Does Xi Jingping have a plan B for Hong Kong

As a boy in Hong Kong, I enjoyed taking a short trip on the iconic Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. Even after migrating to Australia, I have always made it my mission to take at least one trip on the Star Ferry whenever I was in Hong Kong. It was on such a trip that I first saw Hong Kong people calling for democracy.

In 1989 while studying at the Queensland University I mourned with my fellow students for protesters in Beijing. This was a watershed for Hong Kongers. The day after the massacre, a million people (one in four) marched on Hong Kong streets in protest. It is hard to imagine that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would not have taken notice.

Prior to the massacre, the CCP sidelined the party’s democratic reformers like Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. Zhao was placed in home detention until his death. After the massacre the CCP realised that they needed to re-brand themselves (Clive Hamilton’s “Silent Invasion”). Then CCP not only continue with their shift to market economy but also replaced Marxist-Leninist ideology with extreme nationalism. Every school child was brain washed to identify the CCP as China. Not being faithful to the CCP means not being patriotic. The CCP also emphasis the humiliation of the Chinese people at the hand’s foreigners. The CCP taught that historic events like the Sino-British Opium war and the Eight-Nation Alliance were a blight to China that a strong CCP/China would erase thus making China great again. (Never mind that Mao inspired Great Leap Forward and the Cultural have killed far more than any conflict with European nations.) It is in this context that Australia’s fate is now linked to Hong Kong. As part of CCP’s dream to make China great again, the CCP use their United front tactic. The result of these tactics has been well documented in the Australian media. For the CCP the new China will replace freedom with stability, law with ethics and democracy with enlightened rule (Clive Hamilton’s “Silent Invasion”). But even a quick survey of a number of Chinese dynasties will tell you that stability, ethics and enlightened rule do not work. And the CCP does not even have an imperial examination system to ensure good governance. In “Flyswats and Tight Traps” John Fitzgerald pointed out that China’s president Xi, at the beginning of his rule has to resort to anti-corruption campaign to rein in corrupt cadres not doing bidding of party central. However, there is no guarantee that the corruption will not return.  Without the rule of law, independent judiciary and proper governing system, China will be like a boat in a rough sea where the crew rushes between corruption and political campaign. Ironically, Xi and his loyal servant Carrie Lam are hellbent in destroying Hong Kong – the goose that have been laying the gold that has raised the living standard of everyone in the mainland.

Even worse the very thing that the CCP hates, freedom, is what distinguish Hong Kong from every other mainland cites. Many mainliners would point out the advances of cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen will make Hong Kong unnecessary. The broadcaster Richard Harris debunk this by arguing that Hong Kong has the rule-of-law and freedom of speech. How can investors have confidence when face with an opaque system?

It is certainly true that Hong Kong people are resilient but ultimately the ball is in Xi’s court. The standoff can be resolved if Xi will direct Lam to implement the five demands of: withdraw of the extradition bill (already done), retract the label of “riot”, release imprisoned protesters, independent investigation of police conduct and finally universal suffrage. The demand for universal suffrage was promised in Hong Kong constitution – the basic law and there is no excuse to deprive Hong Kong anymore. 

For centuries, Chinese rules have persisted with ethics and enlightened rule to find their Gates of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen) but they have all been thwarted by the reality of the human condition. The Ming dynasty didn’t collapse because of foreign interference (the Manchus). The Ming collapsed because of internal discontent.

  

The west did not wake up one day to democracy, rule of law and human rights. It has taken over 800 years to travel from the Magna Carter to our modern democracy. It is time for China to try something new. Finally, Sun yat-sen , the father of modern China enshrined democracy in his Three Principles of the People so Xi has no excuse.

Peace on Earth can be achieved, but only if we are careful of historical symbolisms

As an Australian of Chinese descent, I, and many Chinese people around the world should be proud of what the Chinese government has done to raise the living stands of millions of her citizens. This is in spite of the disastrous Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. However, I wonder if the recent actions of the Chinese government in the South China Sea and the controversial Belt and Road initiative are the behaviour of a maturing super power? Sadly, the recent APEC forum has generated doubt regarding the maturity of the current generation of Chinese leaders and their ability to work constructively with the community of nations.

2018 is the 100th anniversary of the 1918 armistice and it provides us with a strong reminder to be vigilant of our history. When Germany defeated France at the beginning of World War 2, Hitler insisted that France must formalise her surrender in the same place where France formalised her defeat of Germany in World War I. Hitler knew how to use historical symbolism to exact revenge from France. No details were spared, even the train carriage that housed the 1918 Armistice meeting was dragged out from a museum so Hitler could further humiliate France.

Clearly, deliberately enacted or deliberately avoided historical symbolisms are powerful tools that can be used to reinforce hate or to bring about peace. I lament the lost opportunities at the recent 2018 APEC forum. In particular, the failure of the Chinese delegation under Xi Jin Ping to use the forum’s historical location to repair her relation with an old ally – the United States of America. Worse still the Chinese delegation also managed to put Australia (another old ally) into an unnecessarily difficult, political position.

The important symbolism for APEC 2018 is Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Seven

decades ago, Papua New Guinea, along with the nearby Coral Seas were where the Allies (the USA and Australia) were finally able to halt the Japanese Army and Navy advance in the Pacific. For the first time in history, two opposing naval fleets, Japan and the USA, were able to use carrier-based aircraft to attack an opposing fleet. In fact, the ships from the two fleets never saw each other. By the end of the Battle of the Coral Sea both fleets had lost one carrier each to the enemy. While loses in the two fleets were similar, the e Americans and the Australians gained the upper hand because the Japanese Navy had lost too many aircraft to be able to mount a direct assault on Port Moresby. Instead the Japanese had to go overland to try to take Port Moresby (leading to the Kokoda campaign).

