respect fundamental civil and political rights to free expression. This is my dream. (And I'll keep dreaming as long as it takes!)

> 3. As a citizen do you believe that it is justifiable to use violence to
> achieve political or social goals? What other responsible options are
> available to you? Do they work?

No. At no point do I feel there exists any justification for violence to achieve political or social goals. If for whatever cause you may think is noble, you end up betraying peace itself and harm other fellow human beings, then (I feel) you have really lost the plot.

Other responsible options? I think this is very culture- and context- dependent. For example in developed nations I would say that creative non-violent street theatre may be a creative way of working towards certain goals, whereas in others, there may need to be a lot more effort and time invested into grassroots education and mobilising, peer-to-peer/community awareness campaigns that take time to build - and to see any difference.

> 5. Do you believe you are a full citizen of your country? How do you
> participate in your country's affairs? Do you belong to any forums?

I do believe I am a full citizen of my country - because I love Singapore. Yet I do not know if Singapore loves me. This is actually a sentiment of many Singapore youth who have gone overseas to study - they are more vocal on political/social issues but the govt does not like that because it "disrupts the peace and internal security of the country".

As for participation in country affairs, I was involved in Singapore's landmark youth consultation exercise, where some youth recommendations were actually implemented (of course none of it had to do with civil rights). I am also currently setting up a Singapore youth Council to represent and advocate for the voice of Singapore youth, in policy matters. Wish me luck!

¹ World Development Report 2007

Technorati: World Bank, youth, development, civil liberties

It's all relative

2005-11-02T00:30:00.000+11:00

My dear friend Vince, on the powers of the World Bank. It's a hoot.

***

vincent says: (6:18:45 PM)
   world bank balddy broke lah.

garota says: (6:19:06 PM)
   lol

garota says: (6:19:14 PM)
   yeah, that's a new one

garota says: (6:19:34 PM)
   but it's all specific to development issues

garota says: (6:19:42 PM)
   like we're not aiming to cover everything to do with youth

garota says: (6:19:52 PM)
   just youth in developemnt strategies

vincent says: (6:19:43 PM)
   take 2 percent of exxonmobil 3rd qtr profits and give paktistians and bladdy UN they wont have to keep begging

garota says: (6:20:14 PM)
   lol!!!

garota says: (6:20:19 PM)
   that cracks me up

vincent says: (6:20:36 PM)
   totally Fuck them...exxonmobil execs..go to hell..and i mean it

vincent says: (6:21:06 PM)
   FUCK THEM!!!! ..just piss me offf....

garota says: (6:21:12 PM)
   lol

vincent says: (6:21:17 PM)
   waw..feel better..haha..no lor..seriouslly..

vincent says: (6:21:58 PM)
   100 billion in 3rd qtr profits....! riduclous...

vincent says: (6:22:14 PM)
   anywayz....lost focus...sorry carried away

garota says: (6:23:03 PM)
   no worries man

vincent says: (6:24:07 PM)
   like everywhere.....in the business times...and some freaking execs came out and said .... there's nothing wrong with making profits...

garota says: (6:24:18 PM)
   wah

vincent says: (6:24:25 PM)
   its bush lor...

garota says: (6:24:26 PM)
   do they do anything good with the profits

garota says: (6:24:31 PM)
   like any community program

garota says: (6:24:34 PM)
   CSR

vincent says: (6:25:04 PM)
   probably....like they have good coporate citizenship or some crap like tht lah..

vincent says: (6:25:24 PM)
   come on!!!.no matter how good a coporate zitizen you are....

vincent says: (6:26:17 PM)
   when your 3rd qtr profits are more than the arab nations GDP combine...you are MORE than just a good coporate citizen lor..

vincent says: (6:27:05 PM)
   and thts all in a short span of 3 months...every month you report NET earnings of 35 USD billion..

garota says: (6:27:28 PM)
   hmm

vincent says: (6:27:33 PM)
   can solved alot of world problems know....

garota says: (6:27:34 PM)
   that is so much money

vincent says: (6:27:43 PM)
   buy aids viaacine..for 2-3 yrs..

garota says: (6:27:55 PM)
   it's a bit obscene - would be so good if they had decided to put (more of) it to good use

vincent says: (6:28:29 PM)
   clear combodia of landmines FREAKING entirely

vincent says: (6:28:29 PM)
   it wont......it'll be used to build more oil rigs and exploration projects.

garota says: (6:28:43 PM)
   aegh

garota says: (6:28:46 PM)
   THAT pisses me off

vincent says: (6:29:02 PM)
   even if they pump 400million..say.....to do community projects etc....thts like shit lor

vincent says: (6:29:18 PM)
   thts y i say world bank is bladdy broke

PYEN launched

2005-10-30T23:52:00.000+11:00

The UN Environment Program's (UNEP) Pacific Youth Environment Network (PYEN) conference this week was a fantastic learning experience.

[Ed: You might need to click on the timestamp; for some reason this one's not cooperating.]

It was a small conference, with about 30-40 delegates from the Pacific - comprising about 22 island states if I'm not wrong. But the breadth of the issues covered did a fine job of opening my eyes to the tip of the iceberg that is environmental sustainability. (yes, just *had* to use an environmental metaphor.)

In particular, I really liked Stuart Hill's presentation on practical strategies for progress. [conference program here.] It's the little steps, and touching your immediate sphere of influence, often, that is really what carries a ripple effect to a broader platform. But this sounds cheesy for anyone who didn't hear him speak. Still - I appreciated his underdog-made-good story, with plenty of inspiring examples of practical nuggets for social change.

It was amazing to meet all the Pacific-ers doing the good work they're doing in their beautiful islands. Their dedication to environmental progress is really something else. Being in constant contact with them for 3 days, talking about all the projects they were involved in - from biodiversity to clean energy to ecological footprints - you can imagine what a powerful experience that was, for a person attending her first environmental conference ever. (I know, shame!)

It got my reminiscing about my time with Greenpeace as a frontline campaigner, yonks back. Hi there! Do you know much about whaling and how that impacts on the environment? .. And this is what Greenpeace is doing about it.. Fond memories of learning, of abuse and developing the thick skin I'm now blessed with, and of greenie hippy tree-hugging pot-smoking friends! Go the stereotypes.

Did you know? Tonga, consisting of about 150 little islands, has only 2 of them with electricity. It jolted in me an appreciation of the conditions under which these determined people are trying to make change - that my ignorance had precluded me from before.

And... as it turns out with most things I come into mere contact with, I got roped in. This time, to help coordinate the inaugural Issues Paper for PYEN, which is going to be used as a tool to lobby governments and inter-governmental bodies (like SPREP) on environmental issues in the Pacific, from a youth perspective. It's a first for Pacific Youth, and a big task - but we have a great team, and I'm confident that everyone's gonna put in great content that will make it a fantastic paper (with clout!).

A highlight (other than my newfound Pacific friends) was getting to meet Surendra Shrestha, director of UNEP Asia-Pacific. It was even luckier still, being an ASEAN observer at PYEN - thus not being a particularly relevant person there - that I managed to squeeze in a brief chat with him about my ASEAN project. (Sorry, can't divulge anything yet.) And he's offered to hook me up with relevant people in UNDP (!!) - so I need to get cracking on my concept paper so he can look over it.

I'll remember this week for some time to come. (Will put up cool pics here!)

And in the spirit of learning and sharing:

UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)

Agenda 21

UNEP TUNZA for Youth

UN & Civil Society

Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future

Greenpeace International - campaigns

Technorati: UN, environment, Pacific, youth

Shipwrecked

2005-10-27T18:47:00.000+10:00

- the GOP, that is.

How coincidental it was, that, right after Paul O'Neill - former Secretary of the Treasury - had his candid assessment of Bush published in The Price of Loyalty, he got accussed of leaking classified information. Which had the desired effect of silencing him.

PYEN in the Pac

2005-10-26T23:19:00.000+10:00

Just a quick drop in - am tied up this week with a conference.

Muy interesante. Tell more after I get some decent sleep later this week. Rushing a proposal for big time money too.

Later

What academic freedom?

2005-10-23T10:01:00.000+10:00

A wake-up call, is all I'm hoping this signifies.

Thanks to Adrian (and earlier, Beach-yi) for tip-offs.

Mr T says: Singapore's academic freedom must evolve - Reuters 22 Oct

Earlier this week the University of Warwick, which was most recently ranked eighth among British universities in The Times Good University Guide, abandoned plans to set up a campus in the state, citing concerns over academic freedom.

Apparently, our freedom rating of 147 (out of 167 countries) leaves us behind Afghanistan (97), Sudan (132) and Uzbekistan (142). It's painfully funny - no, wait - just painful.

Technorati: freedom, civil liberties, Singapore, higher education

MakingPovertyHistory

2005-10-23T03:48:00.000+10:00

It's been just everywhere! - TV, posters, magazines, a huge rally in Edinburgh, and tons, and tons, of websites - so what's the deal with making poverty history anyway?

Equality in Australian Defence Forces

2005-10-22T03:10:00.000+10:00

Yet another victory!

Congratulations to all who were responsible for this faboulous, significant development!!

Previously dogs had more rights in the Australian Defence Force than partners of same-sex couples. For example dogs were allocated relocation funds when their owner had to move to another state, however partners of same-sex couples were not given such funds, unlike heterosexual partners. Same-sex partners would also not be automatically notified if their partners were killed in battle and they were also not eligible for the war pension. This has all changed on Friday 21 October 2005!!

More in this AAP article. [21 Oct 7:24pm]

Technorati: gay, GLBT, Australia, military

Heit and Hype

2005-10-20T23:31:00.000+10:00

Finally caught the fantastic double bill of Fahrenheit and FahrenHype 911, thanks to Young Liberals (!) at Sydney Uni.

I don't want to give a blow-by-blow analysis of the movies, but I will say what issues stuck out, for me:

UnRavelling

2005-10-19T07:49:00.000+10:00

Last night I caught the UNSW Orchestra's performance of Grieg's Morgenstimmung, conducted by Colin Piper, and Ravel's Piano Concerto, conducted by Steven Hillinger.

Living on Minimum Wage

2005-10-18T23:57:00.000+10:00

No, I wasn't referring to myself. Lol.

Last week I watched the Australian premiere of Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days: the first episode was on minimum wage.

NLC: 20 years

2005-10-13T04:49:00.000+10:00

The National Convenor of my beloved NLC (National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia) delivers the following speech at the 2005 IDP Australian International Education Conference in Gold Coast, Queensland. One of the better ones from student activists, if I might say so myself.

Update: The speech yesterday ended up being a catalyst to a senate enquiry into the ESOS amendments. The vote on ESOS legislation is also off the table for now. Woooot!!

ON behalf of the National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia, I would like to thank IDP and AEI for the opportunity to address the conference today.

NLC, since its inception, has had a close working relationship with industry groups and government bodies, seeking the betterment of international education in Australia, not just for the students, but the industry as a whole.

For those of you unfamiliar with our organisation, it might surprise you that we are as old as this industry, having grown from the student movement against the Australian Government's introduction of the Full-fee international student program back in 1986. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to continue our mission to seek excellence in the quality of education and equitable welfare for international students in Australia. With many of our policies now having been adopted either through legislation or institutional and government policies, NLC continues to strive to improve the student experience.

The National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia is recognised by industry and government as the peak body for international students in Australia. We draw our membership from international student organisations from across the country, with branches in Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territories.

Having recently celebrated our 20th anniversary conference in July this year, today, I would like to share with you NLC's vision for international education in the next twenty years.

Aristotle once said "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet". These days, as an international student in Australia, I can tell that it is as bitter as it can get.

After years of lobbying for greater intervention in the processing of visa cancellations due to errors in the department, we find that the adamant denials of fault by DIMIA in the past are but one of many schizophrenic personalities that the Australian Government has adopted for their face of international education. The question we have to ask is, without student organisations such as the NLC, who will speak for those who have been prejudiced by a system that on the one hand seem to open its arms widely to welcome them, and on the other, seeking opportunities to keep them out?

Yet, today, while I am here speaking to you about what international students would like to see for international education in the next twenty years, my fellow international students, while juggling full-time studies, are desperately fighting to ensure that student organisations such as NLC, and our membership constituents continue to exist beyond 2006. We had a brief moment of happiness this morning with reports of Senator Barnaby Joyce crossing the floor on this issue. But we are not rejoicing yet, as this government has had VSU on its radar since its parliamentary members were student politicians themselves, and as the news cycle unfolds today, we will be hearing more from their misplaced determination to get this legislation through.

In 2003, the Australian Government introduced a $113million package to strengthen International Education in Australia. NLC congratulated the minister and DEST in recognising quality assurance, not just of the
in-country activities of institutions, but also the offshore delivery of institutional programs, as a key issue that needed urgent attention.

While going across our archives since I came into office, I discovered a discussion paper prepared by NLC back in 1986. In it, it predicted quite accurately, a future of international education in Australia as a commodity, and educational institutions prepared to discount the quality of education in favour of the economic benefits reaped through the minimisation of institutional assets.

As you can see, the international education package was, in fact, the gift on a silver platter that NLC has been lobbying for since our existence. It represented a policy shift from the economics of international education to the institutional, social and cultural benefits that can be gained from the program.

Over the years, international students have had to suffer the burden of fee increases. In today's world of the free economy, where the consumer is king, one would assume that the ability to vote with one's feet is paramount in the church of corporate globalisation, the Australian Government, in 2000, at the insistence of industry groups fearing the "poaching of students, introduced a $120 fee for students who wish to transfer to another education provider, in addition to a letter expressing the current provider's permission for the student to transfer courses and a twelve month freeze on the ability for a student to attempt such a transfer. Many students, having found themselves stuck in an institution that were not meeting their expectations, unable to transfer to an alternate education provider in Australia.

It is taught in the schools of marketing and commerce that the monetary value of a product is a reflection of the quality and prestige of the product that you buy. No sane individual, having lived in this, the age of consumerism would part with money enough to buy a Bentley be satisfied with just a humble Toyota. Yet, in Australia, it seems that the Government, and education providers want prospective international students to believe that they are paying for Holden HSVs - not quite a Bentley, but enough bells and whistles to be priced above Toyota.

Every year, international students face a fee increase. Some educational institutions have publicly attributed it towards spiraling costs, others have been more honest in acknowledging that price sells. But everybody is in the same state of denial that the ability of an institution to deliver the same level of quality it did ten years ago, has vastly been deprived.

The total contribution the Commonwealth made to universities core operating costs is $4.9 billion. This funding represents 41 per cent of university funding, which is a drop from 57 per cent in 1996. Since 1996 fees and charges have risen from 13 per cent to 22 per cent and that the amount of funding obtained through HECS has risen from 12 per cent in 1996 to 16 per cent in 2003 (prior the last round of HECS increases). Total student financial contribution had risen from 25% to 38% over 1996 - 2003.

