COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN

The beauty of living in countries such as Australia is that they have an ombudsman for almost every area. There’s a telecommunication omudsman, a transport omudsman and remarkably, a commonwealth ombudsman. This would give you immense peace of mind because even the government cannot do wrong. A liberty which is not afforded in many countries.

More info on the omudsman: http://www.comb.gov.au/

Here’s an interesting fact.
247 immigration cases have been referred to the omudsman pending investigation in the 2005/2006 period.
The report can be access here: http://www.comb.gov.au/commonwealth/publish.nsf/Content/mediarelease_2007_07_reportslink

Maybe something will be done about the child centre at Christmas Island detention centre http://www.rac-vic.org/downloads/xmas-isl-child-centre.pdf 

After all, Australia is bound by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 37(b)

“No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.”

The child centre has several play areas, classrooms and enclosures. It reminds me of those totalitarian dystopias that they write about in sci-fi novels where cities are caved in and controlled.

violence never solved any problems

“The cause of violence is not ignorance. It is self interest. Only reverance can restrain violence – reverance for human life and the environment” – William Sloan Coffin

The Olympic torch touched down in Canberra Australia this morning and I am relieved that an outburst of  violence has not occured yet. I support people’s right to protest a cause, but not to endanger other people’s lives by tackling them in the street as if it were a fight in a football field. The torch is a symbol of unity and extinguishing the torch and possibly injuring (or killing) the bearer for a minute of media coverage is not sending out any messages of human rights.

There are other ways to protest.

Martin Lurther King and Gandhi did it successfully without sending countless numbers into the hospital.

One of the events in which we can draw from that promotes and celebrates world unity, is the olympics- and the olympic torch relay (which goes through most nations). I personally don’t think it should be used for cheap stunts. It’s okay to protest peacefully at the side of the streets as the torch bearer goes past, but to hurt them is not something that our generation wants to be known for.

another poem for my readers

The Night
By Kalyan Ky

It was the night.
We were lying on the bed
watching residue fall from the roof
and brush down against the motel window

And the city lights dazzled us

It was the night.
I was singing songs on the bed
and you accompanied me on the piano
Melody after melody from your memory

And we laughed when I went out of tune

It was the night.
You were bored with the plain peach walls
That dressed the cracked building which
Housed dozens of marauders in waiting.

Then you dragged my hands downstairs

It was the night.
You hailed a taxi driver
And we hoped into the tattered backseats -
Reveling at the delight of the midnight traffic.

And you grabbed my hands and smiled.

It was the night.
I saw a statue latent by the wharf
Its features arresting my youthful life with interest

And we ran like cats in the dark.

It was the night
We climbed over the fence
And scuttled through the jagged rocks
Grazing our knees against the violent surface

But the reward was worth it

She was encrusted with sapphire
And wore a necklace made from rocks.
Her tail was long and draping down over the cliff.
She smiled.
We took pictures.

It flashed three times.

Then

It was the night
We were lying on the ground beside the mermaid.
I was watching the drunken raucous walk away from us.
You laid there
Your body
Decorating the dry grey rocks
With a new streak of red

It was the night
I bit my blanket
Amidst the silent sirens
As they lugged you
Onto the footpath

It was our night
And the green leaves
Flew over for only half the evening
But buried me in your soot for the rest

It was the night
And it has never ended.

Tim McMillan

I love this guy!

He’s really good on the guitar
In the vid below, he performed a Japanese Piece in a 400 year old church in Germany.

He’s currently touring over there.
It’s worth watching

Some pictures from the Cambodian New Year Celebrations in NZ

http://www.cambodia.org.nz/khmernewyearinnz2008.htm

cambodian new year down under

Over the last few days, we celebrated the Cambodian New Year

We gathered around for some food and festivities at home, but also visited the various temples in Melbourne to catch a bit of live music, food, games and fun.

I really loved it how the Cambodian Youth are still donning their culture, as they dance to traditional music on the temple courtyard till midnight. It was nice seeing how many of them still retain their culture, and still know the basic traditional dances.

Apart from the traditional customs, there were also lots of theme park-ish rides and carnival food. This is the beauty of celebrating it down under – I quite enjoy having the best of both worlds in one place and only within a drive.

Some pictures of the galavantings.

the crowd gather for the evening concert and some dancing

mooching in the jumping castle with family

sitting under on of the WAT’s monuments

yay 2008! using the gregorian calendar now

some famous Khmer entertainers in Melbourne

writings on the wall

sleeping after three days of celebration