 The Coral Seas and Kokoda are a long way from China but without this first victory, the Battle of the Coral Sea, how many more years would the people of China have continued to suffer under Imperial Japan? How much more would the people of Hong Kong have to suffer under Japanese rule? I still recall my Auntie telling me how Chinese girls in Hong Kong darkened their faces with shoe polish to avoid being targeted by the Japanese soldiers in Hong Kong.

Clearly the people of China owe the USA and the Australians a great deal for defeating Imperial Japan. However, seven decades later, the Chinese delegation blundered into Port Moresby even before the APEC forum began as though they were already the new imperial power. This time the direct assault was in the form of vague promises of infrastructure loans. Did Xi’s team actually research the historical significance of Port Moresby? Do they even know the people of New Guinea suffered as much under Imperial Japan as the people of China? Even the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, from a former enemy nation was smart enough to visit Darwin before proceeding to APEC.

Unlike World War 2, the current dispute between China and the United States will not have a winner because the world is facing a far bigger enemy in climate change and continual environmental degradation that no missiles or aircraft carriers can ever defeat. What we need is a community of nations willing to work together where democracy and the rule of law are respected.

Finally, China, unlike Rome, has never been a great conquering nation. In fact, two Chinese dynasties (Yuan and Qing) were not ruled by Han Chinese and yet the it was the Han Chinese who had the last laugh as the Yuan emperors (Mongolians) and Qing emperors (Manchu) adopted the Chinese culture as their own. But isn’t this what the Chinese restaurants have done to the restaurant industry? Is there a single city in Australia that has no Chinese restaurants? As we approach Christmas, perhaps peace on earth can really be realised with a larger dose of Chinese restaurant diplomacy.

To Mr Abbott: Climate Change is real, just Jebi, Florence and Mangkhut

My wife and I were meant to have one more day in Hong Kong visiting relatives and friends. However, at the urging of our relatives and friends, we procured an earlier flight out Hong Kong. It was a good thing that we found an earlier flight for our original departure date of 16/9, will be remembered by the people of Hong Kong for decades to come. Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport normally servers more than 100 airlines operating flights to 180 countries but according to the South China Morning Post, most flights were cancelled affecting 96000 passengers. Hong-Kong based carriers – Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon and Hong Kong Airlines cancel at least 543 flights. I considered our 11pm departure on the 15/9 a major miracle. 

At Mangkhut’s closest approach to Hong Kong on the 16^th the Hong Kong Government raised the Typhoon threat level to 10 which is highest. The streets of Hong Kong are normally chocked by walls of shoppers on a Sunday but they were empty on the 16^th as most people took heed of government warnings. The damages were unprecedented. Modern Highrise offices and multistorey apartments were no match for Super typhon Mangkut. In earlier typhoons, the taping of windows was sufficient but not this time. In some cases, the complete windows were scattered causing glass to fall onto streets below. Some Highrise apartments lost power and with nothing to operate the water plumbs, some residents also found their water supply cut.  People in low lying areas suffered even worse. Many areas were flooded. The only people on the streets were emergency workers, news reporters and foolhardy idiots.

However, Mangkhut was not the only destructive typhoon in 2018. On the 4^th of September the tropic typhoon Jebi made landfall on main land Japan. The destruction to the all-important Kansai airport meant tens of thousands of travellers were unable to leave Japan and holidaying Japanese residents were unable to return to Japan. This was not the only destructive weather in Asia for the month of September.

On Wednesday 12^th of September, while on the famous Star Ferry crossing Hong Kong Harbour (from Kowloon to Hong Kong Islant), I noticed that the usually placid harbour was already rough but that was more to do with typhoon Barijat.  Yes, Hong Kong and Southern China was being threaten by not one but two typhoons!

The famous casinos of Macau the west of Hong Kong was forced to shut down for 33 hours. The South China Moring Post reported that two major casino operators lost as much as US$186 million because of the shutdown.

In 2017, the former conservative Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott suggested at a London conference that voters should beware of the science of climate change and that higher temperatures “might actually be beneficial” because “far more people die in cold snaps”. Even though another conservative, the National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simpson, has argued that climate change is leading to more frequent droughts in Australia. Overall the picture for decisive actions on climate change does not bode well when Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull was brutally replaced by Scott Morrison. Turnbull was dumped for wanting very modest action on climate change. The new conservative government mantra is best summed up by the new Agriculture minister who states that he doesn’t ‘give a rats’ whether climate change is man-made.

Just as climate scientists are warning of the danger of climate change to Australian farmers and the famous Great Barrier Reef. They are also pointing to the danger of more frequents destructive typhoons like Mangkhut. The Hong Kong Observatory (“The Year’s Weather – 2017 https://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/pastwx/2017/ywx2017.htm) stated that 32 tropical cyclones occurred over the Western North Pacific and South China Sea in 2017. The Observatory concluded that this number is more than the long-term (1961-2010) average.

Beside the drought the other hot button issue for the current Australian government is the cost of electricity. The conservative side want to show Australians that they are more concern for the high cost of electricity rather than the use of renewable energy to combat man-made climate change. Some in the conservative government wants to build more Coal-fired powerplants even though the world is trending away from coal to renewable. This is evident by GE Power, a coal-fired powerplant manufacturer who found their 2017 profit felt by 45% (Reuters “How General Electric gambled on fossil fuel power and lost” 22/2/2018).

For the conservative Morrison’s government turning away from decisive climate change action might look like a short-term fix to win the next election but it completely fails to address the reality of Mangkhut and Australia’s current sever drought.  The former represents a severe cost to our Asian trading partners and the latter a severe curtailment of Australia’s agriculture export. Both will affect Australia’s long-term economic outlook. More importantly, Australia abundant sunshine can one day be used by solar farms to generate hydrogen that can be exported to energy-hungry Asia. Mr Morrison renew energy is Australia future and not a political albatross.