As the fees are increased, and Federal funding diminished, class sizes seem to increase exponentially, the cohort of full-time academic staff decrease, libraries cancelling journal subscriptions, international students around the country are asking what is the value of education I am paying for?

Ladies and gentleman, I am an international student. I've paid for what I thought was a HSV and got a lemon.

IDP, and the Australian Government, and many members of the Australian International Education industry want us to believe that Australia has the ability to provide quality education, and is in the same league as its global competition. So let us have a look at what some of the competition has.

Cambridge University, with a student cohort of about 16,500 students, 11,600 who are undergrads, and 5000 graduate students, of which 17% are international, operates from an endowment worth £2.7 billion ($6.4 billion Australian dollars) is embarking on an effort to raise a further £1 billion by 2012, and is currently operating with a deficit of £10.5million (or $24 million Australian dollars)

Harvard University, with a student cohort of about 19,700 students, 6,500 who are undergrads, and 12,200 graduate students, of which 17% are international, operates from an endowment worth USD$22.6billion ($30billion Australian dollars).

On some campuses in Australia, international students outnumber domestic students, comprising of up to 35% of student cohort. The current total contribution the Australian Government made to universities core operating costs is $4.9 billion. This funding represents 41 per cent of university funding, which is a drop from 57 per cent in 1996. Since 1996 fees and charges have risen from 13 per cent to 22 per cent and that the amount of funding obtained through HECS has risen from 12 per cent in 1996 to 16 per cent in 2003 (prior the last round of HECS increases). Total student financial contribution had risen from 25% to 38% over 1996 - 2003. As you can see, Australian
The industry has, for many years, prided themselves with the phrase "bigger than wheat, not as big as wool". Today, it is bigger than wheat and wool, with the $5.6billion of revenue that international students contribute to the system.

As an international student, I have to ask myself. Why is it I seem to be paying more every year, but am getting less each year?

$5.6billion is alot to crow about, but, comparing it with the competition, the annual combined revenue is not quite the value of the endowments each institution is operating from.

The Australian Government and the International education industry cannot continue to live with the illusion that international students are economic cows with an infinite supply of milk. In order to produce milk, cows need to be fed. Just because international students provide $5.6billion of revenue doesn't mean that institutional funding can be diminished. The less feed you provide, the less milk will be produced.

Ladies and gentleman, I promised you, at the beginning of this presentation, that I will be sharing with you NLC's vision of the next twenty years. So far, I have been digging up alot of the past. Rest assured, before we leave this room today, this promise will be kept. However, I cannot talk about the future, when NLC's presence at this conference next year is currently at stake. Having been participating in every conference since the Australian international education conference was first convened, NLC has had the opportunity to interact with industry, government and institutional representatives, and in our own little way, contribute to the shape of international education in Australia. For nineteen of our twenty years of existence, we have made many positive contributions to this conference. My fear, however, is that we may not exist after December this year.

If you have been following the news, the Australian Government has introduced the Anti Student Organisations legislation or commonly known as VSU "Voluntary Student Unionism". In an amendment to the Higher Education Act, the Minister has instituted measures preventing universities from the collection of fees that do not directly contribute towards academic activities.

You probably have heard from Universities, Sporting Institutions, Churches, community groups, local representatives from rural communities and of course, the students on the negative impact of such a legislation.

The NLC, is naturally, in opposition to such a legislation. While we have been known in the past to be sensitive to fee fluctuations and additional costs, this is a legislation that we cannot bring ourselves to support.
Policy makers in Canberra are obsessed with the concept of outcomes based education. Will students get jobs when they graduate? Will the degree they possess equip them with skills that employers want?

These policy makers seem to have forgotten that the University is not just a piece of land where buildings exist for individuals to join a production line where after a certain accumulation of said skills, emerge from buildings clothed in a gown and armed with a piece of paper that bestows a qualification. We have factories and sweat shops for that.

This piece of legislation intends to eliminate the student's contribution towards sporting facilities, cultural events, community building, welfare and support services on campus. Without these, the soul of the university, what difference is there between a university and a factory?

The University is about a community of individuals exchanging ideas and imagining the future. By eliminating the fees that goes to support community that is the university, this government is depriving the universities of its soul.

The Australian Government, however, doesn't just want to eliminate the student's contribution to the soul of the universities, it intends to create a divide between domestic students and international students by legislating for the ability to collect non-academic fees from international students for the provision of services listed in the National Code. This was done without much fanfare through an amendment in the ESOS legislation.

At first glance, it may seem an adequate compromise. How are universities able to provide for a legislated list of services without funding? However, the plot is more sinister than it seems, especially when the minister and his spokespeople have questioned "is the Labor Party seriously suggesting Australian students need to subsidise the activities for international students that the universities are meant to be providing?¹

Perhaps the Minister and his aides have not been doing their homework, or this is a serious case of a red herring.

I hope that there is a representative from DEST in this room, and that you will convey the following information that I will be sharing with you in the next slide with the minister.

As you can see from the slide, taken from sample universities across the country, that there is a significant difference between the fees that international students and domestic students. If the minister is suggesting that international students do not currently already pay for the services that have been legislated for, he is very mistaken.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Melbourne University for doing the right thing and not charging any additional fees to international students. At the same time, I would like to make a plea to the University of Queensland to do the right thing. International Students are UQ are already paying for services in their fees. Do not charge us additional fees unless you intend to make it a universal fee for all students at UQ.

I would like to invite the Minister (or his representative) to be honest with us on the ESOS legislation amendments. Was the amendment introduced to allow universities to continue its current operations, or was it to allow universities to to impose an additional fee only for international students.

Lets look at the list of services that the Universities have to provide under the National Code of Practise. As you can see, many of these services are required by all students, international or domestic.

Perhaps the question we need ask the minister :"is the Liberal Party seriously suggesting International Students need to subsidise the activites for domestic students that the universities are meant to be providing?"

As I am making this presentation, the amendments to the ESOS legislation to introduce the ability for universities to collect an additional fee from international students is currently sitting on the parliamentary agenda, and there will probably be a vote today. Considering that international students in this country are of little significance to the politicians of in Australia as we do not carry any votes, this myopic amendment will probably pass.

While the rest of the student population are holding their breath in anticipation of the shape the VSU legislation will be in after negotiations within the governing coalition, international students will see a new tax adding to the financial burden of studying in Australia by the end of today.

So let me return to my promise to share with you the vision that NLC has for international education in Australia in the next twenty years.

First of all, even though we are facing extinction in the next three months, I hope that in the next twenty years, NLC will continue to play its role in the shaping of international education in Australia.

We hope that Universities will be funded to a level where it is no longer reliant on the international student population to provide revenue for their continued existence.

We hope that the Australian Government will not hold university funding at hostage with thier ideological beliefs.

We hope that class sizes and student:staff ratios are kept reasonably small.

We hope that the continued existence of university departments (especially in Arts) will not be subject to economic rationalisation.

And, finally, we hope that being an international student in Australia actually means that we get to interact with Australian students, whether in class our out.

With all these bitterness, I hope the fruit of education will truly be sweet.

If we are here again next year, you will know we achieved some success. Otherwise, it has been an enjoyable journey, this last twenty years.

Thank You.

Technorati: international education, Australia, higher education

VSU BLOCKED!

2005-10-12T08:20:00.000+10:00

The Federal Government appears set to abandon its proposal to ban compulsory student unionism from next year in the face of unbending opposition from key Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce.

Education Minister Brendan Nelson has conceded he may have to postpone the controversial changes because the legislation may not be passed in time for the 2006 academic year.
...
The VSU laws have met concerted opposition from universities, students and opposition political parties, while dividing the federal Coalition.

- Age 12 Oct

The answer to cynics skeptical of the power of a united student movement.

Soak in the victory, comrades.

Technorati: Australia, higher education, VSU, students

Staggering (again)

2005-10-12T05:22:00.000+10:00

A confluence of personal and professional happenings dictates that I stagger my postings for the next .. I dunno, month or so. (That duration is totally arbitrary, by the way. You'll see.)

And of course, the fact that I'm also in need of gummy berry blog juice top-up.

Make this open thread a currant one. (Couldn't resist! Lol.)

Big(ger) joys

2005-10-08T20:59:00.000+10:00

In terms of the youth agenda, the 60^th General Assembly on the WPAY+10¹ took a big dip earlier on the last day. The UK youth delegate [name witheld] delivering their statement - on behalf of the flippin EU - made absolutely no mention of the Policy Document, no mention about Youth-Led Development (YLD), nothing about anything of youth in the achivement of the Millennium Development Goals.

He also praised UNICEF's work, which is astounding considering UNICEF confesses to, in David's (Peace Child International) words, "do nothing for youth, only young children".

I felt, quite honestly, betrayed - as did David, and the rest of the YLD team.

To think I had helped him prepare for his role before he left for NY, in the few MSN conversations we had, when he was just absolutely clueless (if I may say so myself).

BUT.

After.

Oh. My. Gosh.

The Youth Resolution A/60/L.2 was passed.

The final draft included not one - but three - clauses on youth and development. My team had helped draft para 3:

Calls upon Governments, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations to develop strong partnerships to scale up investments in youth and to encourage youth-led contributions to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, in particular those contained in the Millennium Declaration;

But it turns out that the youth delegates in NY went even further than what we negotiated for, and included in paras 4 and 14:

Urges Governments, in consultation with youth organizations, to develop holistic and integrated youth policies based on the World Programme of Action for Youth and to evaluate them regularly as part of the follow-up action on and implementation of the World Programme of Action;

Requests the Secretariat, in collaboration with other relevant United Nations programmes and agencies, to establish a broad set of indicators related to youth, which Governments and other actors may choose to use to measure progress towards the implementation of the World Programme of Action;

The (rest of the) youth delegates' speeches, too, were amazing (those whose countries let them deliver their country statements anyway).

Hanna (Sweden) did a double-act with her minister, and her speech started with these words:

Imagine a world where youth have confidence in the future into which they are growing up; imagine a world where the voices of youth are heard and count; imagine a world where youth get to get their ideas on the statute book - we are moving towards such a world in Sweden...

And Thomas! Thomas' (Ghana) statement made possibly the strongest, most explicit reference to YLD as he closed his speech:

Ghana strongly supports Youth-Led Development and argues that there should be strong partnerships between youthful zeal and the experience of elders...

All the crazy negotiations and lobbying of the last few weeks paid off.

David, who was there to witness the proceedings, left in his email words that give me some reason for hope.

Now that the Secretariat has been "instructed" to create disaggregated indicators for youth - no longer can people like Hilary Benn say that youth is not a separate sector. And the stuff about scaling up youth-led contributions is brilliant. So all is not lost, my friend. With youth like Eric and Sania and Thomas speaking as well as they did - it was an impressive session. One that will live in the UN's institutional memory.

I could almost cry.

Technorati: United Nations, youth, MDG
¹10-year review on the UN World Program of Action for Youth

Little joys

2005-10-08T01:31:00.000+10:00

Alright, alright. Something to let y'all know I'm still alive. And to say thank you for the emails texts and comments after the last post. *big hugs*

I did get my fair share of little joys of the last month to pull my chin up. I just took a while to take it all in, and see it.

3 new friendships formed, 2 old ones refreshed, and one special one lost - or so I despaired - then found.

A boost of inspiration, and a shot of clarity, for my way-too-ambitious projects. All 3 of them.

Also, on wednesday, a really heartwarming show of support and conviction to do something right about the human wrongs in Australia. I am particularly excited because this campaign is uncannily similar to an idea I've had, for Singapore, for a coupla years now. And I will be following this project very, very carefully - if I can even keep my paws off the campaign committee to begin with. Lol. I highly recommend all to check this out.

And, on a more frivolous note! Stumbled on this somewhat random, logically flaw-riddled, but nontheless thought-provoking clip on albinoblacksheep.com: perspectives on life, death, war, peace, humanity. Watch and tell me what you think.

sluggish

2005-10-02T18:29:00.000+10:00

trés fatigué.

low on sleep, system, and most of all - spirit.

will try to rummage around dusty corners of the house, or the obscure recesses of my being, for ambers.

meanwhile... whatever.

Narky networking and other rants

2005-09-28T03:39:00.000+10:00

Canberra was good.

Made some really good contacts, like former head of Contact Singapore (Sydney) Robert Tay, Singapore International Foundation Honourary Student Councillor Martin Gomes, a bunch of Queensland-based Singapore Student Association presidents, High Commission First Secretary Peter Kong, and the High Commissioner Joseph Koh himself. Gotta say, after meeting Mr Koh, I just can't bring myself to call him His Excellency. (Of course I meant that in terms of calling him Uncle instead. :P)

I didn't manage to capture much of their attention on Youth-Led Development, unfortunately - but it was a funny contrast to see them all rapt by my Singapore peak body idea. (I apologise for being unable to elaborate on the peak body at this point, as it's way too early days to disclose anything here.) I was surprised by the amount of interest they took in it - coming up to me to chat specifically about it after - although an earlier conversation with someone familiar with them alerted me to the possibility of career-vested interests being a driving impetus.

What was interesting, nonetheless, was the fact that I could potentially get something to the tune of $65, 000 from Contact Singapore in seed funding to set up the peak body, if they like the proposal. However I am being cautiously calculated on whether or not to even seek this money, because of the possible loss of autonomy - which I am not prepared to let the organisation suffer.

In the coming weeks and months, lots of changes will be happening: setting up the official steering committee for the peak body's establishment; ceasing to be Australian and pledging by oath my allegiance to Singapore; writing stuff for Oxfam UK; finding out if I will be going to Kenya, Colombia, Thailand or wherever else for 6-12 months.

Feeling somewhat annoyed about being bogged down by stupid crap like graduation paperwork, chasing up the bank and Centrelink on money issues, and finding an authorised lawyer for my oath-taking.

Bah. Irritatis maximus. (Pardon my stream-of-consciousness ranting.)

I'm so glad there's the WPAY+10 strategising to keep me going.

Actually, while I'm at it - I might as well throw this one to the floor: how do you reckon Youth-Led Development can be incorporated in a Youth Resolution of the UN urging governments to enlarge the role of youth in national development and poverty reduction strategies? How would that text look like?

Bear in mind this is not a policy document, but a resolution which basically serves to affirm commitment rather than define how to implement it. So it doesn't need to have specific recommendations like you would see in a policy document.

We have until Oct 1 to negotiate text with the Portuguese mission facilitating the resolution drafting; gmail your ideas to ipanema.garota or comment on this space.

Off to Canberra

2005-09-24T12:17:00.001+10:00

Will be going to the Singapore High Commission for coupla days to talk to H.E. Mr Joseph Koh amid the hubbub of the 'Singapore Community Day' festivities. Am hoping to be able to squeeze in a bit of meaningful dialogue about Youth-Led Development and the policy document.

