The following experience may not be typical for clubs in New Zealand, but it’s different enough to be worth noting. Fiona and I came to NZ for a wedding and are now enjoying travel for its own sake. Tonight we decided to eat in a local club, hoping to see locals in their native habitat.… Continue reading Indoor Bowling Green
Author: mag
The Moral Landscape: An attack on tolerance?
The Moral Landscape, by Sam Harris, puts forward the idea that scientists can, and should, contribute to moral debate. Harris believes that the goal of ethics is the well-being of conscious creatures, which is a measurable quantity. Science may not yet have the tools or the understanding to take these measurements, but since they are… Continue reading The Moral Landscape: An attack on tolerance?
Drive Safe NT
Have you ever heard a politician praise the previous government? Adam Giles, NT Transport Minister, gave full credit to his predecessor for ‘the best program the territory government has ever run‘ and vowed to continue it. The program? DriveSafe NT Remote is helping indigenous Australians to get driving licenses. In the Northern Territory, it’s impossible… Continue reading Drive Safe NT
Humour and Culture
Not everyone understands the Australian sense of humour. Sometimes it’s even beyond Australians. Some of my countrymen have complained about the Prime Minister’s recent video declaring that the end of the world is nigh. In one case, a mother of a young autistic man has had to convince her son that the Mayan calendar can’t… Continue reading Humour and Culture
Blackfella Facebook
Last month, the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence launched its own social networking site. The officially named Community of Excellence is known as Black Fella Facebook by its users. Targeted exclusively at young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the site allows youths to share their goals and aspirations and to indicate their support for each… Continue reading Blackfella Facebook
Dragon Bones Discussion Guide
I tried very hard to allow the Bhutanese people in Dragon Bones to tell their own stories and to minimise the bias created by my beliefs, my mood and other aspects of my life. I knew it was an impossible task before I began writing, so I provided clues to my own state of mind… Continue reading Dragon Bones Discussion Guide
Lining Up For iPhones
A Japanese exchange student, who joined my school in year 10, kept up with classes by translating unfamiliar words in her electronic translation dictionary. When I saw the same gadget on my first exchange to Japan, I would have bought it if I’d had the money. By the time I went back two years later,… Continue reading Lining Up For iPhones
Attitudes to Downs Syndrome
I was standing in the kitchen of our other Sydney office yesterday, when in came a woman with Downs Syndrome pushing a vacuum cleaner. My boss, who was showing me the facilities, introduced her as Claire and told me that she was the real boss of the site. While we chatted with her, Claire opened… Continue reading Attitudes to Downs Syndrome
Unsocial Eating
Sri Lanka is the first Asian country I’ve been to where people seem happier to eat alone. In Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore people prefer to make a big event of eating together even daily lunch with colleagues. The only exception in my experience has been that Bhutanese families will eat in the kitchen while… Continue reading Unsocial Eating
Australian Butcher
I rarely go to the butcher these days – I’m guilty of succumbing to the convenience of supermarkets – but last week I wanted to get some quality meat for a hot breakfast. The old lady next to me at the counter was complaining to the butcher that she’d bet on Queensland in the State… Continue reading Australian Butcher