| Sunday, December 03, 2006 |
|
This is Mt Yasur volcano on my dad's ancestral island of Tanna. I went up it when i was nine and my dad left me on it while he went to take a closer look into the crater. I sat on a heap of volcanic soil on the top of the volcano for ages until this big rumble came and i jumped up and ran down the side back to my mum who was too scared to go to the top. My dad came back down and thought i had run into the crator. I may have been nine but i wasn't that stupid! True story! It's something i'll remember my whole life. The day my dad left me on the top of an active volcano.
I am in an extremely happy mood today.
Here are the reasons:
1. Tjanara, who i share a house with, made this delicious Sri Lankan Curry and we washed it down with like three cups of tea - it was delicious.
2. There are ten sleeps til hometime.
3. I'm halfway through Umrao Jaan and i really like it so far. I'm becoming an Abishek fan by the minute.
4. I just read my friend Melissa's novel and it's hilarious! You can find a link to it on her blog here I'm even more happy because i make a starring role as the heroine (so far!) named Sarah. I also get to have a love interest - which is loosely based on my friend Yogi only the character is really vain and self centred which i don't think Yogi is. I also get to be an investigative reporter and an undercover superhero - but i won't give the game away.
I also finished watching KANK this week and honestly - i don't see what the big deal with it is. It doesn't stink, but it's not the best movie ever. I actually enjoyed alot of it. But that's because i really like Rani and Abishek is growing on me (as i said before).
I'm also happy because, although i know it's just a poll and probably didn't have a large enough sample i'm sure, Labor may actually have a chance of beating the Howard government in the next federal election. You can read about it in this SMH article I hate labor as well, but it's the lesser of the two evils. And your always bound to hate the people in power.
I have also learnt many things this week.
1. Never buy a toshiba. My friend Arika had one...then her power plug just stopped working. I have one as well and this week mine stopped working as well! So i am using my laptop with a kodak camera docker power adapter. I know your not supposed to but i'll think of that if my laptop ever blows up. For now i'm not too worried. The sound also doesn't work very well on Toshibas and they have a limited battery life. Buy a MAC instead...hahaha
2. Never spend the last few dollars in your wallet on a book, even if it is a new trendy travel memoir called Yoga School Drop out It's not worth it cause you'll miss out on the movies the next day.
3. NEVER FLY QANTAS. hahaha, i still do but seriously - they have lost my luggage 4 times this year!! My friend Amanda said it has never in her life happenned to her - and she basically flys Qantas every week. Maybe i'm unlucky?? Maybe it's airport karma catching up on me? What did i do in a previous life? Spill coffee on an air hostess? Or maybe i clogged up the airplane toilet and in doing so made the plane land in the middle of a war zone to unload human wastage? I don't know. All i know is it's payback happenning now.
4. Never say it's going to rain, because it never will. No matter how many times you knock on wood.
There was an interesting Dateline story on Land rights in Vanuatu It made me mad. What made me more mad was that i knew one of the boys who was being cheated out of his land. I couldn't help being mad at white Australia. Now i'm not saying "white australians" - cause you know, my mum is one - but i mean when is enough enough? First you claim land is yours even when it was originally stolen and when it is recognised and given back to traditional owners - you complain about "the aboriginies" moving in and stealing your parks and beaches. Then you - and i'm speaking to white queensland - steal actual people from their homelands and carry them across the sea to work as slaves in your sugar plantations. You pretend that all of this happenned years ago and therefore there should not be a sorry needed - because after all the crimes aren't generational. Then you refuse to let Pacific workers in so they can build their own economies, you refuse to support the plight of the West Papuans who are being held as second class citizens in their own country (which reminds me of the "aboriginies" as well) and to top it all off you say this country was built on christianity and is no longer racist.
If we aren't racist, how come we can fill up an entire newspaper fortnightly with the injustices committed against Indigenous people?
And how come you are moving in and taking land from Vanuatu to enhance your own profit in a tax havan??
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was deferred again last week. You can read about it here We are onto the Second Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples. How many decades is it going to take?
Wow. This entry was all over the shop. It probably didn't make much sense but that's what blogs are for!
Luv Amy |
posted by Lidia @ 4:34 PM  |
|
| 5 Comments: |
-
- ten days + 10 for me ;)
- thanks for all the tips.. ;)
- I wish i had enough money to buy all of such land and permanently protect it as a private property - never sellable or something and turn it over to the original owners...(there will always be some stupid loop hole... oh well..)
and in your article, i think it should have been "United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People" and not "...PeopleS" ??? But all over the net it does say "peoples"... is it French or something? or is it that people don't even give attention to what it is???!!! even in the UN site "people" and "peoples" is used interchangeably.
-
hey, a little behind the scenes info, if you will...
how did u collect the material for the story? u went some place? Interviewed some one? or how does it all work???!
-
I would like to start off by saying how well writen all your entries are I find them very thought provoking.
Now about my story. I'm glad you like the story. :) But, the beautiful officer is only half based on Yogi. He is based on the vanity stereotype. You see I could have made him kind a sweet, but then I have been under the impresson lately that beatiful people are aware of it and some people are overly vain.
I also find your entry on Land rights and issues very interesting. I think its important to remember the indigenous people. I also belive that this generation is responsible for what happened because I would be were I was unless it wasn't for my ansestors who came before me.
-
Yeah - it's "peoples" -there is a lot of debate about it. When the UN states negotiate - they negotiate over the littlest things - like where to put a commer in between words because it may cause a different meaning or it doesn't suit their country's constitution. I think by meaning "peoples" instead of "people" they mean that they include every Indigenous person in the world - but these Indigenous peoples aren't united under the same flag. I think that may be it. I'd have to look it up though cause that's my interpretation.
For your other questino about collecting of material - we journalists have our sources :) Usually we may get sent media releases or we may ring up people. It's a great profession - you should get into it one day!
Melissa - i'm talking to you now on MSN! Yay!
-
nay!
I can be a journalist's journalist but not a journalist...
I leave it to the true professionals.
hmm. thanks for the info.
cheers mayt.
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
| |
|
|
| Want to know more? |
|
|
| Udah Lewat |
|
| Archives |
|
| Condensed list of places to visit |
| India Peru Iran Brunei Uganda Burundi Hong Kong Canada Colombia New Caledonia Guinea-Bissau Malta Micronesia PNG Thailand the Moon. |
| Quote of the moment |
Genuine politics -- even politics worthy of the name -- the only politics I am willing to devote myself to -- is simply a matter of serving those around us: serving the community and serving those who will come after us. Its deepest roots are moral because it is a responsibility expressed through action, to and for the whole. - Vaclav Havel |
| Sites Amy Visits |
|
|
| Template By |
|
|
- ten days + 10 for me ;)
- thanks for all the tips.. ;)
- I wish i had enough money to buy all of such land and permanently protect it as a private property - never sellable or something and turn it over to the original owners...(there will always be some stupid loop hole... oh well..)
and in your article, i think it should have been "United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People" and not "...PeopleS" ??? But all over the net it does say "peoples"... is it French or something? or is it that people don't even give attention to what it is???!!! even in the UN site "people" and "peoples" is used interchangeably.