Am driving up with Sham, current President of the UNSW Singapore Students' Association. I know she's got her own agenda too - hope she lets me get some (time of day).

Probably be MIA for next coupla days. Seize this open thread - and have a fantabulous weekend people :)

ruff muakz

Ps. Interesting comments on the sedition post! Reply when I get back.

Sedition Elimination

2005-09-22T03:53:00.000+10:00

Of course this one couldn't go unmentioned.

3 Singaporean bloggers have been charged with making racist remarks online, under our Sedition Act.

The 57-year-old Act was passed in colonial times - I actually mean this literally - and is being applied this month for the first time in our nation's independence.

What I found disconcerting is the way the term 'sedition' has been used in the legislation, and the way the Act itself is being wielded in this case:

not

Sec. 3(1)(e)

state

Thing is, isn't it interesting that the authorities used the Sedition Act instead of, say, our constitutional provisions for anti-discrimination between races? Or indeed, as Mykel argues, other instruments such as the Undesirable Publications Act and MDA content regulations such as the Internet Code of Practice, among others.

I am compelled to infer that this use of the Sedition Act is, beyond an effort to regulate harmonious race relations, a symbolic message to the broader public on the state's power to quash dissenting - or, as I like to say, politically alternative - views, "where it may disrupt public order or national security" (and the like). Xenoboy has also alluded to this.

This bit on sedition in Wikipedia caught my eye:

..in societies where sedition laws exist the acts and behaviours which qualify are highly subjective, and typically left to the whims of state agents.

In an interesting twist, forum-ers in Singapore's GLBT internet community have tossed about the idea that this very Sedition Act could be used to "stop online homophobia in its tracks". By applying it against homophobic acts or speech that could "promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore", the hypothesis is that various expressions of homophobia could then be chargeable offenses.

It's a creative way (of trying) to put the police on our side, for once. The immediate question that arises, though, is the plausibility of classifying individuals of certain sexual orientation as a, well, class. Yawning Bread thinks this is possible.

I have concerns, however.

In trying to apply this Act to stop online homophobia, the implicit message of the state's omnipresent power to decide what can or cannot be said would be, by virtue, reinforced. In our well-learnt worldview of obedience to authority. This could bring about even more problems for free expression among the queer community than already need to be contended with.

Because of this, I think - in my humble, legally-uninformed opinion - it may actually be more useful to look at legislative anti-discrimination provisions rather than Acts like this one. It's not the first time I'm saying this either. (Can you believe there isn't even any anti-discrimination protection for gender! The shame.) Perhaps the law-trained among us may have more to say on all this.

[Ed: On gender discrimination protection, our accension to CEDAW¹ really needs to have bearing here. Ms Anamah Tan, are you reading this?]

***
In another case of extreme surveillance in our free and democratic ~~police~~ city state, Singaporean blogger Jacob George has been called - again, literally - regarding Singapore Rebel investigations. Because, apparently, individuals who have been in contact with Martyn via SMS should also become suspect - and therefore subject to investigations. Note that ASP Chan refused to disclose to Jacob George his means of obtaining his mobile number.

I close off with a beautiful summary of the state of affairs in the Singapore political climate:

Singapore's prime minister has acknowledged tensions over the country's tight controls on public speech and political activity, but defended the regulations as necessary to maintain order, a newspaper said yesterday.

- AP 20 Sept

We are an orderly, high-security society, aren't we.

CNA 16 Sept: Third person charged with sedition for racist remarks on blog site

Taipei Times 18 Sept: Singapore, Malaysia warn bloggers

CNA 21 Sept: Lawyers for two bloggers to try for reduced charges

Technorati: internet freedom, Singapore, media, sedition

¹The UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women

Spotlight: WPAY+10

2005-09-20T20:38:00.000+10:00

After the frenzy of the World Summit, we now turn our attention to the review of the World Program of Action for Youth (WPAY) which begins in 2 weeks in New York. This year marks the 10^th anniversary since it was adopted, and the WPAY+10 will evaluate its progress in that time.

The entire series of events linked to WPAY is going to be focused on youth - to state the obvious - and will be the perfect opportunity to put Youth-Led Development (YLD) more prominently on the international agenda for youth. And it looks like there's a good chance we just might be able to make that happen.

Our country director for Azerbaijan, who was (after much lobbying) placed as a youth delegate, has just received funding from his Youth Ministry to attend the WPAY+10 sessions. We want him to speak boldly on the policy document at the interactive roundtable discussions, for sure. What also really excites us is the possibility of him speaking at the plenary, typically reserved for official country delegations constituting people like Presidents and Foreign Ministers. We are currently working out the strategy for his position.

Another breakthrough: the youth delegates we have been corresponding with, who are in the youth caucus and will be working on the Youth Resolution, have agreed to write YLD into the Resolution. Got a copy of the advance unedited draft (in confidence - can't comment here); we are now negotiating mutually agreeable text that will fit nicely into it.

Now that the Summit has come and gone, though, I wonder if I had made a mistake focusing so much on the MDG+5 instead of the WPAY+10. Was there ever room for a truly significant impact on the General Assembly for the youth agenda, at a platform debating UN reform - one of the most dramatic since the organisation's inception - and broader MDG progress? I wonder.

But it's lucky - to understate - that we saw the opportunity in targeting the youth delegates, and started talking to them early, and got them warm to the whole idea of YLD. It was lucky that the policy document of the World Youth Congress gave us impetus to approach the youth delegates, with some measure of credibility. It was also lucky that the timing of the WPAY+10 gives us a window of opportunity to get potentially really concrete outcomes with the Resolution. At a forum that can actually give us time of day. I hope they do.

I'm amazed at how circumstantial so much of this work is. (And how tiring!)

But damn - I love this shit.

Technorati: UN, United Nations, youth, MDG

Yay

2005-09-19T16:56:00.000+10:00

After (for too long) feeling torn about a forced choice between practical benefits and "allegiance", and then frustrated by the anal single-citizenship-only policy of a particular small red dot, I finally spoke to DIMIA - and found out that renunciation of an Australian citizenship gives way to automatic permanent residency! Wooooot!!

Now. I just need to do it all by the September 30^th deadline that Singapore Immigration has given me.

Must. Stop. Procrastinating.

Howard's Democracy

2005-09-18T20:17:00.000+10:00

An email I received today on an issue I hadn't gotten around to earlier, that demands attention regardless.

[Ed: Scott Parkin has since been deported.]

If you've seen the media recently you have probably heard about the US Peace Activist that has been arrested in Melbourne by ASIO and is awaiting deportation.

His name is Scott Parkin. A lady on an e-list I belong to is friends with him and attended one of his workshops on the Peace Movement and says he is an advocate of non-violent forms of protest. He comes from Texas, where he is a history teacher and is known for peacefully protesting against the companies that are profiteering from the invasion of Iraq, such as Halliburton.

Scott came to Australia in May and since he's been here has held workshops teaching non-violence and has done some street theatre protests in Sydney. On his way to a non-violence workshop last Saturday, Scott was arrested by the Federal Police and ASIO and taken into custody. He has been detained for several days now, has had his Visa revoked and is currently awaiting deportation. The 'reason' for arresting Scott was that he's "a risk to the national security."
(Who knew that dressing up in fluffy tiger suits would be so threatening...)

It's so important that people know this has happened because Scott is the first person to feel the brunt of the new 'anti terror'
legislation that's been passed, giving ASIO the power to arrest and deport anyone they believe to be a "risk". Scott did not breech any conditions of his Visa. He is a political prisoner, detained for no other reason than exercising his right to free speech. This is Howard's Democracy.

I just think it is important for Australians, and all other citizens to consider our rights as human beings. If all the information I am lead to believe is true, there should be mass outcry... This is Australia, we're not meant to be locking people up for saying what they think! Victorian Premier Steve Bracks has questioned the Government's actions and Bob Brown has done the same. Other prominent figures from the Democrats, NGOs and political bodies have condemned Scott's ordeal as an act of gross injustice.

If you are interested in reading Julian Burnside's (Scott's lawyer's) summary of the situation, go to
http://margokingston.typepad.com/harry_version_2/2005?09/julian_burnside.html

Please talk about this with people and tell others what's going on.

Above all don't let ASIO and whoever else scare us into thinking that we should stop standing up for our beliefs and saying what we feel. This baffling and inexcusable offense should encourage us more than ever to speak out against injustice and protect our human rights.

Positions of interest

2005-09-18T02:59:00.000+10:00

The country position statements of the UN 2005 World Summit are out.

2 that were of particular interest to me - no surprises here: Azerbaijan and Singapore.

Spirit

2005-09-16T08:11:00.000+10:00

Last night I had a great conversation with Muratha, a comrade who was recently in South Africa to adress their President along with other hot shots and CEOs, about youth and the current major push towards ICT. The guy's just brilliant - following his presentation, there was much focus on youth throughout the rest of the (very) high-level meeting. And he has placed youth 'squarely in the lead of their [African Peer Review Mechanism] process'. Amazing.

Awe-inspiring support

2005-09-15T17:48:00.000+10:00

(Not.)

Finally saw Chi Chiew Sum's (of the Singapore UN affairs office) long-anticipated reply in my inbox - only to face the following words staring back at me:

We acknowledge your keen interest in UN issues. Thank you for your two suggestions which we will bear in mind for future UN conferences.

Of course, the next General Assembly won't be hosting the MDG+5 - no there isn't going to be an MDG+6 - and won't be having such a high-level plenary discuss progress of the Millennium Development Goals quite so pointedly, but hey.

What can a small circus act flailing her arms about do in a big top circus tent such as this. (Maybe wear a big red nose, one that's got 5 little white stars and a crescent across.)

Just gotta keep pushing, dammit.

***
So. Some hours ago the first day of the Summit concluded. Allow me to draw your attention to this bit of comic relief from the day's proceedings:

Reuters 14 Sept: U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005. World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's vision of freedom from want, persecution and war.

Technorati: youth, United Nations, Bush

4 Years On

2005-09-12T00:19:00.000+10:00

I was in Zellini's cafe in Randwick, when it happened - almost exactly 4 years ago.

Everyone was intently fixated on the TV hung high in the corner, many gaping at the wanton destruction that seemed too surreal to be actually happening before their eyes.

I could barely understand the gravity of the reality of what I was witnessing on the screen.

We're on a roll

2005-09-09T05:29:00.000+10:00

We have results, my friends.

Montenegro: Inclusion of a para on Youth-Led Development (YLD) in country position, which will be delivered by Foreign Minister Miodrag Vlahović at the UN Millennium Review Summit. Also, plans to send my country director as a youth delegate to the Summit, as well as future relevant UN meets.

Azerbaijan: Also inclusion of a para on YLD in Azerbaijan's position. My country director has just been included on the country delegation list.

Kenya: Foreign Ministry has asked my country director for a para on YLD. Currently negotiating its incorporation into Kenya's position.

Indonesia: Touched base with Erna Witoelar, UN Special Ambassador on MDGs for Asia Pacific. Erna is enthused and on side, and looks like she will (probably) help our lobby efforts with the Indo government.

Samoa: Touched base with UN resident coordinator in Samoa who has direct contact with Samoan PM who has big influence in Pacific Islands.

Liberia: Touched base with Deputy Minister for Youth Services, who is currently in negotiation on sending a youth delegate to the Summit.

Tanzania: Negotiation with Foreign Ministry on YLD text incorporation in country position. They have agreed to send 2 Tanzanian youth to UN meets from the next General Assembly onwards.

Canada: Touched base with Canadian Commission for UNESCO Youth Sector, and enlisting help from Canadian Youth Board of the Commission in our lobby efforts.

UK: Meeting with International Director of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Stephen Pattison to negotiate text for UK's position - which would've been a few hours ago actually - attended by ardent supporter David Woollcombe of Peace Child International, as well as 2 of my fellow international coordinating committee members (of the policy document implementation working group). (What a mouthful.)

Rock - and roll!!

A challenge, though: Funding to send Azaerbaijani and Montenegrin guys to the Summit. Considering they would be going as part of the country delegation though, the lack of funding to see this through perplexes me. We're looking into sources.

Also, am still waiting for Mr Chi at Sg UN affairs to get back to me. May the chi be with me. (Sorry - couldn't resist.)

Ego-tripping For Poverty

2005-09-06T21:35:00.000+10:00

- is one thing Bob Geldof has done for Africa and the world's poor. The amazing power of the media to simultaneously bear the duality of strategic instrument and vain distraction.

Also - Bolton is a fucking joke.

Show me the money

2005-09-03T23:17:00.000+10:00

In preparation for drafting the policy document at the WYC, I had emailed the aseanist seeking input on the topic of youth & development, from a developing ASEAN perspective.

The aseanist's latest post, in response to that, has given me some serious food for thought. Specifically, it's made me think a lot harder about the whole field of development economics, and the role it plays in international development. And, conversely, about the relevance of lofty, idealistic notions of youth empowerment and whatnot - held by naïve, privileged young punks who enjoy the opportunity to attend international youth confabs (yes, I'm also looking more critically at the events in which I invest of myself) - like me - who are hardly representative of ASEAN youth.

I have mixed thoughts about this. On one hand, I recognise that economics is often a huge - if not the largest - influencing factor in decisions on various issues on all levels, within ASEAN (without excluding that this fact applies to several other nations as well). While certain commitments may be made by various ASEAN politicians or governments with regards to youth, community, or even human rights, these socially or democratically significant issues would almost certainly not take precedence over economic concerns.

On the other hand, I also feel that economic growth as a measure of development cannot be truly meaningful, even on a human development level, if it does not follow through to serve as a means to a broader end - a just, equitable and sustainable society.

I agree that, seeing as most of the delegates who attended the WYC were privileged relative to the youths from their respective backgrounds, perhaps the balance of emphasis lay too much on empowerment, at the expense of market reform strategy. At the same time, I feel that the logical shift towards building economic structure and opportunity need not occlude the 'loftier' aspects of human development, a topic that seems to impassion (or distract, depending on which way you look at it) me more.

Which is why I come from the perspective that efforts to drive economic growth, and in the case of Youth-Led Development - young entrepreneurship, must also not lose sight of the fact that young people are more than just economic units, whose value is measured - not just by the government and society, but also by themselves - in GDP per capita.

[Added para]
Because to me, speaking as a young person (ok - it's all relative), the perception of one's citizenry; value; worth on this planet - especially for a young person - comes not just from their economic productivity, but also (among others) from their deployable human agency.

A question that naturally arises, for me, is the reality or application of the stage theory of development: Are countries that are poor today really poor because they are simply "taking off" later? What about the consideration of the changes in socio-political climate of the last several decades? What about the existing trade relationships between the north and the south, that often seem only to exacerbate the poverty gap and keep the rich where they are - precisely by (intentional or otherwise) economic exploitation?
[Ed: Yes, I know these questions have been already beaten to death, but it doesn't stop my begging them.]