Pandering Lies will not help the Refugee Situation

We are all appalled by the news of Islamic terror attacks in Britain, Australia and elsewhere However, is it as simplistic as Douglas Murray “Why Australia needs to stand firm and protect its borders” like us to believe. For many decades we have had Muslims migrating to Britain, the EU, United States and even Australia and yet the terror attacks and the hijacking of the 70s were not in the name of Allah. The Dawson’s field hijacking was committed by the PFPLA (Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine). The PFPLA was not even religious! They are a secular Marxist-Leninist organisation. In the 80s we have Al-Qaeda which was form as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Even the 9/11 attack on America has more to do with America’s entry into the first Gulf War because of Saddam Hussein invasion of Kuwait. If Murray is fully honest with the facts than he would acknowledge the examples of attacks that he raised only appeared with the rise of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in 2014. Even ISIS claim of link to Islam would have to be questioned given that ISIS leaders are entirely former Iraqi military and intelligence officers. More importantly they were members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath government. The Ba’ath party is based on Arabic nationalism and its ideology is secular. Another Australian columnist David Kilcullen pointed out that there would be on ISIS if not for the Second Gulf War.

So Mr Murray, please stop pandering your baseless extremist views to attack the UN’s attempt to solved the increasingly urgent need to save millions of refugees. Closing our doors to the dire situation will not improve our safety. More importantly, we need to help front line nations like Jordan and Lebanon where already overcrowded refugee camps are being made to take more while the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad continue to massacre his own people.  If UN cannot help countries like Jordan and Lebanon then the refuges problem will get much worse and it will make the current situation like a walk in the park.

Progress was not built on walls

Currently in the cinema is the movie “The Great Wall” starting Matt Damon. The movie is about a European mercenary group, while searching for gun powder, ended up joining forces with Chinese soldiers fighting alien monsters on the famed Great Wall of China. Fighting alien monsters on the Great Wall is certainly the stuff of Science Fiction but the Great Wall is very real and has over two thousand years of history. The wall was built to keep various nomadic groups from entering China. The wall had been rebuilt many times, the version we see today is from the Ming dynasty (1388-1644). Towards the end of the Ming dynasty the Great Wall failed to defend China from being over taken by foreign invaders. In the 14th century, the new Ming dynasty had sought to strengthen the Great Wall so as to keep out the Mongolian tribes from Northern China. By the 17th century the Ming began to face pressure from the Manchus. In 1644, the Ming general Wu Sangui opened the gates of the Great Wall thus enabling the Manchus to march onto the capital at Beijing. Any wall, no matter how strong, can be undermined by just one single traitor. In the case of Wu, he and his frontier garrison was sandwiched between the Manchus and Chinese rebels intended on bring down what remain of the Ming dynasty. Wu chose the Manchus and this event heralded the start of the last dynasty of China – the Qing dynasty.

The Ming dynasty lasted three centuries and for a significant portion of those 300 years, the Ming emperors poured great resources onto the rebuilding and the maintenance of the Great Wall. There is no doubt that the emperor’s mandate from heaven hinged very much on his ability to protect his empire and ensure continued prosperity for his subjects. But was the Great Wall the only solution available to the Ming emperors? The return of the once British colony of Hong Kong to mainland China is often a reminder of the backward and chaotic world of the Qing dynasty. And yet it was the Qing reformer Liang Qichao that reminded the world of the long forgotten Chinese explorer Zheng He. Admiral Zheng He, under the sponsorship of the Yongle Emperor, made expeditions to Brunei, Java, Thailand, India, the Horn of Africa, and Arabia. According to Wikipedia his first expedition consisted of more than 300 ships carrying more than 28000 crewmen. Zeng He commanded seven expeditions before the expeditions were stopped by Xuande Emperor (Yongle Emperor’s grandson). One has to wonder what China would be like today if Xuande chose to continue his grandfather policy. Instead of an insular Ming dynasty that hid behind the Great Wall, the Ming could have created a second silk road through naval power. Such a corridor would not only exchange goods but also ideas that could have benefited China and beyond.

Sadly the Ming dynasty were not the only ones who believe that shutting out the world is the only way to protect ones culture and prosperity. The Qing dynasty was to repeat the same mistake in setting up the Canton System to restrict trade with foreigners.  Yet out of this backward looking decision the British brought about the colony of Hong Kong. Today with China being the world’s economic engine it is easy to forget that for several decades many on the mainland look enviously at Hong Kong economic growth. All this only changed in the late 1980s when Deng Xiaoping turnaround Mao’s economic disasters and open up China.

Modern day Japan with her efficient Shinkansen (bullet train) also had her experiment with close borders and trade barriers. In the late 16th century, Japanese contact with Europeans has brought about new goods, new technologies and ideas (Christianity). By the late 17th century a significant portion of the population of Kyoto (Japan ancient capital) had converted to Christianity. The scale of this conversion is even more amazing when one see the enormous number Buddhist temples in Kyoto today.  This exchange was even encouraged by the then leader of Japan Oda Nobunaga. However Nobunaga’s successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi was suspicious of the Europeans and the Sakoku Edict was put in place[i]. The edict first decree forbids (violators are executed) Japanese from leaving Japan and forbids (violators are executed) Europeans from entering Japan. The second decree forbids Catholicism and the third decree severely restricts trade with foreigners.

Have the world learn anything from these historical withdraw into isolationism?

Mexican wall will only bring down North America. It will make America Great-ly stupid

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[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakoku_Edict_of_1635

We need dreamers - La La Land - A Review

Went to watch La La Land (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_La_Land_(film)) with Christine. The movie the uses the term "La La Land" for two things. Firstly LA is short for Los Angeles and secondly we often say someone is is living in La La Land to say that he or she is a dreamer.
The two main characters of this film certainly seems like dreamers. On the one hand we have Seb the jazz musician who wants his own jazz club in the "classical" jazz style but he is way behind in his bills. On the other hand we have Mia who is an aspiring actor who keeps getting knocked back.

