an interesting thought…

Have you ever wondered what was going through a leader’s mind when they made a certain decision, such as why Tony Blair went to war in Iraq with the USA… well here’s a site that gives people an insight to a president’s mind. I found it very interesting thus far… as it’s from a country which is big on censorship.

http://www.ahmadinejad.ir/

“But if in our view, “government” would be a responsibility before God for ‎establishing justice and a duty to ensure the rights of common people, serving the ‎servants of God and helping the oppressed- then the most important issue will be the ‎people’s concerns.  If this is the case, governors would not view themselves as better than ‎other people and they wouldn’t put themselves in any other position except serving the ‎people”

palau bidong

The other day I was speaking to my mother about the refugee camps we stayed in. One of these camps was a place in Palau Bidong. I did some researching and came up with two pieces that I thought I’d share with everyone. They’re from people who have lived or visited the area. It’s amazing how beautiful a place can be, and can also house the darkest, most frightening times of your lives-mostly attributed to being a stateless person and limboing between countries-at the same time. I can only think of the children who’ll have to live through Christmas island detention centre ordeal. I wonder what they’ll write about it in a few years. I really hope to be able to revisit those camps since I spent most of my early childhood there. I went to Ban Aranyaphratet at the beginning of this year but Khao-I-Dang had already closed down and it was such a mission getting across the border.

“Artist’s Inspiration

Over this past summer, my mother and I visited a little abandoned island off the coast of Malaysia called Pula Bidong, the site of a Vietnamese refugee camp where we lived. We explored the island by taking photographs and gathering ephemeral documents scattered throughout the deserted buildings. These documents included letters, testimonies, and government records. Some had worms eating them leaving spiral holes, while others were partially buried in the dirt with plants growing through them. Since these documents had not been disturbed for a least a decade or more, they have been physically transformed through decay and exposure to the elements.

Naturally, if one leaves a water hose on the lawn, in a couple of days, one would find a pale color grass where it was placed. Using the process of photosynthesis, I have printed some of these writings and text onto leaves, suggesting that these documents imprinted themselves into the landscape. When printing on leaves, I place a negative on top of a live leaf and place that in the sun for a period of 3 to 4 weeks. Through the depletion of chlorophyll an image is formed. I believe that this also naturally occurred on this island with the arbitrary placement of the documents on the ground.

These documents and the landscape of the island share a common consciousness. The metaphor I am suggesting is that histories (or stories) dissolve into their environments. Sometimes these histories are documented and preserved through books and infrastructures such as museums. Other times they are still there, but are not revealed immediately upon their discovery. Like the buried memories of Pula Bidong Island, history sinks slowly and deeply into the ground.

~Binh Danh, May 23, 2004

This sketch was done La Toan Vinh’s. Further sketches can be accessed here: http://latoanvinh-sketch.blogspot.com/

finally! they’ve got it right

Plato 
When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income.

The question that most people ask is: Why do we have to pay our taxes? The main justification that the government gives is to support and build society. But it has been known that the people who benefit from the tax system are the ones that have the skills to avoid paying them. Take Kerry Packer for example. Due to his creative financing, his son James Packer was able to get AusStudy payments. He’s worth $7.1 billion. AusStudy payments are for low income families.

Today, Treasurer Wayne Swan, released a budget that is finally addressing the question: “Why do we have to pay our taxes?” a budget that will be putting our tax contributions towards building a greater society – funding a digital revolution for the children who will be future leaders, building affordable rental properties for those not ready to buy, tax cut for lower income earners, childcare costs – to cheaper education, incentives for products used for education, medical care and a better water system. And then the second question: “How is the government going to fund this?” The simple answer is stricter rules on what can be tax exempted, a means test to prevent people of higher income of utilizing public society security, tax increase on higher incomes, closer review on income… and externally, the booming trade between india, china and australia” 

People have dubbed the new budget as the robin hood budget – and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. If I am giving hundred dollars away to the government, I would rather it went to those who are disadvantaged in society. I was walking to the car this evening after getting off the train and there was this group of kids asking people walking by for 50c so they could make a call to their parents to pick them up. People just walked by turning a blind eye. I thought it was horrid – it’s 50c and could reduce the time they are standing out in the cold. We don’t need the extra dollar- there are people who are suffering and growing weary and distress because of financial stress, and if we have to fund and support their lives, it’s not a big sacrifice.