Other than my (extremely crude) understanding of this, apart from the chronologically linear hypothesis of industrialisation, I've come across, albeit anecdotally, another version of "stage theory", which is somewhat allegorical to Maslow's hierarchy of needs - fill your stomach (economic growth) before you achieve self-actualisation (greater choice, empowerment and whatnot).

This is rather contentious in my mind, because after all - don't you also need the social aspects of industrialisation such as health and education - in order to drive industrialisation itself? In this view according to Theodore Schultz, industrialization - if it came at the cost of social development - could never be self-sustaining.

Reading the aseanist's post again, I see that there wasn't any indication that economic growth was the be all and end all. So it could very well be that I was mistakenly grabbing on to the economic prerogative in detriment of the social. Hopefully. Then again I'm coming from an extremely uninformed, inexperienced perspective on this whole 'development' thing, so I'm also looking to be challenged and slapped around a bit with a trout, if only to see a little more than what my blinker of ignorance currently offers me.

The aseanist's forthright comments have injected me with anewed buzz in finding out more about this funny thing we call development. I'm anticipating that my current understanding - and perhaps even position, too - on development will undergo a fair bit of metamorphosis.

Final thoughts: exactly how could (ASEAN) governments facilitate the building of a culturally, educationally and politically supportive environment for young entrepreneurship? What kind of policy changes might that involve? And, if these measures have already been thought of, then what's stopping governments from implementing them?

What are people's thoughts on this?

Technorati: human development, economic development, ASEAN

Cracks in the brick wall

2005-09-01T14:33:00.000+10:00

Finally - some headway in the labyrinth that is the Singapore Public Service.

Got something in my inbox a few minutes ago that gives me a bit of relief from the brick-wall head-hitting of the last 2 weeks.

So the Asst Director/UN at the Foreign Ministry's International Orgs Directorate is going to be 'contacting me shortly'.

Sometimes, you just gotta keep pecking away.

(Of course, this is by no means a breakthrough of any measure, and I'm not holding my breath - as Chest Freezer would agree - there is still a long way yet. But nonetheless.)

Well, I'd better get cracking on a super kick-ass pitch.

Can't wait.

Activism in Conservatism

2005-08-30T15:03:00.000+10:00

I was thinking about this today, and wanted to see what other people thought.

Taking the example of contemporary Australian society, there's been a growing climate of conservatism - well, for the big red island it's a combination of economic liberalism + social conservatism. Everything is about the free market and raging capitalism - even if the country's wealth goes more and more only to those who need it less and less - but no you (asylum seeker) can't come in, and no you (woman) can't have an abortion, and no you (queer! you should be burned at the stake) can't get married.

Political Cleansing: Enema Of The State

2005-08-27T18:04:00.000+10:00

I'm too swamped to blog - but I bring your attention to a couple of issues that have given me furrows in my brows of late.

Agenda-Setting

2005-08-26T02:05:00.000+10:00

What a hectic coupla days.

It’s been mad, mad emailing and calling – all around the one darn policy document which seems to have just taken over my life for now.

General gist: We (World Youth Congress) are aiming to promote the recommendations of the document to attendee governments as they prepare their agendas for the upcoming World Summit at the 60^th UN General Assembly (GA60) in New York next month. This forms part of our broader plans to lobby governments to, ultimately, incorporate youth into their national strategies for development. It's premised on the concept of Youth-Led Development – the underlying principle of the entire document.

How it’s relevant to Singapore youth (representation): The current youth delegation attending the GA60 come from 13 countries, none of which form any part of Asia – East, West, Central, South. Go "principles of equitable geogrphical distribution". I should note that Youth-Led Development is particularly relevant to Asia, considering Asia is home to almost 60% of the total youth population in the world.

This clearly presents a huge opportunity for Singapore to do something for Asian youth representation. And on the MDGs, too. Global topics don't get much hotter than this.

So it would be great – to understate – if one of two things happened:

i) Singapore sends to the GA a youth delegate, who gets opportunity to deliver a statement on YLD
ii) Singapore’s official delegate includes a para in speech on YLD

Certainly, the first is much more powerful than the second, but either one would still be rather instrumental in building legitimacy for the document, and its message – thereby more effectively advancing the recommendations of the document towards inclusion in countries’ national agendas.

So far, at the country level, it’s been up and down. The kick start from Edgar Koh’s helpfulness, unfortunately, has been met with rather uninspiring response from Prof Tommy Koh and His Excellency George Yeo. Foong Hin Cheong is away til next week. And Mr Tharman and Dr Balakrishnan bo hew me. Boo hoo.

Ironically, it’s been the people overseas who’ve been the most helpful – Peace Child International, Oxfam HK. I’m hoping to get some local NGO support also; from Samy at Think Centre, Irvin at Kopitiam, Braema Mathi at AWARE, and a few others.

Just read the last email I sent to [Special Advisor to George Yeo], and I was surprised by my own extremely pro-active [read: bordering on aggressive] tone of message –

..
The reason I'm so actively pursuing this with you is because of your positioning in the MFA, which is ultimately key to Singapore's representation to the UN.

If youth are to speak up, as Dr Vivian Balakrishnan has so fervently encouraged, what should we do to bring our voice to the international community, if not through our own ambassadors? I ask this question genuinely, because I am also seeking your advice on other ways to go about doing this, in the case that this is deemed not an appropriate method.
..

I’m a little nervous about opening my inbox tomorrow. But determined to keep ~~hounding~~ following up. With all of them.

Ps. We've just formulated a full-on elaborate game plan to really promote the damn document in a bigass way. More on that later.

Technorati: United Nations, MDG, youth, development

Circumventing the mainstream media

2005-08-23T10:34:00.000+10:00

Oh, wow.

I have *just* received a reply from Edgar Koh, editorial chief of the UNDP.

Thought I'd try my luck with a long shot, since none of the local (Singapore) mainstream papers - even if we all know they are the one corporate entity - picked up on the original media release on the WYC Policy Document.

But you never know what you get if you don't try.

Strip Evacuation

2005-08-23T09:43:00.000+10:00

I could not not say something about this.

Netzarim was one of the first settlements erected in Gaza, and now the last one that's just been evacuated, 2 decades later.

It seems the political analysts have been more concerned with the (re)structuring of post-evacuation Gaza and the Palestinian people, while the media have showcased the more violent and emotive aspects of the operation. (Yeah, kudos on the sweeping generalisations.) For me, though, I wonder what life will be like for the evacuated settlers as they (try to) find new homes - especially since settlers who did not leave voluntarily risk getting a lot less help from the government.

Palestinian critics say that there will be no sudden democratic utopia, of Gaza. It isn't the presence of illegal settlements that is oppressing the Palestinians - it's the disempowerment from the control of their own land. Unless control is given back to the Palestinian people, there is no real (socio-political) significance of the entire evacuation operation.

In David Samuels' latest for Atlantic (unfortunately I couldn't read it as I'm not a paying subscriber), he raises the question of Arafat as a 'destroyer' of Palestine. That his failure to use the Oslo Accord in 1993 for the creation of a Palestinian state, and for reconciliation between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, robbed Palestine of 10 years of economic development. I found his insights on his interview with NPR quite sombering, although his perspective is probably one shared by many other Arafat critics.

Now, Arafat's power is seriously threatened in the face of the military group Hamas claiming the evacuation as a victory, as well as Abbas of the Palestinian Authority - even if the latter isn't considered a terribly charismatic leader among the people.

A lot of people are sick and tired of blame games for 'understanding' Palestinian suffering. Thing is, wanting to just move forward... is it not almost impossible, without the consideration of Arafat's corruption (and the implications of that on Abbas' popularity), or other failings from a political leadership that just didn't build enough credibility among the people.

It boggles my mind how the actions of so very few can affect, so profoundly, the lives of so many. And often without even being themselves scathed.

***
Last week, Gaza. From today, the West Bank. It will be interesting to see how the anticipated resistance in the West Bank will play out, relative to Gaza.

Let's hope it won't get too violent.

Technorati: Gaza, Israel, Palestine, disengagement

48 Hours

2005-08-22T14:24:00.000+10:00

2 days isn’t a very long time.

Yet, to think in terms of conventional chronology, and the otherwise surreptitious brevity, is precisely that which deceives. After the equivalent of say, 2 working days, you expect to come back to, well, maybe Friday deadlines. Or the weekend. Or something equally predictable. Routine that hasn’t changed; routine that you can count on. Things that stay the same.

Truth is, for the most part, they do. It’s only the eyes we see them with, that have changed.

London will never be the same again.

London will be as it has always been. Bustling cosmopolitan tourist hub, city of beautiful old buildings (since the Great Fire of 1666, anyway). My memory of the city, however, will now flash back to me with renewed eyes, holding for me a very different significance.

Like Chinatown. And how-to-use-chopsticks lessons, for the shao ya tang mian.

Like wandering all over Covent Garden, enthralled by all the sights and sounds of the colourful markets – no, really – just distracted worrying about our flights (with enough pay phone calls to last the rest of the year). And by that street performer who kept bagging out that American guy, and who just couldn't quite get his act together.

She looks like she’s looking at a dove in a tree… that just pooped.

Like that whimsical seafood lunch, where we somehow started musing about the path ahead; career, life, love, and all that jazz… whet all the more by that gorgeous garlic butter, and bread. Of course, the moments following that are now a floaty haze of silly giggles to me, thanks to my embarrassing choice of going the one Chardonnay (– or was it? I can’t remember now.) Which I know was priceless, to you. It was anything but, to me. *face palm*

2 kids, 1 dog, and a Sony television set, huh.

Like walking through the Frida Kahlo, which just blew us both away. She’s now my favourite artist, by the way. For reasons of course, purely artistic, and politik – not symbolic. To be ironic. [Sic].

Just a li’l bit.

Like walking for ever, along the Thames, in our accustomed stream-of-consciousness rambologue which seemed to pass off, pretty well, for conversation. And the path, lined with trees that had blue baubles on them, despite Christmas being 4 months away. And… that moment.

Like how my vulnerabilities led to our first ‘fight’(!), on the way to Heathrow – for the last time. Not that I really put up one, ever. But that’s not the point.

Because this image… will become a ghost in time.

***
It’s Monday now, and – impossibly – an entire week since. The contrast of this ‘reality’ of regularity and clockwork whizzing past all around me, while I – almost in defiant disbelief – remain suspended in mid-air, is an excruciating reminder that those 48 hours weren’t, well, inserted into memory by dream or experimentation.

As I step into the shower, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I step closer to the mirror and I swear, I can see – *shock horror* – lines around my eyes. (Oh, the stealthy crevices of time.) And yet, I take a step back, and notice an odd, vague, effervescence in them – there’s a strange openness about them that almost carries a certain sort of… vigour.

To anyone else, my eyes probably look no different than they did 3 weeks ago. For me, though, something’s definitely changed.

Paradigm Shift

2005-08-16T23:36:00.000+10:00

Yes, folks... I am home.

Thanks to everyone for your concern, encouragement and interest; it has been sincerely appreciated.

I have since slept some, but suspect I'll be needing more to recover from/cope with this... paradigm shift. A particularly whimsical and oddly beautiful experience of the last few days has touched me in a way that refuses, on all levels, comparison or parallels. It is also making this transition - back to earth - amazingly difficult.

I feel like I'm gonna need to lie low for a little bit while I collect myself - 'cool my jets', if you will. If it's ever possible. Like that was ever possible.

I will be busy picking up the fragments of my scattered melancholy, while I try to eke out - and piece together - some semblence of sense and normalcy, if those words should apply to me still. In the way they used to, anyway.

Let this be a prolonged open thread - make of it what you will. Be creative!

Media Release

2005-08-15T23:57:00.000+10:00

For those who asked - excerpts from the post-WYC media release, including comments by Bernise Ang.

Singapore was represented at the recently concluded World Youth Congress (WYC) in Stirling, Scotland ..

The main outcome of the WYC constituted a policy document drafted by a committee .. on which Singaporean delegate .. served as a representative for Asia and the Pacific.

The WYC policy document will be presented at the upcoming UN World Summit in New York next month, in review of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). [Bernise Ang, a Singaporean delegate at the WYC,] emphasises, “The policy document represents a voice of today's global youth and addresses how youth can - and should - be a major force in both developed and developing countries’ national and international strategies for development.”

“As such, this document needs to be referred to in Singapore’s position as well as MDG progress report, when our country delegation addresses the UN Summit next month,” urges Ms Ang.

“In Singapore, many of us have the luxury of economic privilege, relative to many of our neighbours. Let us use that privilege for forming and strengthening global partnerships towards eliminating abject poverty for our less fortunate counterparts in other parts of the world.”

Poverty reduction is the first of 8 goals, as outlined by the MDGs.

Ms Ang remarks on Singapore youth: “Our youth is the largest untapped resource that has potential just waiting to be unleashed. Programs such as the Youth Expedition Project of the Singapore International Foundation demonstrate the capability of our youth to shine as leaders in meaningful development work in areas where it is most needed.”

“Back home, the sheer strength of volunteers in CDC initiatives such as the recent Taman Jurong Painting Competition reveals the energy and desire of our youth, to make a difference in our communities.”

“The concept of youth participation can be so much more meaningfully realised in spaces and structures where youth can be more effectively involved not just in implementation (as volunteers) or consultation (in youth consultation exercises), but also in significant decision-making capacities.”

Technorati: WYC, Singapore, youth, development

Stranded in London, Part II

2005-08-11T18:03:00.000+10:00

I have simply not been able to escape drama, this trip.

I am now stuck at LHR once more, in Terminal 1 this time.

It seems there has been an "industrial action" – or strike – involving staff related to all BA flights. At this point, all UK domestic and Europe flights have been cancelled. BA has advised affected passengers to source accommodation which would be reimbursed at a later stage.

Serendipitous Connections

2005-08-10T07:14:00.000+10:00

Sometimes, in the most unexpected meanders of aimless wandering, connections are made that make me feel as though the entire world could be my (or anyone else's) friend.

30 hours ago I met a bunch of guys from Australia, USA, South Africa - on the train from Heathrow to central London. [Ed: In the pic, South African on the right, American on the left.] 10 hours ago some of us went drinking - and then dancing - near Chinatown. Turns out one of them is an orthopaedic surgeon from an entire family of doctors, and is interested in researching orthopaedic hand surgery. The things you don't see when you have only appearances to (mis)guide you. On Dr McGuire's consistent insistence, by the end of the night I had not paid a cent, from the first drink to the cab ride back.

HND

2005-08-09T01:09:00.000+10:00

To the one country I have so much grief over, and yet continue to love with such a passion.