The movie starts in what seems like a boring traffic jam scene somewhere in LA the audience is left breathless when driver after driver came out of their cars to start singing and dancing in the middle of the traffic. The whole movie is very visual, Emma Stone (Mia) wears brightly colourful clothing and one can't help but remind us of famous musicals from the 50s like Gene Kelly dancing in the rain. We see Seb and Mir breaking doing their tap dancing moves!

One of these dancing scenes occurs when Seb takes Mia out on their first date which somehow ended in the LA Griffith Observatory. They dance round and round the Obervatory's Focault pendulum. From the Focault pendulum the couple ended up in the planetarium where the they started rising up into the sky and the starts  almost like Mary Poppins. Were we supposed to see this as another reminder that we are watching a pair of dreamers in love?

The theme song "City of Stars" talks more of dreaming but now we don't dream alone.

Sebastian's Verse: Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone]
City of stars
Are you shining just for me?
City of stars
There's so much that I can't seeWho knows?
I felt it from the first embrace I shared with you
That now our dreamsThey've finally come true
[Mia's Verse: Emma Or Ryan  Gosling]
City of stars 
Just one thing everybody wants
There in the bars
And through the smokescreen of the crowded restaurantsIt's loveYes,
 all we're looking for is love from someone else
A rush
A glance
A touch
A dance


Well you will need to go and watch it and see if you too is a dreamer!

Advocacy 2016

2016 must be one of the worst year in terms of world politics and democracy. IS (Islamic State) has been waging conventional and unconventional warfare against the West since 2014. To even call it the Islamic State is giving legitimacy that it doesn't deserve. Nevertheless we are now stuck with the label. We shouldn't be surprised that the political pendulum has swing to the right. Starting BREXIT, our own federal election and then the election of Trump as the incoming president of the world's most powerful country - the United States. Clearly a large number of people in the West believe that they only safe if they can regain what they feel is the status quote.

In January, I suggest that the only way to Peace in Iraq is for Sunnis and Shite to work together

In Feb of 2016 my response to Dennis Atkins article

A letter in March 2016 on ISIS

Just like clock work, we have Pauline Hanson rolling out the new (but not improved) One Nation. They gained 4 seats in the Australian Senate. Don't be fooled by the number. Australian senators are voted into the upper house through proportional representation. It is not as if there is a now majority of people wanting to vote them. You only need 14.3% of the state vote to be a senator. And thanks to Malcom Turnbull, we had a double dissolution election which mean all senate seats were up for grab and each senator only needs 7% and not 14% to get in.

On Saturday 19/11/2016, the Courier Mail in their Saturday colour magazine made a great deal about how One Nation is going to be threat to the major party in the next Queensland State election. Nothing like a bit controversy to sell newspaper. Here is what I wrote to the editor:

  

But we cannot just tell the truth about the Australian Politics in light what  I feel is the almost irrational move to make controversy leader. Apparently, One Nation supporters like way that Pauline Hanson say what they want to say but are too afraid to say because of political correctness. Political correctness and self censorship only exists because we are not willing to try to know the truth through better understanding. This is something that Auntie Jean (an Australian indigenous elder) tells me. 

You can understand why Australians are so upset, especially when one sense that our leaders care less (by the way that includes One Nation, see their infighting). Take for example, the numerous high rise that are being constructed in the inner suburb of Brisbane. Has any actually explain the LNP dominated Brisbane City Council (BCC) that Brisbane is not an Asian city and that the BBC don't have to do their bit choke us all to death! And so I wrote a letter to the Westside News. They are great because they combined my letter with others who have similar concern. Really the BCC really needs a kick up its backside.

Finally for the end of 2016, I am able to use the idea of Richard Gibson (the principle of Brisbane School of Theology) sermon in St Andrews. Richard basically argued that we can't stop baby Jesus from growing into Jesus the man. The really cool bit is that my letter got published (the edited version). Even cooler is the fact that Leahy seems to have taken on my theme about raining peace. Well I hope has (on the opposite page).

Leahy's cartoon can be seen here.

https://www.facebook.com/leahycartoons/photos/a.10150656674687688.390716.321732052687/10154182759747688/?type=1&theater

Section 18C, Free Speech and Judeo-Christian Heritage

Politicians clambering to water down section 18c of the racial discrimination act needs to understand that the right to free speech is not boundless. This is clearly seen in our parliamentary debates. The role of the parliamentary speaker is to ensure that members of parliament exercise their rights to free speech in a way that honours the parliament and all Australians for whom her members ultimately serve. In addition, the saying: “play the ball and not the man” is universally accepted to imply that free speech is never meant to be a free for all.

This short essay raises two questions: Can we exercise free speech without reference to history and our responsibilities to our fellow Australians? How should free speech be exercised in light of our Judeo-Christian heritage?

In the recent Queensland University of Technology (QUT) discrimination case: One of the student involved, Alex Wood, is supposed to have complained on Facebook that QUT (is) stopping segregation with segregation. Presumably Wood tried to say that the preferential treatment given to indigenous students is a form of discrimination against non-indigenous Australians. The three QUT students involved do not seem to understand that the general public actually practice “positive” decimation. Australian society’s treatment of disabled Australians is an example of positive discrimination. If these three students were to be denied access to a disable parking at QUT, would they still be complaining about discrimination? They would not because they would immediately recognise that disabled Australians are disadvantaged. Are these students, their legal representatives and the judge (judge Jarret) in the initial trial even aware of the plight of indigenous Australians? Are they not aware that indigenous Australians have a much lower life expectancy than the average Australians? Are these students not aware of Australia’s poor treatment of indigenous Australians? If they are then is it not reasonable to expect them to be careful in how they exercise their rights to free speech on Facebook? Is it not reasonable for them to have some empathy for indigenous Australians and therefore defer their rights to access QUT’s computers designated for people less fortunate than them? 

