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
Category: Australasia
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
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
Flexibility For Aboriginal Education
I must applaud the NSW government’s new moves to improve education for Aborigines. The biggest mistake the federal government made in the NT Intervention was not consulting Aboriginal elders regarding their plans. Perhaps having learnt from past mistakes, the federal government apparently created the Indigenous Action Plan (probable parent of this NSW effort) following ‘extensive… Continue reading Flexibility For Aboriginal Education
A New Future
In 2009 I set myself 4 goals as steps towards a future of providing assistance on locally driven aid projects in developing countries. In their original form, those goals were: Publish a book on Bhutanese culture Complete a Masters in anthropology Buy a studio flat in Australia Invest the rest of my savings to create… Continue reading A New Future
Chalk Chasings
Councils around Sydney have been making great progress in developing safe paths for cyclists and are now even advertising them before movies at the cinema. I’ve personally been delighted by the networks, which allow me to get around or just to get outside for some exercise. The cycleway alongside the M2 has been rerouted due… Continue reading Chalk Chasings
Pedestrian Collisions
Until I moved to Europe, I assumed that people randomly chose the direction they moved to avoid oncoming pedestrians. In Belgium, I found myself stepping to the same side of the footpath as my counterpart almost every time. It didn’t take me long to realise that I always stepped to my left while they stepped… Continue reading Pedestrian Collisions
New Year’s Resolution
During the first week of every year, my Australian friends and colleagues (this seems to extend to most Western cultures) ask me what my New Year’s Resolutions are. I’ve never made any. It seems odd to me to wait until a specific day of the year to make a change in my life. If I… Continue reading New Year’s Resolution
Birthdays
2011 has been a big year for me. In March, my first book Dragon Bones was released in Hong Kong. In May it was released in the US. In June, I moved into my new flat – the first place of my own that I’ve ever lived in. It’s right on the train line, but… Continue reading Birthdays