Yours always.

Outcomes and victories

2005-08-07T16:24:00.000+10:00

The finalised policy document was presented at the Scottish parliament today.

The Congress received extremely encouraging feedback from the First Minister, and all the other speakers at this morning's gathering.

The proceedings and the document should be available somewhere on the WYC website shortly. Translations in French and Spanish will be available too.

I am SO glad about the outcome of the policy document - after the past 5 days of little sleep, much (often heated) discussion, and knuckling down in front of the computers. Delegates finally seemed (at least) somewhat pleased about the final version, after much (mostly constructive) critique and much modification.

World, get ready for the next buzzword in international development - Youth-Led Development: concept of youth being not mere beneficiaries, but active partners in collaboration towards development and poverty reduction, for the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals - and beyond.

If any of the commitments and (hopefully implemented) recommendations of the document - and the brilliant and passionate activists seen here at the Congress - are anything to go by, youth will be a major force in the work towards achieving the MDGs til 2015, and a damn good long time after.

[Ed: I hadn't mentioned this before, but there were (about) 15 people on the first draft committee, from which 4 were selected for final drafting. Unfortunately there wasn't much Asian representation - I was the only one from the whole of East and Central Asia, on both teams. Still, I'm glad there was a Singaporean voice at all.]

ALSO!

Wollongong finally has a queer space!! One that doesn't flood, is centrally located, and will actually allow queer activists to organise. This is a fantastic victory - so much effort has gone into this campaign. Special congrats to Annaliese Constable and Karlee Jones.

One thing though - I thought it was oddly interesting that there hasn't seemed to be any media coverage on this, in Wollongong Uni media and a google news search. Unfortunately this does not terribly surprise me.

In any case, I'll leave you with the story from Annaliese, while I go soak up some superb Scottish sun that is just screaming to be enjoyed.

yes yes it's all true

oh my, such happiness. such joy. such good timing for the NDA. such need to get to business and write media releases.

wollongong queer collective has been offered a new queer space on campus. the space is in the arts building which is centrally located. the space is about the size of two offices and is next door to the NTEU office.

apparently it does NOT flood...we will wait to see but that is the word on the street.

we are going to have a HUGE fuck off opening party and will post all the photos of me drunkenly dancing on podiums or similar.

what happened?

well, contrary to popular belief the campaign has been continuing although it slowed down at the start of the year. in recent months it has regained momentum thanks mostly to karlee jones - superstar extraordinaire.

one of the direct results from the occupation last year was the creation of an 'equity and diversity' committee.

recently the student union/Unicentre (as opposed to the student's association (SA) was allocating empty spaces within their building. the SA met with Unicentre to discuss the prospect of allocating one of these spaces to the queer collective on friday...we were refused, instead the Unicentre chose to allocate yet another general student lounge (because the bar and the other lounge already in their building just isn't enough space to browse through jays jays catalogues and do heterosexist quizzes in cosmo).

following this we composed a letter outlining the OHS breaches and the responsibilities the university and Unicentre had toward all students including the floating rotting queers across the road. the SA president took thsi letter with him and presented it in a meeting with uni admin on wednesday.

friday the 'equity and diversity' committee met. during this meeting the equal employment opportunity officer from the university, robyn weakes, announced that she could "no longer contain (herself)" and delivered the wonderful news that a new queer space had been found for us.

then karlee ran to the SA to spread the word. she called me. i, funnily enough was already half way pissed at a work christmas in july party (which yes, i know was in august) and i proceeded to cry with happiness in front of nearly all of my colleagues and since that point have been staring blankly into space at random intervals with big cheesy grins on my face.

the following is an excerpt from karlee's email:

oh my god progress fucking progress

THE QUEER SPACE CAMPAIGN HAS A RESULT

so fucking excited right now - cant head and bofy and arms etx not workgin properly

i just had a meeting for the campus eauity education committee and they reported that, apart from some final detiails [like security and emptying the actual room] WE HAVE A NEW QUEER SPACE!!!

the proposed room is in buuilding 19, is quite large, has two entry/exit doors, is very visible and IS ON CAMPUS

GET EXCITED QUEERS!!!

karlee j
xoxox

end email from karlee -
reboot annaliese -

welcome back.
...
i will be sending out media releases tomorrow morning and making sure it gets
coverage just in case the uni tries to back out. anyone with any media contacts please email or call me.

hopefully NUS will send out media releases as well. i really think we should utilise this win to further the anti VSU campaign. we have a solid win and we have to use it.

DIRECT ACTION GETS THE GOODS.
...
now we have to maintian that resolve.
because....

V
S
U

you

are

next

such love and happiness

annaliese "oh my god we won" constable

XXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

25 Minutes

2005-08-05T09:35:00.000+10:00

In less than half an hour, we will be presenting our first draft to the Congress floor of 600.

Between going over how we are going to get people excited about giving input and taking ownership, and mentally preparing to get rained on by pellets of disagreement and objection, it's a fun time to be on the daft, I mean draft.

Anyhow, at lunch today the team will be meeting up with the Deputy Minister for Education. Wonder what he'll have to say about what we've done. More importantly, wonder how much he'll listen to what we have to say about education policy. And if he'll do anything about it.

Good times.

Ps. Keep the input coming in. Particularly, input from developing (country) perspectives would be extremely useful.

Youth, raise your voice!

2005-08-03T08:34:00.000+10:00

I have been placed on the WYC policy document drafting committee. The policy document will be going up to the World Summit of the UN General Assembly in September, the follow-up review on the 2000 Millennium Summit.

What we want to do with this document, is to put youth at the forefront of the UN Millennium Development Goals, by being specific about what governments can and need to do in order to provide the channels and structures for youth involvement.

Off Kilt(er)

2005-07-31T09:23:00.000+10:00

Late for my clan meeting so I'll be quick.

I'm OK, arrived in Scotland in one piece. Conference has been great so far, with many fantastic (and young!) speakers. And Stirling is beautiful.

Save for an apparition-related experience in my strange bed the night before, which is too ridiculous for my (quasi)rational mind to even talk more about (here, anyway).

Will post more, probably after I leave here.

Bucharest, here I come

2005-07-27T16:15:00.000+10:00

Update: Photos added - enjoy.

I am sorted. *huge satisfied grin*

Visa approved. Flight moved. Even if the next one (without costing >£450) is more than 12 hours away. But I'll take what I can get.

Also, last night I had a (much-needed) good night's sleep at Wake Up! backpackers'.

And got to meet some really cool girls.

More than I could've asked for in this entire drama, really.

Thank you for all the SMSes and calls (and messages on the blog, I just noticed!). They counted for more than I could express in a call or a text. Each one of you. Also, special thanks to Merv and Nkululeko for setting me up with friends in London. And Jared.

Feeling much loved, and warm fuzzies. :)

(lost in the) streets of london

2005-07-26T15:22:00.000+10:00

Update.

I am now wandering Kensington High Street, hungry, tired, and online.

Earlier at the airport, I tried to get the travel agent to take responsibility for their mistake - the airline independently agrees - of "under-connecting" me. And arrange an alternative flight on their cost.

Nada. (The guy was in fact rather brusque with me, and challenged me to speak to his General Manager. Whatever.)

Called the Singapore High Commission in London. They would not intervene, but instead passively encouraged me to "stand up for my rights". Yes, [name removed] dear, but generally pressure from a national institution helps as opposed to a powerless random individual from nowhere, yes?

I was informed that the extension on my otherwise expired Singapore passport will not be recognised. So I'll have to use my Aussie one instead, which wouldn't be such a problem if Australian nationals didn't need a visa to enter Romania.

After putting my baggage in temporary storage at £5.50 apiece, I left the over-priced, hyper-paranoid safety net of Heathrow to fend my way around the London public transport system. Yes guys, the tube.

I got lost. Unsurprisingly. But I didn't get bombed.

And I made it to the Romanian embassy. (After asking about 15 random people on the street for directions - even other lost tourists, lol - but hey, who's counting.)

***
I've just come back from the Romanian embassy, who - after sending me to get passport-sized photos and buy travel insurance - tells me that the visa takes 48 hours to process, even in emergencies.

The guy didn't even want to accept my application at all (and after I'd gone out and shelled out for the stuff he asked for!); I had to nearly plead with him with my quivering anxious Asian female voice, which unfortunately was not put on. I haven't felt this vulnerable in some time.

Even if the visa gets approved by tomorrow arvo, I am due back at Heathrow by 2000 on the 29th, to catch my 2140 flight to Glasgow.

Is there any point clinging on?

***
It's almost 4. I think I deserve some lunch.

ps. Did I mention I'm stuck here without accommodation? Sleeping at the airport for 1 night (maybe 2, egad) sounds like fun.

O.M.G.

2005-07-26T07:08:00.000+10:00

I am stranded in London Heathrow airport.

The collective assortment of symbols on this keyboard cannot express the multitude of frustration and anxiety I feel right now.

I heart NYC

2005-07-22T03:56:00.000+10:00

- also known as National Youth Council.

I got the grant!

My jokes about expressing profuse gratitude for covering the equivalent of my airport taxes in total (SGD-AUD exchange rate factored) notwithstanding, I think my satisfaction derives more from symbolic reasons - that youths are still being supported in their social change efforts off these urban jungle shores. Or maybe it's just relief that I haven't been completely blacklisted - yet.

[Ed: This post has more, but the link isn't showing up. As always, techpundits welcome. Meantime, just click on the timestamp for the full post.]

On a heavier note back home - late on the game as this is - I'm rather disappointed by how Durai of NKF has conducted himself in the course of this debacle, including the oft-witnessed knee-jerk wielding of Weapons of Mass Defamation. And of course, you know, the general failures in accountability and transparency of ~~Durai~~ NKF.

I think that many in the mainstream media (local and international) and Singapore blogosphere have sufficiently debated the issue of transparency, so I won't beat it further to death. However, one thing that caught my eye, as it did Akikonomu's, was Balaji's comment on the NKF being such an efficient organisation. What is with the government's obsession with the free market?

I find it extremely problematic to engage in discussion about the non-profit sector in Singapore when it is so overwhelmingly framed by liberal economic parameters. Yes, it is important to minise waste (particularly) in a non-profit organisation - in fact inefficiency is one of my biggest gripes with certain arms of the UN - but the point that seems to have been missed is, the element of competition in market forces is often fundamentally in conflict with the nature and processes of non-profit organisations themselves.

This, perhaps, may be where the line of the 'efficiency' argument needs to be drawn: it is good practice to minimise waste of any kind in an NPO, insofar as it does not compromise the objectives and principles the organisation is founded upon.

Much of this rant stems from my imminent path in the non-government sector, I think, but it doesn't take away from the issues facing non-profit work in this.. market culture, that we have in Singapore.

It's rather ironic for me personally, reflecting on this, in the light of citizenship issues that scream to be ploughed through. It had already begun at the immigration counter in the arrival hall just a few hours ago, when they wouldn't let me get through (initially) because the extension on my expired Sg passport that I'd received from SIR wasn't physically reflected - even though I was officially travelling on my Aussie passport. How I suppressed my urge to roll my eyes in the face of their "who's this girl and what's she trying to do" flurry, is beyond me.

And to go back from the huge digression, a few concluding thoughts:

I'm glad Durai resigned

I'm glad Mrs Goh CT decided not to be an NKF patron anymore

I hope NKF's loss of some 4000 donors, as well as nearly 44 000 signatures on this NKF responsibility petition, sends out a clear message on the gravity of lack of transparency and accountability

Technorati: NKF, Singapore, non profit

Leaving on a jet plane

2005-07-21T04:07:00.000+10:00

- once more, in less than 12 hours.

Have yet to recover fully from the dreadful throat inflammation, or to finish packing. Feeling rather unprepared, although that's not beyond a standard deviation.

The scattered-ness hasn't disappeared, which isn't particularly helpful for my pre-flight manic-packing mayhem.

I'm looking forward, though, to seeing home once again. Despite the fact that I won't be able to meet up with as many as I would have time indulge me.

Outstanding things on the to-do list sit on my mind, jutting out, against the knowing defenselessness that time will not allow me that luxury.

Many other thoughts clamour for space, stubbornly refusing to conform to any manner of traffic order of sorts. How they flow in such uniform precision in Coruscant and others of the Galactic Alliance baffles me. Then again I should remind myself of the fictional nature of, well, fiction.

But my stream-of-(un)consciousness rambling betrays my sleepless fatigue.

Go to bed.

MIA

2005-07-18T23:17:00.000+10:00

Nursing a rather nasty throat infection. Will be out of action for a few more days, by the looks (and sounds - blearghh) of it.

(Yes, sympathy welcome.)

Also wanted to express my gratitude, having been touched by an angel. You know who you are. Thank you.

Lastly, call for photos! If you have any from the following conferences, please do not hesitate to send them (or a link) to ipanema.garota [at] gmail.com :

NUS Education Conference 2005 (Ed Con) | Perth

Queer Collaborations 2005 (QC) | Perth

NLC Annual Conference 2005 (NLCAC) | Newcastle

AMUNC 2005 | Sydney

Many thanks in advance from a poor camera-less soul.

Bouncy red curls and burly red(neck) bouncers

2005-07-16T10:02:00.000+10:00

[Ed: This post is overly narrative, and excessive, mostly because I don't have much consciousness left in me. I may or may not return to edit/finish this one. Or I might take it off altogether. We'll see.]

What a night.

The ball tonight was more eventful than most. Inane and informative as they were (respectively), I shall skip the costume store shopping in Surry Hills and the Richard Woolcott speech.

[By the way, the picture is what I wore tonight. :)]

Update: Couple more photos here. Any more would be dependent upon the charity of fellow delegates. :P

***
I had found one of the co-directors of the Commission rather attractive... from about, oh, the second day I saw her. In the interest of ~~privacy~~ not being grotesquely ba gua, I shall simply call her Ms D.

So I had been watching Ms D in CHR during caucus and debate sessions, and on the harbour cruise on wednesday I sorta let slip - cut me some slack, I had had 2 shots and was rather delirious by the time - that I was a little taken by her. I believe my exact words were, "I think... you're cute." Gawd. Welcome back to high school.

But that was all rather taken in good humour, and we laughed/talked/danced it off (no grinding, please - Singapore does not encourage alternative lifestyles, which are against the public interest)... and that was that.

By tonight, though, I think the attraction had proven to be a rather mutual affair. At the Shelbourne club, where we adjourned for the after-party, there was a buzz in the air; the excitement of adolescent crushes from a previous chapter whose pages had already started to yellow.

Eye contact. 'Casually' gravitating towards each other for conversation. Surreptitiously (intentionally) sitting next to the other at the dinner table. 'Coincidentally' positioning ourselves adjacently when it was picture time. Taking turns to playfully grab the other for a boogie on the dance floor.