If these students, their legal representatives and judge Jarret are not aware of the plight of our indigenous Australians then should they not be? George Santayana said "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. It seems that Santayana is right; we are no longer telling the next generation about some of the unsavoury parts of our history? White washing our history does not help anyone. A functioning democracy requires citizens who not only are aware of their rights but who are also willing to excise their rights within the context of their responsibilities to their fellow Australians.

Freedom of speech and many rights that we now take for granted actually originated from the Magna Carta. Lord Denning described the Carta as the greatest constitutional document of all times. Moreover, he argued that it is the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.  2015 was the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Magna Carta. In that year, Thomas Andrew of the Theos think tank wrote “The Church and the Charter: Christianity and the forgotten roots of the Magna Carta”. Andrew wrote: “without the support of the Church, and without the theological developments which provided the Magna Carta’s authors with their intellectual framework, it is doubtful whether 2015 would be remembered as the 800th anniversary  …” If the Magna Carta is so closely linked to our Judeo-Christian heritage then should we not exercise our rights to free speech that is consistent with the same heritage. The rights to free speech empower those under oppression to speak out against their oppressors. In the QUT discrimination case, it seems free speech has (perhaps by ignorance) become a tool to distort history and to perpetuate old racist attitude. How then are we exercising free speech in a way that is consistent to our Judeo-Christian heritage? Or in common vernacular, have those QUT students, their legal advisors and even Judge Jarret given Indigenous Australians a fair go?

Finally as we approach Christmas, we need to remember that Jesus was born in a manger and not a palace and did not grasp on to his rights as the Son of God but instead he gave away his privileges so as to server all mankind. 

Can Disruptive Technologies Change the way we see Road Safety?

Wikipedia describes disruptive innovation as an innovation that creates a new market and value network that eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market leading firms, products and alliances. It is therefore easy to see why the taxi industry has such a dislike for Uber.  Aside from the taxi industry disruptive technology might have even more far reaching impact. The Committee for Economic Development of Australia predicts that up to 5 million jobs are likely to be automated by 2030. Disruptive technologies have certainly a very large negative impact on the taxi industry but could disruptive technology actually have benefit for the general Australian public? Could it even change entrenched attitude?

On the 21st of July, I was riding my bicycle on my daily commute from work to home. Part of my home commute involved riding along Benson St footpath (marked with bicycle symbols) between Archer St and Glen Rd in Toowong. Unlike the now much improved Coronation Dr bikeway, this bicycle-symbol laden footpath is interrupt by no less than half a dozen driveways. During peak hours pedestrians, cyclists and cars (leaving and entering driveways) compete for this narrow footpath. On this day, as I approach one of the many driveways, I was suddenly cut off by car a moving very fast into the driveway that I was about to cross. I jammed hard on my brakes and thank God because I was only inches away from smashing into side of this car. Far from apologising, the driver defiantly asked why I was on the footpath. His wiser wife quickly corrected him and pointed out the bike symbols on the footpath. Initially I was upset that I didn’t see the car’s flashing indicator. Did I pay enough attention? The truth only became apparent when I review the video recorded on my helmet mounted video camera (The Contour Roam3). The driver had driven across three lanes traffic in order drive into the driveway that I was about to cross. Another word there was nothing wrong with my peripheral vision. My camera has a wide angle (170 degrees) lens enabling it to pick up objects outside of my peripheral vision.

In August, I came into contact with Jasmin Lill from Quest Community News. I sent her the youtube link to my video and she interviewed me. Subsequently her article was published in the Westside News. The story also appeared on the Courier Mail facebook page. I was very grateful that my dangerous encounter turned out for the good. I was able to explain to Jasmin the threat those driveways posed to both pedestrians and cyclists alike.  Furthermore the so-called bikeway from the Regatta City Cat terminal to the University of Queensland (St Lucia campus) is both dangerous and difficult to ride for the average university students. The Brisbane City Council Active Transport Chair may claim that most of the distance between the city and St Lucia are covered by off-road facilities. The reality is that a significant portion is either too dangerous or too steep for the average cyclists.

Many of the comments on my youtubevideo are supportive but some still hold on to entrenched bias against cyclists. The irony is that cycling could potentially save Australia’s health care system. Recently University of Queensland researchers found the link between physical activity and chronic health conditions. The researchers recommended the equivalent of about 1.75 hours of running a week is needed to stay healthy. How many of us spend that much time in the gym? And yet, I am already doing close to 5 hours of exercises by simply riding to and from work.

 While the struggle for safe cycling is ongoing. The use of helmet mounted camera is to me the disruptive technology that Australia need to shake up the reckless attitude we have to road safety. In particular, the cyclist finally has the ability to show the hostile and irresponsible attitude that many motorists show towards cyclists. No longer can motorists use aggressive manoeuvre to threaten cyclists. With Gopro style cameras being so widely available such reckless behaviour will be exposed. Past technologies such as speed camera have had little effect on road safety but the combination of helmet-mounted camera, social media as well as technology savvy journalists could be the game changer to improving road safety but the final piece of the puzzle – the authorities need to get on board. As the famous Time Lord (Doctor Who) once said: No one is going to died today!