- me dragging as a guy for the first time notwithstanding. I think she really liked my fedora though. And my suspenders.

A few moments after -

"[garota], [garota] - someone's [A] been kicked out of the club"
"Wha - why?"
"He was pashing his boyfriend [L] , and then the bartender said he was too drunk"
"Fuck. I'm going down."

It was all too familiar.

When I ran out to the entrance, A and L were waiting out in the cold, with a few others. L was visibly shaken. It looked like his face was wet. One of the delegates was trying to reason with the bouncer.

I was almost in disbelief that two exact same incidents would happen in my circles within 2 weeks of each other¹. Yet - it almost served as a reaffirmation of the need for the work of queer rights activists to continue. But I digress.

Almost as if a knee-jerk reaction, I suggested a mass kiss-in, to the group huddling outside the club. Including Ms D. I was actually serious - but I don't think it was taken that way. On hindsight, I wonder if Ms D thought I was using that to be opportunistic about getting (physically) closer to her. Oh gosh please let that not be true. But I digress once more.

At this point, there were a few things happening: me wrangling (politely, of course) details of Shelbourne club staff and talking to the manager; a delegate getting people to leave the club and go somewhere else; A comforting L; another delegate helping me get my bag (I wasn't "allowed" to go back inside because I had "taken the manager's card" - wtf?).

I had this list of things to do, details to gather and steps to follow - all in my head already. I civilly informed the manager that this was going to be a case for the Anti-Discrimination Board - to which he scoffed, "Go for your life!".

One of the most important pieces of information we needed to get , in my opinion, was A's alcohol level. If that was the basis for the bartender's charge, we'd do well to prove that judgment call misguided - and more revealingly - (potentially) discriminatory.

Incidentally, on the way to another club, we chanced upon a police car stationed for breath testing. We jumped on it and A asked if he could be breath tested. But he included the phrase "kissing my boyfriend" in his explanation. I thought that was a bad move - based on all my direct and indirect experiences with cops here, they are not the most tolerant people in the world.

Constable Matherson of car plate YYJ470 denied A's request. As is evident I have (attempted to) collect as much information on the night's events as possible.

I suggested to L that it might be good for both him and A to write an account of the incident with as little lag as possible. Signed and dated, and if possibly signed by a JP.

I told A about Aristotle, a pro-student migration lawyer who has worked with me on the travel concession case for international students - (very generously) pro bono.

I'm not sure how invested A and L want to be on this case. I think that if they do want to take this up, then it would be imperative that they take ownership of the issue. So I will step back, and just help point them in any direction I think may be useful. Or anything else they ask me to do, if I can. It's gonna be their call.

The incident inadvertently came to closure when the whole bunch of delegates with us walked past the police car, and straight into Cargo Lounge. I'm not sure if L and A went on to get breathalysed.

I stayed outside, and sat on a bench next to Ms D. After a little bit of inconsequential natter, she decided to sway with the subliminal message that the visual of the line of cabs was sending to her. And go home.

There wasn't a goodbye hug, which left me feeling a little confused. She didn't have any more phone credit, she said, so she couldn't text me when she got home.

Despite the slightly awkward conclusion to the night, and the awful Shelbourne club experience, it had been quite fun, actually. A lot of it had to do with Ms D (and 2 dear friends but that's not the point). I texted her when I got back, with something along the lines of keeping in touch. And that she was great company (of course).

We'll see.

Til then, I will let the image of her cute smile, bouncy red curls, and that gorgeous green halterneck dress play in my mind for just a little bit.

ps. this is totally random, but I just realised that my fresh AMUNC ball photos have been viewed - almost 50 times - since they got put up. 3 hours ago. Should I find this freaky?

¹ A QC delegate had been thrown out on the second night of QC, in pretty much the same scenario. We had organised a mass same-sex kiss-in in protest to the club’s decision, 2 days later.

AMUNC concludes

2005-07-16T07:02:00.000+10:00

What a day.

And so today concluded the last General Assembly of AMUNC 2005. Helen Durham, widely known international humanitarian lawyer now with the ICRC, opened the session beautifully. I’m not sure if I’ve heard speakers of such experience and calibre talk on such a down-to-earth – and real – level that didn’t leave me nodding off even once. If the ability to capture my very slippery attention is anything to go by, that is something.

I was amazed at the simultaneous expertise and candour with which she spoke. Not the mention her oodles of cuteness which made hearing (and watching) her so much more bearable. Her path in international humanitarian law has been a rather exceptional one, and I am inspired by her passion – and more significantly – her gusto, and having the ~~courage~~ balls to just go for it, which is what really led her eventually to where she is now.

Take-home lesson: you can have all the legal knowledge in the world, but ultimately, you will still need to listen to those on the ground to be truly informed.

Resolutions, after, were rather interesting – semi-serious on one hand, because of the formality of debates on the proposed resolutions, yet also hilarious at times when ‘rogue nations’ (not my term) acted perfectly true to form. Like when China emphasised their belief in "freedom" of religion. Or "freedom" of thought. And when USA spoke against resolutions on queer rights, or terrorism.

Good times.

One thing about the GA though: I find the amount of debate afforded to the floor rather alarming. Granted, each committee is meant to have sufficiently debated their relevant agenda topic before proceeding to voting at GA, but that leaves out all the other committees’ resolutions, which any one committee would not be privy to. And at the GA, the format of allowing only one speaker for and one speaker against each resolution is one that I find hardly satisfactory. In fact, I would say that it is a rather inadequate framework, considering that it immediately precedes international policy of such scope and magnitude, in the span of a few minutes.

Of course, if what happened at the AMUNC GA was completely different to what happens (or is supposed to happen) in the real UN – leaving me severely mistaken – then I would be glad to have my concerns unfounded.

***
I feel that with a conference like AMUNC, what you get out of it really is what you invest in it to begin with. Sitting on the CHR, I did gain a fair bit from the contributions of the other delegates, as well as the general manner of processes in the course of resolution drafting/voting. However, I would certainly have gotten more out of it, had I researched the topics at hand with somewhat more scrutiny than I afforded.

The challenge for NGOs – who don’t get a vote, and don’t get to sponsor resolutions – is to be able to quickly identity potential allies on specific topics, get our act together on working papers for various countries’ perusal, and lobby them. Hard.

While researching one’s NGO position on an issue may clue one up on what to say when exercising the right of statement, it really is the understanding of the multilateral context of countries’ positions that will contribute most to targeted (and effective) lobbying.

That said, I wonder how many NGOs actually went that far in their research – considering that wasn’t even listed in the recommended research for all delegates.

Nonetheless, the level of preparedness of a delegate was probably inversely proportional to the extent of the (other) challenge of having to think on the balls of your feet – til they’re practically flat – which provided much stimulation, and a huge source of interest.

I’ve enjoyed AMUNC tremendously.

Technorati: international law, UN, NGO

Working a working paper

2005-07-13T14:10:00.000+10:00

- on counter-terrorism and human rights.

I'm about to caucus with the other NGOs on the CHR, namely Amnesty and World Vision, on the working paper we are going to propose to the Commission.

Pink and Blue don't mix

2005-07-12T00:07:00.000+10:00

This is an announcement following up on this. Perth Indymedia reports.

5 students got arrested. Much brutality was used by the police on the queer students from QC. Here are accounts by Belinda Cooper, QC convenor, Alex Ettling (one of the arrested students), and Annaliese Constable (one of the rally participants). I've also pasted several statements from other people who were at the rally.

[Update: More photos here.]

Very, very disturbing implications on the abuse of power by institutional agents of the state. I think we really need intervention by somone with calling power in the legal circles. A progressive lawyer or media spokesperson.

Julian Burnside, are you reading this?

***
Belinda Cooper

Queer Collaborations Thur and Fri actions

Well some may already know of the Queer Collaborations students' actions that took place on Thursday night kiss-in at the Deen and yesterday’s speak out at Forrest chase.

As a convenor of QC I felt a sense a weight of overwhelming responsibility as four of our delegates from various eastern state universities were arrested in Forrest chase yesterday.

As convenor I had handed the direction of the organisation of the actions to the QC 220 strong student collective. The QC student collective will be sending out a formal press release and many of the photographic/ filmed evidence that took place in Forrest chase yesterday will hopefully be available later in the week.

Why were the QC delegates arrested? For swearing firstly and secondly the others were arrested for wanting to know why their friend was being arrested. Whether laws were broken or not is not the issue. The real question is what was behind the police officers motivation for initiating the arrests.

The idea for the action was for students to speak out about why they were there then too march through the CBD area. We were not violent. We were not asked to move on. We barely got ten meters before one of the guys was arrested. We were speaking out about being queer LGBTI students, about how VSU (voluntary student unionism) will affect us as students as youth and how Howard’s attack on the rights of individuals and in the workplace will have such a detrimental affect on LGBTI people, in providing safe space just to be us. So yes we were passionate and we did speak out and would you believe it we where heard; by school students by families by everyday people and more.

It was not the swearing that was deemed offensive, but the context it was placed in words and statement such as: queer, gay, lesbian, bi, trans, Intersex, I F83k men. I was gang raped by six men and NOTHING was done about it. No one wants to hear how high queer suicides are in comparison to our hetro community. And more….

It is intriguing to note how extreme and variant different responses from the public were as well; then how when homophobic combined with swearing remarks were so ignored by the police.

The police were stopping us from marching at one point we had 30 police officers standing around us and by then several of the delegates who were quite rightly freaking out or just winded from being kicked in the gut by the police had dispersed. Me, I was trying to stop any more individuals from being arrested or hurt (also freaking bloody out) and getting Brother Steve to call the uni students lawyers to assist the students who had been arrested. The others QC delegates can tell you their own story and many have already written up their personal statements.

The community is always so quick to judge students and dismiss us as riff raf and so forth. They seem to forget about how these students are soon to be teachers, sociologists, lawyers, doctors, social workers, physiologists, politicians, judges, engineers, geologists and artists. That we are informed and care for our community, that we care for our youth as we are youth and were not so long ago in school, that we do have parents in the community that do care and support us.

Why do you think so many students traveled so far and worked so hard towards having a five day conference that had wonderful speakers from our community come talk to us about education, about the workplace, about our trans, Intersex community, about marriage rights. Many speakers who brought with them heartwrenching stories that brought us to tears with our frustration at the world and our society.

Yesterday I was in shock and then I was just plain angry. The police incited the situation, they were heavy-handed, they were violent and they were trying to justify their actions that were driven by LGBTIQ phobia. I guess I was still a country girl used to friendly country police officers from an average middle class rural family. Yesterday I learnt that unless you know your rights you don’t get them, because no one is just going to give you them. You must DEMAND your rights!

To prove my point on how well behaved the QC delegates actually were; after retrieving the four arrested individuals we later all went to our genderf*#k Ball on the riverboat gambler. The staff thanked us, and commented on how we where such a friendly polite and happy bunch. That in fact we were extremely welcome to come back anytime.

The conference was extremely rewarding and we got so much out of it, well I know I did, I hope everyone else who participated in the event did as well.

An extremely physically and emotionally exhausted Belinda Cooper

***
Annaliese Constable

so, on friday at approximately 2:40 a peaceful rally began in the forest chase mall in perth - which for sydney siders is similar to the pitt street mall. the rally was about the Howard governments attacks on student and trade unions and calling on the government to repeal all homophobic laws.

it began with about 100 queer kids from QC hanging out and chalking body outlines in a die-in. there were some speakers on the mega phone and general cheering and jeering (at the right moments) from the crowd. there was an extreme presence of police before the speakers even began and some police had already threatened to arrest someone for chalking on the paving....which last time i checked is not illegal but if it is my 4 year old nephew is in the shit.

anyhew, the first person to be arrested was james who was targeted for saying the fuck word on the megaphone. some young kids who overheard the police came and told me what was about to happen so i went and alerted james and some other kids about the impending arrest. i gave my whistle to james telling him to blow the whistle as hard as he could to draw attention to himself if he was in trouble. as i was talking to james and alex and louisa i could see two police officers approaching james from two different angles. at this point alex ettling bear hugged james to protect him from being taken away. the police roughly grabbed james and louisa and others began to latch on. james was desperately trying to blow the whistle but the police held his arms down so he couldn't. i took the whistle and blew it to draw attention to the fracas.

at this point the crowd turned to see the police pushing people to the ground and throwing people off james. more people became involved and asking what was happening. i recall seeing shae, her partner (i think tal), tracey boyd, the other james and louisa all being attacked by the police.

as i was blowing the whistle i circled the group of police and protesters and i picked people up who were being trampled. one particular person whom i recall picking up as she was being stood on was *tal*. as i blew the whistle one particular police man who was the largest man there targeted me and laughed in my face. as i continued to blow the whistle he slammed me with both hands so that i was propelled backwards into the crowd.

i saw people crying and screaming for the police to stop. i saw bystanders (otherwise shopping) stopping and aghast at the brutalisation. some bystanders joined in as we chanted "this is not a police state we have the right to demonstrate."

my approximation would be that there were some 300 people witnessing this event. with an upper level in the mall some bystanders became quite vocal. some young men (approximately 10)began to shout out "ya fuckin' faggots. ya' fuckin' faggots come suck on this." as they were doing this they were laughing and grabbing their crotches.

i turned to the police and demanded that the homophobes be arrested for saying the fuck word in public. the police merely warned them and moved them on. as i tried to help my comrades i was trampled on by the police and lost my shoe. as the police were brutalising us they were consistently saying the fuck word.

i saw the police miss the door of the paddy wagon as they attempted to throw louisa into the back. louisa's limbs and head were slammed into the metal slab which constitues the rear of the paddy wagon.

i saw *alexin* grabbed by the police when he was doing nothing but standing nearby. i heard him shout "i didn't do anything, i didn't do anything".

following the arrests, we circled the paddy wagon linking arms to prevent the vehicle from leaving the mall. people were pushed back with force and the police used their batons. after some further speakers, our protest continued and we marched through the mall.

eventually the march split so that half of the participants could leaflet about queers and unions etc and the others went to the police station to express our solidarity with our arrested activists.

when were at the police station we sat across the road sitting peacefully and quietly against the brick wall. some of us had our placards sitting on our laps. the police approached us and told us that we were creating a traffic hazard and that we had to move on. they said it was the placards that was causing the disturbance. we offered to put the placards away. the police then officially warned us that if we did not move on they would arrest us. there was an excessive police presence. we moved on to the park over the road.

we waited for a long time with the police giving varying information about how long it would be before the activists would be released. after hours some police came over to the park. i watched as one police officer pretended to make friendly and the other checked people's laps and basically checked us out. i kindly informed them they were not welcome and they were not trusted. they scoffed but i don't care how paranoid i seem/ed - blue and pink don't mix.

anyway,

yeah so - we need to fundraise and support those who support us.

annaliese

***
Alex Ettling

The whole thing is a bit of a blur for me. At least now I know why I was pissing blood in the police station. gross.

Thanks to everyone (and I'm sure Louisa Bassini, James Higgins, Alexis Vassiley and James Vigus would join me too) for the kind support people have given us. It was nice to see Qc-ers waiting outside. We could see everyone through the security monitors inside the lock-up. We were really grateful that people waited around even though it meant that they didn't have time to dress up for the Genderfuck Ball later that night. Thanks also for all the kind messages and phone calls, and also the offers to fundraise to pay our fines.

Just to help flesh out the picture, here is my recollection (told in story format!):

I wasn't even sure if I was going to make it to the protest. I was feeling really sick and knew I wouldn't be able to chant or anything (boo!). And then just before we were about to head off, we got called to pick up a QC delegate from the East Perth Watch House for shoplifting. I wouldn't have predicted that in less than 20 minutes I'd be back at the lock up, but with people waiting to pick me up. That's what you call 'ironic' - or is that what you call unfortunate. I remember the Alanis Morrissette song causing a similar controversy in definition. Anyway, I drove S and S to the Moon so they could have
a drink and chill out over their imprisonement ordeal. It was 3.10 so I thought I still had time to make it to the demo. Unfortunately, the only place with 1 hour free parking in the city area is erroneously titled Money Street, a reasonable walk away from Forest Chase. So I power walked – as you do.

When I got to the city there was a pretty good crowd. Lots of noise and some rousing speeches – I only really caught the tail end though. It was inspiring to hear personal stories of queerphobia though and the impact that VSU would have on queers. When we tried to lead the protest out of Forest Chase for the march around Murray and Hay Streets, the police moved to block us. We briskly walked past them. When we turned our heads to see why everyone wasn't following we saw a
cop had James H in a headlock. Apparently, he had been swearing and this offended the sensibilities of the cops. It was in front of kids at Russian Winterland and apparently they didn't want to see the women and children' scarred for life by our bad language, so they did the sensible thing and decided to beat up the protesters – in front of the children.

James V latched on to James H to try and de-arrest him. Louisa, myself and others grabbed on too. Annalise blew her whistle at the police to disorient them. Eventually, after a struggle, they got the James's into the back of the paddywagon. Protesters linked arms around the van to prevent it driving away. At some point Alexis got arrested too, but I didn't see that. The chant `this is not a police state, we have the right to demonstrate!' was screamed at the police who continued their – I think it's fair to say – brutal treatment, pushing over demonstrators and using batons.

I stood in front of the paddywagon and was pushed away by a cop. I moved back in front of it and that's when the cops sprang on to me. I don't really remember it. I'm told that I was put into a headlock. Somehow I fell to the ground. Apparently cops were kicking me in the stomach – that would explain the sore kidneys and blood. My lip was cut open as well and my finger sprained. I remember Megan and Louisa grabbing on to me. I think had three cops lift me and throw me into the back of the paddywagon. Then Louisa was picked off and thrown in, but because it was full of us, she was thrown into the step and corked her thigh. As we were driven away I remember looking out of the grate like a caged primate in a very sad nature documentary. Then I tried to swallow as many pain killers as possible in case they denied me medical care for my flu.

We were taken to East Perth Watch House. On the ride over, we hurriedly tried to call everyone and erase stuff from our phones. When we got there we were lectured about `not going crazy' and asked if we had knives and stuff. It was ludicrous. Louisa was taken out and placed in `the tardis' where she was apparently lectured for her use of language. James V, Alexis and I were taken inside. It was a slow process to get through. There were already two Nyoongar women in front us being disciplined by the state – so you know, everything in due course. We were searched in front each other – unfortunately not by
the good looking cop. During this time the cops tried to make small talk with us – I was really not in the mood. I was told to relax because `we're not the Gestapo'. Well, they don't have to try much harder. During processing we had to give up all our belongings, belt and shoes. They asked me what my `pan' badge was. When I told them they laughed in my face. We were asked to detail all our health problems in a very unprivate and unsympathetic manner. The cop was trying to get me to say that my cut lip wasn't because of police brutality but rather due to dry, chapped lips! We were placed in a holding cell, which I didn't expect would be peach coloured. Perhaps it is to have a calming influence – to remind you grandma's apricot pie, or some shit like that.

The worst thing about being arrested is how boring it is. You're at the complete mercy of these fucktards and they draw the process out just because they can. We got it good though – there were plenty of people who were there over night or longer. A lawyer from ECU student guild called us to give us some legal advice which we were grateful for. They didn't bother taking statements from us. We were photographed, DNA tested and had our fingerprints done. This was by far the most painful experience for me. He kept saying `just go with it' as he rolled by hands across the paper. My sprained finger crunched each time. The next day it was a purple pulp. Of course, throughout this the police were trying to be chatty. Whether it was trying to boast their union credentials (well, you've got a funny way of showing you support unions!) or talking to me about the Phantom (what the fuck?). The guy who did my hands asked what the protest was for. I said it was about queer rights and the impact of Voluntary Student Unionism. He was like `what, homosexual stuff'. I said `er, yeah'. I couldn't be bothered having a discussion about queer theory. He said `well, you can't help what you are. As long as you don't force it on me, right. Good Philosophy?' I smiled. James H's experience was of the cop saying that `this new finger printing system is so gay'. Although the best homophobia was when the cops had a go at us for Steve saying that he fucks men – gasp – in front of children.

I listened to more of the cops inane chit chat. I felt sorry for them. So deluded and in such a nasty service. I waited for ages. The Keystone cops couldn't get the photocopier to work. I thought the comment `this fucken facility is fucked!' by one of the cops summed it up – and was somewhat ironic considering how we go ourselves into our predicament. Obviously, they don't have a swear jar at the East Perth Watch House.

Anyway…

We all got released. Most of us were charged with `obstructing police'. I think James H was charged with obscenity and disorderly conduct. The police lied on their statements – of course. They had no idea who we were. They kept calling us by the wrong name. The whole time they were referring to Louisa as `the female'. When we got out there was a crowd of people there to greet us. It was nice. Sarah presented me with a cup of cough syrup and some pain killers. Lovely.

The experience wasn't really that traumatic. I was feeling too detached and delirious from the flu to really get too caught up in what was happening. After I got out I just wanted to get drunk and force myself to somehow have fun. I drank a bottle of champers on the cruise to `give me a lift'. It didn't really work but I had fun dancing to New Order for the third time at QC. I hit my wall at 2am and had to go home. The rocktastic music at Ampy just wasn't inspiring me.

We went to court the next morning. Alexis was dressed very smartly, which made me feel shameful cos I hadn't even changed my clothes. Perhaps that's shameful whether you are going to court or not. Anyway, we had our turn with the public defender – speedy service. Alexis had his case remanded, whilst James pleaded guilty to both his charges. Because the fines were relatively small, Louisa and I decided to plead guilty too. The magistrate was a bit of dick. Apparently he made some
quip about me `being the next prime minister' when I told him I did public policy and management. I get that crap all the time. From now on I'm going say I do geology. No one has any jokes to make about geology.

The experience of being in the court was a good one. We had to sit through all the cases of the people who had been in custody first. It made it really clear how fucked the justice system way. Whether is was suspended jail sentence being given to a guy who hadn't paid his traffic fines or the magistrate calling a likely domestic violence victim a `twit' – it was pretty horrible. It was a parade of fucked up lives and fucked up treatment.

In the end James H got a $253 fine, Louisa and I got a $203 fine each, James V didn't show up but will probably get the same and unless Alexis defeats the charge, I'm sure he will too. We all got spent convictions, which means we can't re-offend or we'll get both convictions on our record.

So that's roughly what I remember. To be honest, I'd take the experience of being arrested 3 times over the flu I've got. It's hell. Everyone who went to QC seems to have got it. sniffle, sniffle.

Alex Ettling

***
Farida Iqbal

We had a gathering at Forest Place at 3:10pm. The speakers stood on top of the raised grass bit and did their speeches. We gathered around the speakers. When the speeches were over we started up Murray St. Straight away police started trying to arrest one of our speakers. Someone called out "unlawful arrest!" I couldn't see why he was being arrested. I didn't think he broke any laws. The police were being very forceful. They made very little attempt to negotiate with us. They just grabbed this guy, we tried to defend him. The police started arresting more people. Some people were thrown down to the ground.

***
Trent Hawkins

Protest began at 3:30pm in between the two grass islands. Began with a few speakers talking on a megaphone, four police persons milled by the small station. They moved around to watch the speaker. A couple more police arrived. A woman went to chalk on the ground and was forced to clean it off.

James was speaking on the megaphone about collective action and the need to challenge the ruling class. I don't recall any specific swearing.

As the protest moved to undertake a march through Murray St Mall, about 3-4 Police attempted to grab James and pull him out of the line of the march. They then succeeded and dragged him away with several other protestors trying to get him away from the cops. They then called for more people to help. Another was pushed into the police station thing and arrested. The arrested people were taken to the paddy wagon around which a crowd of people formed and chanted "shame" and "this is not a police state, we have a right to demonstrate."

Alexis was grabbed by a policeman around the throat and were pushed and thrown into the paddy wagon.

***
Simone Epistafsson

As the march started, cops surrounded James who was wearing a white shirt, a member of Socialist Alternative (S.A.). James (Vigas?) who had glasses, also a member of S.A. had his arm around James. The police tried to tear them apart, which was when several other protestors including Louisa latched on as well. Two police officers grabbed James Vigas and then threw him against a wall. Several people got thrown on the ground as a result of the scuffle with police.

Protestors surrounded the police car in which the two James and Louisa were in. Alex Etting was pushed to the ground and dragged into the back of the car by several police officers.

Annalise, who was just standing around was pushed hard by a very tall and large cop. She did not provoke him and excessive violence was used upon her.

At the police station where the five protestors had been detained, a group of protestors sat against a wall opposite the station. We were not being loud or doing anything illegal. Police officers told us we were a `traffic hazard' and that if we did not leave we would all be arrested.

***
Shae McLean

I started to move off with the march and I watched two policemen at least walk up and surround (one on each side) a male marcher/protestor. Myself and a few others moved towards the protestor and asked "What did he do (to be arrested)?" and all the police officer would say was "Step away or you'll be arrested." I grabbed one officer's arm and asked again "What did he do?" The officer pushed me away from himself and then when I was an arms distance from the police officer, the police officer side-kicked me in the stomach and forced me back into the crowd and onto the ground.

***
Alicia Shevlin

I saw Alex Ettling being taken in a high headlock. I didn't see how he ended up on the ground, but I remember him being kicked twice, then by 3 (I think) cops into the van.

Everyone in front of the car was being pushed right over by a number of police. I saw one cop using a baton (held with one hand at each end, then moving forward to knock people over in his path.).

Later about 15 cops came to where about 20 of us were sitting peacefully over the road from the police station (East Perth) and told us to move on because our placards were disrupting traffic – we were only sitting there cross-legged, a few of us with placards flat on the ground at our feet.

***
Paul McCormick

When the protest first started marching, `James from SA,' (who was wearing a white shirt & introduced himself on the loudspeaker) was approximately 1-2m in front of me. A police officer went straight towards him from behind & grabbed his arm roughly. At the same time 2 or 3 officers came from the other direction (I couldn't see over the first officer at the time, as I am quite short.). There was an ensuing scuffle.

Alex Ettling was grabbed from behind by a police officer, with his (the officer's) arm over his chin and pulling his head backwards. He was then thrown to the ground and two other officers surrounded him. Two of the officers kicked him, one twice. I saw Alex kicked in the kidney and the stomach. He was then hauled roughly into the police van.

***
Tali Sternfein

I was in a peaceful rally, which begun with a few speakers. Suddenly, when we began marching, a protestor was being forcefully grabbed by at least three police officers. I approached to hug my fellow demonstrator and became surrounded by police in an aggressive manner.

Despite being jammed in the sudden mob that had surrounded the arrestee, and the police and unable to free myself, I was repeatedly shoved and yelled at. A police person shoved me aside that forcefully that I was thrown back, landing straight on my back and slamming my head on the cement. While I was flat on the floor, stunned, a number of police people continued on, blithely stepping on me, with no concern for my health or safety. It was a member of the concerned public who hauled me up, from under the police people's feet.

***
Stuart Richards

– Shae getting side-kicked
- 20 cops 10 quiet protestors
- everyone (including Lucille) in front of the car getting pushed over
- James Higgins getting arrested

***
Lucille Paterson

– Shae standing behind a policeman, asking "Why is he being
arrested?" Shae was then pushed and kicked forcefully to the ground.

***
Katie Sfetkidis

I saw James (ANU) being grabbed by the police, when he really didn't do anything. I saw tell of a girl with straight black hair for chalking.

Outside the police Station (East Perth) we were asked to leave for obstructing traffic, while we (about 20 people) were peacefully sitting on the footpath opposite the station. When we offered to get rid of the placards, they told us we had to move on. As we were leaving I said "You should be ashamed of yourselves, this is disgraceful!" and a cop said "You should ashamed of your dress sense." I said "Excuse me?" The officer said "You abused me, I can abuse you!" Then we left.

***
Rachel Evans

I was engaged in a peaceful rally at Forest Chase. The Queer Collaborations Conference had an end of conference rally, as most student conferences do. We were listening to speakers and started to march off. Around 3-5 cops pushed into the leading students and grabbed one of the speakers. The student, surprised, struggled. There was no warning given by the police. A number of students rushed in to defend the student grabbed.

The cops manhandled him and hit him against the paddy-wagon while trying to get him in. We shouted "Shame" and "This is not a police state, we have the right to demonstrate." The cops picked off some other students. After they had a number of people in the way and a burly cop (Gogh No.11431) said to the other cops "get them out of here." He shoved and other cops shoved students that were in front of the paddy-wagon. No 11431 got out his baton (Whip Stick) and hit a number of students who had fallen, after shoved to the ground.

At no time did the police tell us why they were arresting these activists. We then marched off to the cop station (East Perth).

***
Sunny Ho

Immediately after Shane Cuckle had finished making a speech, two police confronted him, and one of them grabbed his arm unnecessarily. Whilst questioning Shane the police continued to hold his arm in order to intimidate Shane Cuckle.

At East Perth Police Station, Franscheni No. 6728 collected my personal details. Upon myself asking him why he singled me out to take my details, he made a spurious attempt at civility by suggesting that the police could only collect one persons details at a time. There were approximately fifteen (15) police, and about twenty (20) citizens in our group, yet he singled me out. I believe he singled me out because I was noting down police details (names and numbers). My friend beside me also asked him why Franscheni was taking my details, which he replied, in the sense of: "Because he [Sunny Ho] was taking our details."