The politics of blame

Like many Queenslanders, I was shocked when Liberal Party state president Bob Carroll announced last month that he would direct preferences to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation ahead of Labor. But nothing prepared me for the supposed high support that One Nation has in regional areas such as Gympie and Hervey Bay.
One wonders whether regional voters understand what One Nation really stands for and what the true impact on regional Australia would be if its members should gain office.
In September 1996, Hanson shot to fame through her attack on Asian Australians and Australia’s multicultural policy. In her maiden speech to Parliament, she said: ‘Immigration and multiculturalism are issues the Government is trying to address but for far too long ordinary Australians have been kept out of any debate by the major parties. I and most Australians want our immigration policy reviewed and that of multiculturalism abolished. I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians.’
Like many on the far-right, Hanson and One Nation attack multiculturalism for favouring migrants over ‘ordinary’ Australians and for being divisive.
The previous government has been attacked for having high immigration at a time of high unemployment but the criticism ignores many studies which show that from increasing unemployment, immigration can have a positive effect on employment opportunities.
One has to look no further than Gympie for record unemployment rates, particularly among the young Gympie’s high support of One Nation implies that the residents have swallowed the line that migrants and multiculturalism are the cause of all their problems.
What right-wing groups such as One Nation have failed to explain to voters is the true reason for their suffering. Are Asian immigrants to be blamed for the closure of the local bank, Australia Post, employment agency or Medicare office? Are Asian immigrants behind the conservative Government’s competition policies, which have seen the downsizing of government services?
The pain caused by globalisation cannot be solved by attacks on immigrants and yet it seems that John Howard’s government has been rather slow to defend minority groups such as Australians of Asian background. Could it be that Howard’s government hopes it can continue its conservative policies unhindered while the immigrant community bears the blame for Australia’s unemployed?
Professor James Jupp of the Australian National University listed the dimensions of multiculturalism as:

• The right of all Australians to express and share their individual cultural heritage, including their language and religion.
• The right of all Australians to equality of treatment and opportunity and the removal of barriers of race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender or place of birth.
• The need to maintain, develop and utilise effectively the skills and talents of all Australians, regardless of background.

Multiculturalism is limited in that it is based on the premise that all Australians should have an overriding and unifying commitment to Australia’s interests and future and requires all Australians to accept the basic structures and principles of Australian society.
It also imposes obligations as well as conferring rights - the right to express one’s own culture and beliefs involves a reciprocal responsibility to accept the rights of others to express their views and values. Hanson ignores such principles and makes a simple-minded comparison to Ireland and Bosnia as reasons for opposing a multicultural Australia.
The residents of Gympie, Hervey Bay and other regional areas must ask themselves whether attacking Australians of Asian background is the only policy that One Nation has for countering the effect of globalisation and whether attacking Australians of Asian background will solve Gympie’s unemployment.
Voters should be aware that the politics of blame is far more divisive than any policy currently in place, spreading swiftly to all sections of the community. Arguments which separate Australians and pit them against one another can have terrible results.
Without the migrant community, One Nation will simply exploit the division between urban and regional Australia, which could result in urban Australians turning against regional communities because of misconceived notions of wealth and mismanagement within farming and regional communities.
The resounding vote for peace in Northern Ireland shows that even once bitter enemies, the Catholics and the Protestants, can live together. If there can be unity in Northern Ireland, why not in Australia?

Published in The Courier Mail, 27th May 1998

by Anthony Lee Australian Democrats (Asian) candidate for the state seat of South Brisbane.

 Anzac Sacrifice or Go Our Own Way

Lately carmakers have realised that they could entice us to buy their product if they can connect their brand with musical hits by famous bands like Fleetwood Mac. In 2015, Isuzu UTE Australia associated their Ute with Fleetwood Mac 1977 hit “Go Your Own Way”. Just like many recent 4-wheel drive advertisements, Isuzu wants us to associate their Ute with “our own way”. Only with an Isuzu can you really go your own way! The irony is that lyrics of “Go Your Own Way” were really about the souring of the relationship between of two band members. Somehow Australians in the 21^st century seem to place personal freedom and personal enjoyment at or near the top of our lives. The endless footage of similar 4-wheel drive advertisements lends weight to this observation.

As we approach ANZAC Day and the remembrance of veterans who sacrificed their lives for their comrades we have to ask ourselves what is more important. Is it self-sacrifice? Is it personal freedom and personal enjoyment? There is no doubt that ANZAC Day is important to the vast majority of Australians. It is certainly more than just a holiday. The spirit of self-sacrifice and mateship really does define our nation. But does self-sacrifice only have significance on the battlefield? Is it only significant at times of natural disasters? When one use terms such as “spirit of self-sacrifice” and “national identity”, they seem to be such esoteric subjects. However a recent RACQ commissioned research (“Road Karma” Road Ahead April/May 2016) shows that even a little self-sacrifice may actually have significant impact on our health. The study shows that aggressive driving behaviour (when we assert our own way – to get ahead) can lead to short and long term negative health effects for the initiators and recipients. Conversely friendly driving behaviour must surely be better for all concerned. If something as mundane as driving (nevertheless road safety is an important issue) can benefit from a little self-sacrifice then isn’t that more reason why we need to consider that going “our own way” may not always be the best for ourselves and those around us.

Beyond the daily issues of driving and the lofty question of our national identity, there are a whole host of related issues like domestic violence and mental health. We do need to re-balance the self and the community. Are we putting the wrong message on social media or even the traditional media? What is good for shareholders of car companies may not be so good for the community.  When we extend this from Australia to the world the same principles do apply. Our World War One veterans are no longer with us and our World War Two veterans are also disappearing from our mist. Are we starting to forget the horrors wars? The horrors of ISIS no longer shock us and it seems we are starting to think that the terror at Martin Place will not happen to us. And yet the United Nation is ever weaker and unable to rein in nations like Russia and China. No one is willing to sacrifice just a little of their economy to arrest the havoc of climate change. In such uncertain times, perhaps nations also need to think more of the world and also ask their people to do some self-sacrifice.

Australians might know about the ANZACs but what about the rest of the world? Can we bring a model of this ANZAC spirit to a world of many different cultures? Australia is in a great position to introduce this ANZAC spirit because we have an Anglo-Saxon heritage and yet in geographic proximity to Asia. This is reflected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics finding that 28% of Australians are born overseas. The difficulty is how we overcome the many barriers that separate us? How can we be more inclusive so that we can really shine not only as a nation of natural resources but also as a nation where the ANZAC spirit is celebrated by all our cultures? Is this an impossible dream? Perhaps not, the solution actually may lie in a part of our tradition that has been significantly side-lined. For many decades Australians have been leaving the suburban churches. Many have been hurt by supposed Christians who abused children. And yet a new breed of churches is appearing in our midst. They are not Anglican. They are not Greek Orthodox. Instead churches like Parkside Sydney and International City Church Brisbane have up to 50 cultures all sharing together. In an Australia where personal enjoyment is pushing us apart, there are alternatives like these multicultural churches that show it is possible to have inclusive communities that embrace all people and that might make the ANZAC spirit shine in an otherwise broken world.

Radicalization Prevention – How?

The Immigration Minister Peter Dutton sure has a sense of humour. According to a recent report form the ABC[1] his department is considering enhanced refugee assessment and the monitoring of migrants after they're granted citizenship. Is this a response to recent terror attacks in Beirut, Paris and Jakarta? While Australian security and intelligence agencies have done their utmost to prevent similar attacks in Australia, the death of Curtis Cheng at the hand of a radicalized Sydney teenager Farhad Jabar shows just how much more work need to be done. How exactly does Minister Dutton decide who to monitor? The failure of the Arab Spring had led to the collapse of Libya and Syria. The pace of events is such that the world has been caught flat-footed and not ready for the barbarity of Daesh (ISIS). Our understanding of the world has been turned on its head. Farhad Jabar is of Iraqi Kurd descent, the very group of people who are the victims of Daesh (ISIS). Logically Farhad Jabar should not be your typical Daesh follower. Furthermore the very notions of enhanced citizenship tests invoke memories of the White Australia policy. The monitoring of new Australian citizens has questionable value. Rather than integrating these new Australians such monitoring could alienate them and push them into the hands of terror groups.  

In order to prevent radicalization, we need to know what attracts people like Farhad Jabar to Daesh. In the report on the 2015 anti-Charlie-Hebdo protest (Lakemba, Sydney): SBS highlighted the organiser’s (Hizb ut-Tahrir) attack on Freedom. Sofyan Badar (Hizb ut-Tahrir’s spokesman)[2] said:

“Freedom is the smokescreen with which Western politicians and media conceal the underlying issues.

“In reality free speech is one of the many political tools that are used to maintain dominance over the Muslims.”

I suggest that free speech is not the main issue. Rather Badar’s central accusation is that Christians and Jews have compromised their faith. Badar said:

“Unlike Christianity and Judahism, which has given into the secular worldview, Islam and Muslims have refused to accept this worldview.”

Badar wants to argue that only Muslims are righteous in God’s eyes. Badar is right about the West being secular but he is dead wrong about our sense of righteousness. Yes the West is secular but our Judeo-Christian heritage so permeate our history that even the most ardent of Western atheists find themselves regularly exercising Judeo-Christian righteousness.

In what ways does the Judeo-Christian culture manifest itself in the secular West? I can think of at least two. Firstly it is inherent in the Australian values of “a fair go” and “mateship” and secondly even in the way we swear.

In the 2005 Boyer lecturer, former bishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen lamented how the four highly educated authors of the book “Imagining Australia: Ideas for the Future” did not even know standard Bible quotes. They wrote: 'The modern fair go demands that we should do unto others as we would have done unto ourselves'. Ironically the words 'do unto others' comes from the King James Version of the Bible. In the program Doctor Who, the Doctor uses a perception filter to enable him to stand in the midst of his enemies and yet not be noticed. The aliens just do not perceive his presence. In the same way Jesus permeates our society but we are not aware of him and we do not know him. The many fake Jesus: From David Koresh[3] to Alan John Miller and Mary Suzanne Luck[4] just reinforce our lack of knowledge about the real Jesus.

In “What is swearing?”[5] Annelise Parsons listed many kinds of swearing such as abusive swearing, cursing, profanity, swearing for emphasis, blasphemy, euphemistic swearing and so on. Parsons said what is acceptable can change over time and can vary across cultures. In Australia we use “Jesus” as a swear word. Whereas in Cantonese, “go trip over in the street and die” (literal English translation) is, strangely, a swear phrase. But seriously, I have never heard any Buddhist using “Budda” to swear so why do we say OMG or “Jesus” when we swear? Could it be that the Jesus-perception filter is working so well that we no longer recognise the 10 commandments? Yet its unacceptability is so ingrain into our culture that many of us still have unease when “Jesus” is uttered with disdain – even when we are not church goers.

But even if we accept the pervasiveness of Jesus in our culture, how does that help us to stop the radicalization of young people like Farhad Jabar? Rather than asking for an immediate solution perhaps we need to look at the bigger picture. Right from the start of British colonisation of Australia we have inflicted alcohol and disease on our Aboriginal. In recent times, we have seen the rampant rise of not only alcohol consumption but also alcohol related violence. If the loss of culture can wreck such devastation on our Aboriginal think what it can do to us. Think what it can do to new refugee families. Could this loss of culture also be the cause of corruption and abuse with even the Church itself?

In a public interviewed the author Tim Keller argued that prophetic individuals like Martin Luther King Junior, when facing racial oppression, did not abandon their faith. Instead, Keller suggested that like the Old Testament prophets and Jesus, King’s answer was to call on Christians to return to their Christian roots. Similarly men like John Wesley, in the face of moral degradation, returned to Christ. His action further encouraged William Wilberforce to end the slave trade.

Rather than shallow and short term actions to counter radicalization, is it time we look deeper into the Australian culture and ask whether it is time to turn back to our Christian roots? And in this way we can give meaning to young people like Farhad Jabar.

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[1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-04/leaked-document-outlines-changes-to-migration/7140952

[2] 'Je suis Muslim': 800 at Lakemba protest - http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/01/23/hundreds-pro-islam-rally-sydney

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koresh

[4] http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/jesus-and-mary-cult-followers-buy-up-land-around-kingaroy/story-e6freoof-1226055912664

[5] https://www.afes.org.au/article/what-swearing

Safe Cycling - a continual struggle

A couple of days ago I received a phone call from research company wanting to ask me questions about the Coronation Drive bikeway upgrade (Bicentennial bikeway upgrade). Twenty years ago I started taking up cycling. I even did some racing with UQ Cycling club. Around that time I started working for a major electricity distribution company in the centre of Brisbane CBD. This meant cycling 20km to and from work every day. I soon realised that cycling in Brisbane can be dangerous. A cyclist (see article below) was killed cycling along the original Coronation Drive bikeway. The Internet had only started to be popular. After many messages, the word got around and probably the first even mass bicycle ride in Brisbane rode from Toowong to Brisbane's CBD to protest over the safety situation of the Coronation Drive bikeway. So never take the now safe Coronation Drive bikeway for granted. It cost at least the life of one cyclist before the authorities took notice. Cycling is a great way to travel and why should it be relegated by large car manufacturers?

A fair-go is the answer to IS

Given the massive military operation undertaken by a coalition of countries to defeat the Islamic State (IS), one would think that the war against IS has already been won and Iraq restored. Alias no, U.S. officials conceded that Islamic State fighters still control large parts of northern (including the major city Mosul) and western Iraq (“U.S., Iraq Prepare Offensive to Retake Mosul From Islamic State” the Wall Street Journal 22/1/2015). More importantly, the counter-insurgency analyst David Kilcullen (“Remote Control Terror” The Weekend Australian 17-18/1/2015) wrote:

“Finally, it should be clear that there’s no magic bullet here: no technological fix,  … that can protect society from this threat (terrorism). … We need new approaches, designed to break the escalatory cycle of threats and counter measures seen since 9/11. ..” But I believe Kilcullen’s real message is that the front-line of the battle against modern terrorism is neither on the battlefield nor the Internet because Kilcullen went on to write:

“It might also involve a debate on ways to detect and intervene in the radicalisation pathways of at-risks individuals …”

Clearly the International community needs to do more to address why seemingly rational individuals (and even Western educated youths) are being radicalised (“Drop the idea of the lone wolf as a madman: most terrorists think rationally” The Weekend Australian 24-25/1/2015). The problem of radicalisation is further highlighted by the fact that young Australians, in spite of massive Australian government effort, continue to be attracted to IS.

The problem of IS has its root in history. The backlash over the invasion of Iraq (supposedly to rid Iraq of the weapons of mass destruction) and the Syrian Civil War created the prefect condition for the rise of IS. However even before the appearance of IS in 2014, Australia has already have de-radicalisation programs (“Investing in Mentoring and Educational Initiatives:The Limits of De-Radicalisation Programmes in Australia” Shahram Akbarzadeh  Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs Vol. 33, Iss. 4, 2013). Researchers such Dr Clark Jones (“Terrorists can be turned around - here's how” ABC The Drum) also advocate de-radicalisation programs.  If de-radicalisation programs have worked why then does the secular West continue to bleed their youths to the IS cause?  Henry Ergas (“Islamists cannot be permitted to abuse our tradition of tolerance” The Australian 26/1/2015) on the other hand argued that it is “… impossible to lull the intolerant into tolerance …” and therefore “… no Islamist should qualify for Australian residence or citizenship. “ But must Australia’s or even the rest of the Western world be forever polarised between the liberal left and the conservative right? Should we perhaps first ask the Islamists what is it they are riling against? The answer to this question can be found in the media reports on the Anti-Charlie-Hebdo protest at Lakemba on the 23/1/2015. It is interesting that both Associated Press and SBS chose to highlight the organiser’s (Hizb ut-Tahrir) attack on the Freedom of Speech.  At the protest Sofyan Badar from Hizb ut-Tahrir argued that Free Speech is a smoke screen for Western politicians and media to hide the underlying issues.  He further suggested that the West use Free Speech to maintain dominance over Muslims. The idea of the alienated youth is clear but the media completely missed the earlier part of his speech where Badar accuses Christians and Judaism of compromising their beliefs with secularism. Presumably Badar is suggesting that only Muslims (Sunnis? Shiites??, others???) are true believers. So while Muslims argued that it is wrong denigrate the prophet Mohammed but is Badar suggesting that it is OK to denigrate other religions? At the very least his comments show a complete lack of understanding of the Christian faith.  In the Gospel of John, just before Jesus execution on the cross, Jesus explicitly stated “My kingdom is not of this world.” Christians do not need to live in a theocracy. Christians believe that the Good News Jesus Christ is spread by reasoning and love rather than through the threat of violence.  That is not a compromise to secularism rather it is a realisation that God is love.   

Finally Ergas rightly pointed out that the founders of the Australian constitution ensure that Australia is religiously diverse, not favouring one faith or denomination over any other. However Ergas is wrong to suggest that we are to practice our faith privately. No, because this is exactly what Badar riled against. For too long Australians, whether they are secular, Christians and other faiths have been silent on justice and righteousness issues. Australian Christians, in particular, need to stand up when asylum seekers are being denied justice. Australian Christians need to stand beside Australian Muslims when they are being attacked for living out their faith.  After all, our Lord Jesus himself calls on us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness”.  Australians have taken the lucky country for granted, failing to realise we must continue to uphold the Fair-Go idealism. Interestingly, the Fair-Go idealism has its root in the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps it is time for all Australians (Christians and non-Christians) to revisit Peter Jensen 2005 Boyer Lecture (The Future of Jesus http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/the-future-of-jesus/3339436) to see how much our contemporary Australian culture is rooted in Jesus because on this Australia Day we need to realise that a fair-go is for all Australians.