***

Technorati: VSU, queer, activism, Perth

Of Jenny Macklin, resolutions, and others

2005-07-11T19:45:00.000+10:00

NUS Education Conference 290605 - 010705

The last day of Ed Con started with a bang, with Jenny Macklin (shadow minister for Education) delivering a rather encouraging (can’t really say it was inspiring) speech about the evils of VSU, sinister minister Brendan Nelson, and most of all - but of course - the great and wonderful solidarity of the Labor Party. Labor is behind all you students in your fight against VSU! You should all be congratulated for the enormously successful campaign you have built thus far.

She did make a good point, though, about the importance of building a campaign that cut across many sections of society. Incidentally this has been an increasingly applied strategy in education campaigns in the last half-decade or so. It seems that the cross-community strategy has been yielding much greater gains as compared to the more conventional uni-demographic – or even uni-organisational – model of lobbying.

And quite rightly so, IMHO. Not only does this provide the opportunity for different perspectives (and thus different interests) to be taken into account, it also – more significantly – highlights the fact that the different sectors of the community are stakeholders just as much as politicians are decision-makers – and the latter simply cannot make informed decisions by excluding the former. (Democratically speaking, anyway.)

Sounds wanky musing about all this – but I do reckon that this particular strategy isn’t being tapped enough by student activists, at least to a level that we should really strive to be working at. Possibly because it takes a lot more coordination and effort and some may not be arsed enough to go the distance; perhaps they aren’t getting their act together; perhaps the difficulty in some groups of sustaining motivation and interest is posing a more immediate challenge; perhaps - shock horror - factional in-fighting… I don’t know.

But our strategising finesse, as a movement, can see better days yet.

I shall pen off with the best part of Jenny Macklin’s speech: VSU is quite the misnomer – there is nothing about it that is voluntary.

Indeed.

Update: The Resolutions Session on the last day of Ed Con was a bit of a wank, undiplomatically speaking. There was no order. (Some) motions were badly written. Content of motions were often unfocused, and not always relevant to the campaign at hand. Nevertheless, some good arguments were put up by some of the Broad Left. Which is more than can be said of (some) NOLS (Labor left) kids.

***
This post created 070705.

Technorati: Australia, higher education, activism, NUS

(No)mad

2005-07-11T04:17:00.000+10:00

Just got back from Newcastle. Room is in a mess - and me, in a state of restlessness. It feels so good to be back in my own space, with my music playing on my speakers... and yet, I cannot calm my unsettled, scattered mind. My unsettled, scattered self.

It's only halfway through the 5-conference-in-a-stretch mayhem, but I feel the ominous fatigue creeping its way nearer and nearer to me, furtively, almost like a shadow closing in with stealthy motion to consume my salient, sentient, defenselessness.

So far, it's been Ed Con, QC, NLCAC. Tomorrow, AMUNC starts. I have yet to read any background papers, nor committee guides. I have 5 hours to go, and no sleep since... almost exactly 48 hours. (This time for totally frivolous reasons - only clue being an L word - how about that!) (Seems strange that I'm being proud for the wrong reasons. Lol.) I'm glad my general all-round inquisitiveness led me to at least some 'leisure' reading on HRW some time back.

It's somewhat frustrating to find myself in such a scattered state, mainly because the past coupla weeks have been a really positive experience overall - and my mottledness is refracting that with a perspex sheet of noise. Distracting, white, noise.

Shush.

QC Action in Perth

2005-07-08T19:39:00.000+10:00

To clue in the clueless - today was the rally by the queer student bloc at Queer Collaborations, against VSU. Here is an SMS update from the ground:

Action eventful. Some arrested, cops a bit psycho until they realised it was making things worse. Left us alone after that.

This should be popping up in the news rather shortly.

Update: 5 students arrested. Full update with personal accounts here.

Technorati: VSU, queer, activism, Perth

Nadir of the Summit

2005-07-08T05:37:00.000+10:00

And now we interrupt your program "Perth Reminiscence" for a few short messages.

***
Tomorrow is the final day of the G8 summit. Today, London is bombed.

Media Schmedia

2005-07-08T02:50:00.000+10:00

Yet another flight. And of course, yet another blog post. Perth has gone by amazingly quickly. In a rare opportunity, I have (this time) somehow managed to actually see some lovely snippets of the conference host city, for which Nic must be muchly credited. :)

Lessons To Learn

2005-07-04T06:59:00.000+10:00

[Ed: I hadn’t been arsed enough to reflect upon my experiences and knowledge infusions at Ed Con – until now. (Technically, I started writing this post a bit ago but never tied it up til now.) So here you go – retrospectively speaking.]

Update: Dear Nic has very expertly and kindly fixed up my template so that it shows as it should, on IE. Much gratitude and kudos. :)

For all the horror stories I’d heard about the screaming matches between “evil right-wing neo-cons” and “crazy ludicrous lefties” at many an ed con, today actually went off to a pretty good start.

I was particularly impressed by the candour of Roger Cook, the inaugural president of the AUS (Australian Union of Students), when he shared his own experiences as a student activist, and – more importantly – his insights on the way forward for the student movement, in an impending age of VSU.

What touched me about his speech was – his honesty in the admission that the activists of his time had “thrown away the baby” by focusing too much on lobbying, and neglecting to make the (then) AUS more relevant to students.

He was not the only one to emphasise on the practical, day-to-day benefits for students for the continued survival of the student movement. Even the media representatives from the West Australian and [another media house which escapes me], who presented a media workshop, stressed the importance of delivering the student discounts and other visible benefits, in keeping the connection alive between students and student representatives.

I think this was an extremely useful nugget of advice for all student activists, particularly at a time when the very existence student organisations is under siege.

Personally, I feel that the real issue of the whole VSU scandal (yes, scandal) is that of silencing the student voice – extinguishing political dissent. More than just being an all-too-familiar phenomenon back home, the increasing shift towards social conservatism – the kind that uses stability or security (take your pick) as a pretext for quelling “inconvenient” political expression – which is amassing increasing momentum in major western “liberal democracies”, forces me to think harder about the roadblocks and pot holes on the bumpy road for social change. And democracy.

However, the vast majority of constituents – oh how I hate the word; they are humans with dignity and voice, not political commodities – do not relate to the politics nearly as much as they do to the pragmatics of representation and advocacy. People need to see the tangibles.

I recognise the necessity in being responsive to those we claim to represent, inasmuch as it may be an inevitability in the course of delivering the real product: advocacy.

I inevitably drew connections between the Australian student movement and the much, much broader, global one that Student Rights Watch may potentially grow to be an integral vehicle of.

It’s difficult to say anything now, because we’re barely even done drafting our constitution – which I see still many inadequacies in – but, there are many aspects which cannot be generalised between a national peak body and an international rights lobby NGO of sorts. Membership. Funding. Organisational structure. Decision making. The advocacy itself. There’s more.

Nevertheless, I believe the way in which SRW may be made relevant to students is different in different socio-politico-cultural contexts. Heck, I think it’s in fact necessary to be agilely responsive to the various situations we will inevitably be faced with.

Yes, there is much work to be done.

And I am excited about the challenges – and change – ahead of us.

Technorati: Australia, higher education, activism, politics

Spain is back!

2005-07-02T04:23:00.000+10:00

- and one more up, yet, for the movement.

BBC 30 June: Spanish MPs approve gay marriages

Technorati: gay, LGBT, gay marriage, Spain

Are you wearing your white band today?

2005-07-01T10:42:00.000+10:00

My personal issues concerning dependency cycles notwithstanding, I thought this deserved a post on its own.

July 1 will see people around the world wearing their white bands and wrapping public buildings in white to send a message to the G8 world leaders that they demand action on trade justice, debt cancellation, and more and better aid. International White Band Day will prove to be one of the largest global actions ever taken.

Check out the Global Call to Action Against Poverty website.

Credits to Jw for the scoop.

Chasing A Running Dog Brendan Nelson

2005-07-01T03:57:00.000+10:00

ABC online July 1: Students defend rally after Nelson forced to retreat

Direct action at its strongest in a while, with student activists across the country making a statement - loud and clear - against VSU.

Anecdotal report from Alex Ettling on the ground.

Update: Canada passes gay marriage bill - woot!! The battle is worth continuing to fight for, comrades.

***
What an amazing day we had in Perth!

One of the largest protests we've seen in the city for years, with up to 30, 000 people filling up the Perth cultural centre to protest the Liberal Government's proposed industrial relations reforms.

Unions were out in force and we had a large turn out of students marching behind the NUS banner, against the government. The neoliberal agenda will affect many students who are often in low-skilled jobs where individual bargaining will see a reduction in basic rights for workers.

We also showed disgust at the pursuit of the government to implement an ideological reform which will see the removal of unfair dismissal laws and an attack on union's ability to defend the interests of workers against businesses.

During the rally which was addressed by Stephen Smith, Geoff Gallup and Sharon Burrow - we had Claire English (NUS queer officer) and Farida Iqbal (CAPA queer officer) stand up on the stage with a huge queer banner, whilst the compere praised the contribution of queer activists in the struggle for fair working conditions. This was met with loud cheers from the crowd including members from the construction and maritime unions.

After the action, students met up at The Court pub and discussed the possibility of an action against federal education minister Brendan Nelson who was attending an opening at Edith Cowan University. A packed bus load of student activists headed to the Mt Lawley campus and protested outside the building. We jeered Nelson as he walked in. Even though police sent horses and ludicrous amounts of back up, we prevented the minister from being able to leave the building. We chanted anti-VSU slogans and showed solidarity with the struggle of indigenous people for reconcilliation.

Nelson and his body guards tried to get through the crowd and violently pushed back students. However, due to the presence of media, they were perhaps reluctant to bruttally stampede throught the chain of students linking arms and demonstrating their unwillingness to take the VSU legislation without a fight. Nelson ran back into the building when they realised they weren't going to get anywhere due to the power of the student collective.

In the fracas, Craig Comrie, NUS queer officer was arrested and thrown into the back of a paddy wagon. Whilst showing solidarity with Craig and preventing Nelson's luxury car from leaving, we watched as the police and ASIO thought of ways of getting Nelson out of there, whilst also dragging students away from the car.

Eventually Nelson cowardly ran out the back door. He was pursued by angry students who ran, shouting 'scum'. He was forced to run his body guards from students with to a waiting car which sped off at break neck speed out of the uni. We continued to give chase to the round-a-bout and then let him go with a large scale middle finger
salute.

It was a great on-the-spot direct action, and coupled with the mass demo earlier in the day, showed how students and workers getting together can influence things and disrupt the workings of the oppressive, capitalist machine.

We look forward to achieving similar results at next week's queer collaborations conference, where we hope that all the activists who turned up today will join the fight against heterosexism and queerphobia.

***
Technorati: higher education, Australia, VSU, current affairs

Dash for the (air)bus

2005-06-29T05:31:00.000+10:00

QF538 SYD-PER 1925 hrs

Even after the numerous, numerous flights of the last 2+ years, it seems that there are just some things I never – or perhaps, subconsciously refuse to – learn. Like arriving at the airport at least 30 minutes (I know, I’m terrible) before my flight (domestic, of course).

Take today.

[Ed: Yes, I realised the formatting is wonky. I'm looking into it..]

1610    Still on yahoo with benjipc
1748    Start packing
1813    Do the put-toiletries-into-itty-bitty-containers thing
1815    Crap. Gotta hurry up.
1830    Still dare to happily eat my cereal
1838    Fuck! How did I take so long? [Flurry of mobile keypad sounds] [on speaker, while dressing] "… Kensington. To domestic airport. 1 person. Yes, ring on my mobile please. Thanks!"
1844    Settle key (literal) issues with housemate; hug housemate goodbye. "Erh… are you running late?" "[Lol] Yah. See how lor. I try to worm my way, as always. I’ll call you when I’m back home – I got your Sing number right – yup – ok bye!"
1850    [Downstairs] Cab still not here. [Flurry of mobile keypad sounds] "Hi! I called for a cab and it hasn’t come… " [4 agonising minutes later] "The address was recorded wrongly. Your cab is looking for you now, [garota]." "Thanks heaps!"
1856    "Yup, domestic airport. Can I ask a favour of you – go as fast as you allow yourself to."
1906    Departure/Arrival signs come into view. "Hey, you’re pretty good!"
1908    "Thank you so much – don’t worry about the change!"
1909    Need. Boarding. Pass. Queues everywhere. Crap. Ok. Just go straight in to Security. Don’t care.
1911    [Baggage check guy stops me.] "Whoa! You sure you can bring in such a big bag in?" Ok. Just tell a white lie. You have no choice. "Well, sure, I’ve done it before…"
1913    [Another baggage guy lifts my backpack suspiciously] "Is this yours? – You’ll need to come round the front and scan it again because you’ve got a laptop inside." Sigh. Not once. Just give it up already.
1915    Sign overhead: QF538 PERTH – FLT CLSED Fuck!! Keep moving, keep moving… [Excessive noise from wonky wheels attract strange looks.]
1916    [At the gate counter itself] “Hi! I was told to show my photo ID..." Damn, another white lie.
1917    "Oh dear. Your baggage definitely needs to be checked in. [A few seconds later, handing boarding pass to me] No worries, we’ve taken care of it – you’re good to go. Enjoy the flight!"
1918    "Will passengers [garota] and … please proceed to Gate 10 for immediate boarding."

***
And now it’s 2127 Sydney time. Listening to Ella’s Gone With The Wind, on Qantas’ top-notch hi-tech headphones. Did you know it works with a laptop too? – Catch being you can only hear from one side because of the 2-pin airplane headphone jacks. [Note to self: I need to get me a decent pair.] Dinner of coriander chicken was alright (by airplane food standards). I should get some sleep. (You can tell by my rambling here.) It’s been … 30 odd hours since.

Looking forward to ed con, QC, Nic and Mie.

Update: After being asked my travel plans one too many times, I’ve decided to paste the old Trotter Calendar back up – with updates on the next 6 weeks. Nah.

QOTD

2005-06-27T01:09:00.000+10:00

Heard over the pacific from an unnamed ~~WASP~~ WAAJHM:

To compete with lesbians, one must be great.

Update! SIA is flying me - all the way to London! London, baby!! [A little sheepish to admit this, but - FRIENDS fans know what I'm talking about.]

LONDON, BABY!!!

ps. the pics - Little Ben and Big Ben. What, I couldn't resist.

Homophobia

2005-06-26T00:03:00.000+10:00

- and other such skeletons in many a politician's closet (pun fully intended).

I was quite alarmed to hear about the escalating homophobia in Poland, which has reached rather violent proportions this week. It does not look good: efforts to ban Polish LGBT organisations; a "normality parade" endorsed by Polish officials - after banning Poland's gay pride march; gay bashing - and now, shooting - at gay venues.

The intensity of the climate has forced Polish LGBT organisations to plead to Europe for help. In their statement: