ranga Chinese Association

Finally some proof that it exists!

Well not really, just a photo from the Pakuranga Chinese Association's Christmas Party.

Anyway this will be my last post for this year.  Hope you all have a safe and merry Christmas and New Year.

Bus station killer jailed for 10 years

From The West

Convicted killer Patrick McMahon has been jailed for life with a minimum of 12 years for the murder of a complete stranger at Perth’s Wellington Street bus station two years ago.

McMahon, 24, was originally charged with wilful murder but was convicted last month by a Supreme Court jury of the lesser crime of murder.

The jury rejected his defence that he was insane at the time.

McMahon, homeless and suffering a mental illness was asking people for a cigarette as he wandered through the bus station on the night of December 27, 2007.

Suddenly he lunged at Japanese chef Junichi Uchiyama stabbing him twice in the neck.

In court today Justice Nicholas Hasluck described it as a brutal and unforgivable attack on an innocent bystander without any provocation or warning.

The judge added that while McMahon’s judgement may have been clouded he still had the mental capacity to know what he was doing.

The 12 year minimum was back dated to McMahon’s arrest in 2007 which means he could be freed in 10 years.

Asian Australian Blogs

They are divided into two sections.

The blogs in the first section deal with racial/cultural/identity issues on a regular basis:

Ed's Rant
Eurasian Sensation (half-Asian)
Hoa Pham
IceTea
Into Dawn's Forest
Maria Tran
Mellow Yellow (kiwi)
No Added MSG
paper planes
stephiepenguin (half-Asian)
The Banana Lounge
Thuy Linh Nguyen
Tom Cho


The second section is the full list and also includes blogs written by Asian Australians about general hobbies/topics like food, fashion and technology. There are a lot of these now, a lot more than I thought but they are harder to find as they don't stick out as being distinctly AA. They don't cover any racial/cultural/identity issues, or they don't post enough about them. Ideally it would be great for some of these bloggers to post more about identity, culture and race from an Asian Australian perspective, because sometimes it just seems oh so very quite in this part of the world.

A
A Thousand Miles
Ad astra, ad infinitum
Adam in ()
A Few of My Favourite Things   (food)
A Literati
all things d 
Amour. Devour. Embrace
Aussie Asians Pop Blog!

B
Babyminnieee 
Banana Tikka Masala (Food)
Boy Meets Book (Books)
Business Chic

C
Carla, Darling!
Caveat Lector
Chris lives here
Clarity - You had me at hello(Home-made jewellery, fashion, food)

Colour It In
Cross a Black Cat
Crunchy Tiger (Food)

D
Darren Ng #8 (for the Adelaide 36ers)(Sport)
Derrick Siu

E
Ed's Rant (Sketches, Personal)
Emily J Sun
emmakins888 
Escaping Emerald City (Acting)
Eurasian Sensation (half-Asian)

F
Finding Myself
flatnoseinchina

G
GenerallyJen
Grab Your Fork  (Food)

H
Hoa Pham

I
IceTea
immortali.se
Into Dawn's Forest

J
Jane Lee. Journalist
Jenius (Food)
Jingwen

K
Kapooka Baby
Kiwi's Spot
knowledge is crazy 

L
Lee's Korea Blog
Lemtek
Life of F Bi (Entrepreneur stuff)
Lone Female Photographer (Photography)

M
Maria Tran (Acting)
mayu kanamori: philosopher's photos
Mel: Hot or Not (Dining)
Mellow Yellow (kiwi) (Feminism)
Michael Aulia (Tech)
Mooiness
Mr Gadget (Tech)
My MND Journey 

N
Names Will Never Hurt Me
Night Time Brothers Present
Noodlies - Thang Ngo
NZ Born Chinese

O
Ooh, Look...
Oh My Soul

P
paper planes
Pink Winks

S
SakuraRyu
Sarah Cooks
sardonicsmile
SilverKottage 
Simplicity Me
Snippets of Life
Stay Tuned with Heidi Han 
stephiepenguin (half-Asian)

Steve-ism
Strong Coffee Please
Style Wilderness

T
tamingthewild
Tell Me.
The Banana Lounge
The Chronicles of Ms I-Hua
The Dorm Farm 
The Double Pump
The Koh Koh Nut
The Very Very Hungry Caterpillar
thecattylife
thorfinn
Through the Looking Glass
Thuy Linh Nguyen
Tom Cho

U
UCFOAD(A)L
Unique Schmuck
unwound floors

V
vegan about town
Viet-My Bui

W
weiwei says hello
words.

Y
yewenyi (half-Asian)
YongDDee
YU

The Legend of Billy Sing - Trailer

Well the trailer to The Legend of Billy Sing has been released and I must say I am very dissapointed.  I knew that they had cast a white actor for the role of Billy Sing and that the mini-series would be roughly based on Billy's life.  I had a suspicion that they would not mention his Chinese heritage.  And after watching the trailer, I can safely say the only thing Chinese about the Billy in this series is his last name, which is not a name immediately recognisable as being Chinese anyway.  In the trailer there is a scene where the whole family are at the table, they are all white, including the father.

Face it people, it seems one of our heroes has been white-washed.  This series is no Band of Brothers, a lot of the plot has been pulled out of nowhere.  I know it's for entertainment but the producers seem to have gone too far.  Too much bs for my liking.  Desecration is a word that comes to mind.

What's the matter, you want to make a series about his achievements and exploits but can't stand the fact that he has Chinese heritage?  So to overcome this you whitewash him and his family?

I can see a situation reminiscent of the movie Gallipoli.  Remember the scene where the British officers send the Australian troops to attack?  They were actually Australian officers.  Thing is, many Australians now take the movie version as fact.

Now the same thing will happen to the story of Billy Sing, many will take the mini-series as fact.

Gallipoli myth indeed.

See My detailed response to The Legend of Billy Sing casting controversy

Join the Asian ANZACs page. 


You may also like to read about Caleb Shang.

Brave soul honoured

A TEENAGE boy who died saving two friends has been recognised with a bravery award.

Darren Chhuon, 16, swam to the rescue of his friends at Edithvale beach in dangerous conditions on January 14.

The Springvale South teen was able to get his friends to safety but the conditions and exhaustion proved too much and he died at the scene.

Darren’s mother Dany Dy accepted the posthumous Royal Humane Society Bravery Award on his behalf at last week’s ceremony at Government House. “I’m very, very proud of him, but I always say I wish he was still alive.”

Darren’s best friend Kosing Tchong said: “I feel pleased Darren is being remembered here today as a hero, because that’s what he is”.

Darren Chhuon's mother Dany Dy (second from left) with Ausi Thai, Michael le, Susan Hong and Kosing Tchong.

 MordiallocChelseaLeader

Westpac botches runaway millionaire hunt

Westpac's runaway millionaires are a step closer to keeping the cash after the bank bungled an attempt to recover its losses through the Hong Kong courts.

Leo Gao fled New Zealand in May with partner Kara Hurring and her daughter Leena, after a banking error gave his business a $10 million overdraft.

They transferred about $6.7m before the mistake was discovered and Westpac clawed back less than half.

The failed legal action means Westpac's chances of recovering the remaining $3.8m appear to rest on New Zealand police convincing Chinese authorities to extradite the runaways.

Even then, Gao would probably have to agree to hand over the money as part of a deal to escape greater punishment, according to one insider.

The revelations emerged during a Herald on Sunday investigation into Westpac's efforts to recover the money.

In New Zealand, the bank has seized and sold Gao's property investments for below-market value to help recoup its losses and settled an employment dispute with the worker responsible for the banking error.

In Hong Kong, it took a pummelling in the courts after trying to recover money Gao passed through a casino in nearby Macau.

The bank lost the case and had to pay the casino's legal bills before one of its lawyers moved to distance themselves from courtroom manoeuvres.

Details of the case are contained in a legal judgment from the Hong Kong Court of First Instance.

The ruling, by Deputy High Court Judge Ian Carlson, described how Gao was "quick to take advantage" of the error.

Carlson said, according to reports he had read, Gao had transferred "ill-gotten funds" to "various accounts in Mainland China and Hong Kong".

His ruling revealed that Gao had help transferring the money from his brother Lei Gao and mother and business partner Huang Di Zhang.

Kara's sister Aroha joined them for the first leg of their exploits, telling friends she was drinking beer and loving the heat of Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China, before returning to New Zealand three weeks after the banking error.

Carlson said one of the accounts into which Gao deposited money was with Wynn International Marketing, a casino and resort operator with a casino in Macau.

The ruling reveals that Gao transferred only part of the missing millions to the casino - $658,643 - but is the only other party named in legal action by Westpac in the Hong Kong courts. That suggests the bank has no idea where to look for the rest.

Westpac's action against Wynn International Marketing was an attempt to extend High Court orders in New Zealand to freeze the assets of Gao's family.

Carlson initially granted Westpac permission and papers were served on the casino's account with the Dah Sing Bank, one of Asia's largest.

But the lack of detail in the order meant the bank froze the casino's entire account, not the $660,000 sought by Westpac.

Carlson said the casino claimed the move had caused "considerable losses" and "damaged its reputation".

He said the casino intended seeking compensation from Westpac and its lawyers - although the Herald on Sunday understands the matter was dropped after Westpac paid the casino's legal bills.

It also emerged the freezing order made in Hong Kong should not have been granted.

Carlson said a legal error had been made - Westpac had come to court with a freezing order from a New Zealand court when only a full court judgment would have been recognised.

He cancelled any authority the bank believed it had in Hong Kong, and warned Westpac's lawyers about trying to get the court to rule on matters on which it had no jurisdiction.

That prompted one of Westpac's lawyers to seek a special court memo stating he had nothing to do with the botched application.

A Hong Kong legal source said Westpac went after the first, and only, target it could find.

"The fraudsters, having got so lucky, decided they would go and have a little flutter in the casinos in Macau," said the insider.

"Money was then transferred to ... give them lines of credit with the casino.

"But Wynn had no notice they were doing this with money they had stolen until much later. If you turn up tomorrow at the casino with US$1m, they aren't going to ask you where you got it from. They'll just let you gamble.

"When Westpac discovered what had happened they saw these sums of money going into the casino's bank account. They then charged off and got all these injunctions and sought to enforce these orders in Hong Kong without standing back to think 'have I got any claim against the casino'."

The mistake had blunted Westpac's attempts to recover the cash. The source said it was telling there were no details of further attempts to recover the cash on any Hong Kong legal database.

 NZHerald

Victor Chang street name suggested

A submission has been made by a developer to rename the section of the street where pioneer cardiac surgeon Dr Victor Chang was slain.  The proposed rename is "Heart St", to recognise the legacy of Chang.  Currently the only tribute to Chang is a stone memorial at Clontarf, near his home.

There are hurdles as renaming only a section of the street may confuse emergency services.

The Mosman Daily

Green odyssey takes cyclist to Copenhagen

Kim Nguyen spent 16 months cycling from Brisbane to the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen to promote sustainable travel.  He has been able to see first hand the effects of climate change including severe flooding in south-east Asia, the spreading of the Gobi desert in Mongolia and dried up riverbeds in north-eastern China.  Nguyen travelled around 100 kms per day and would rest every fourth day.  Along the way he suffered injuries and his bike started falling apart after 6000kms and he did a few improvised repairs to last the remaining 12,000kms.

When he reached Europe, local cyclists rode with him to show their support.

In Copenhagen, he will attend an alternate climate change forum and meet various delegates including the Australian team.

He is already plannig to do the trip again.

For more details click here for the ABC report.
For Kim's Official Site click here.

Rape-murder monster Brendan Dennison found guilty

For the story of this crime click here.

Last week, Dennison pleaded guilty to 19 charges of holding the couple and two girls in their unit.  In addition to pleading guilty to the young woman's murder and recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm to her boyfriend, Dennison admitted 10 counts of raping the couple and four counts of detaining them and the other women for his own sexual gratification.  He also entered guilty pleas to robbing the other women of a total of $170 and threatening them with rape while he brandished a large kitchen knife.

He will be sentenced in March 2010.

Mark Chan to contest preselection for seat of Bennelong

Mark Chan, a senior manager with GE Capital will contest the seat of Bennelong against three of his Liberal Party colleagues.  Chan is a 25 year old Chinese Australian businessman and is the local party stalwart.  His Chinese background will be beneficial as there are many Chinese in the area but his age will probably work against him.  He will be viewed favourably as a future prospect.

The preselection will take place on December 16.  Chan's main rival will be former tennis ace John Alexander.

Bennelong was lost to Labor in the last election, with then Prime Minister John Howard losing to Maxine McKew.

Hungry Beast: No Asians on TV Segment

I hear that Hungry Beast aired a short segment on the lack of Asians on Australian TV recently.  Lawrence Leung makes a guest appearance too.  You can still catch it on iview.  Just follow the link here, select episode 10 and fast forward to the 8:00 minute mark.

Click here to go to the Hungry Beast iview page.

Nothing we didn't know already.

EDIT: Found the clip on the Hungry Beast site!

Asian Australians on Television 2009

I have been dwelling on making this post for far too long, so here it is. I will split the post into two and edit as required. The first part is a list of Asians on Australian TV for 2009.  I don't watch as much TV as I used to so there may be some roles and guest appearances that are not listed.  The second part is basically a list of defensive arguments that certain people may have regarding the lack of Asian Australians on Australian television. When I say white, I mean culturally white, so that is inclusive of Italians and Greeks.

First though, who was on TV in 2009? Let’s have a look at some of them. Note that this is not a personal attack on any of the actors as they’ve done quite well. If there is an attack it’s more of an attack on the roles offered:

Lawrence Leung - Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure
In each episode, Lawrence revisits aspects and ambitions of his childhood.

Pros – First Asian Australian to get their own show? (Lee Lin Chin’s Fashionistas does not count!) A lot of hilarious scenes and some that were cringe-worthy. Awesome Asian parents.

Cons – Weak Asian nerd stereotype, albeit a creatively, funny nerd.

Karen Pang - Play School
Pros - Still going strong
Cons - ...

Alan Kwong, Paul Amores – Beauty and the Geek Australia
When I heard about this show my first thought was “betcha there’s an Asian dude”. Boy did I get a surprise when they had not one but two! Both got knocked out in the first two eliminations, so predictable.

Pros – AM/WF couples :P

Cons – Weak Asian nerd stereotype. For those of you who like to point out that the other nerds were white so all’s good, get over yourselves. How many positive AA male role models are there on commercial TV? So why exactly are you defending white Australian TV? You like seeing your own people restricted to these types of roles or does this actually reflect how you view Asian males?

Poh Ling Yeow - Masterchef, Aliqua Mao - Australian Idol


Pros - Asian Australians on TV.  Reality TV is one area where Asian Australians have a chance to be themselves.

Cons - Not too sure about the ending of Masterchef, there were obviously other factors at play.


SBS Shows
Anh Do, Sam Pang, Luke Nguyen, Renee Lim, SBS News Crew

Pros – Asians/Asian Australians on TV

Cons – SBS

Hannah Wang – Rush TV ABC3
Hannah is a co-presenter on this action/sports show 4 da youf.

Pros – Asian Australian on TV

Cons – Asian females are more viewer(white) friendly for TV and are usually paired with a white male. Just have a look at America’s news channels. Whilst overall, having Hannah on the show is a big positive, let’s just wait and see whether this will be an increasing trend in Australia. Anna Choy (Big Breakfast, Big Arvo) also falls into this category.

Lucas Tang - Snake Tales
Lucas plays the role of Digby Nguyen, an exchange student that goes to the fictional town of Barren Barren to study.  The school is actually a snake park.

Pros - Asian (Asian Australian?) on TV

Cons - Foreigner stereotype with accent  to match

Jordan Rodrigues - Home and Away
Jordan plays the role of Jai Fernandez, who lost his family in the Boxing Day tsunami and comes to Summer Bay to join Miles with whom he is close. The character of Jai Fernandez was only created in response to Neighbours introducing an Asian character.

Jordan is leaving Home and Away to act in ABCs new show Dance Academy.

Pros – Quite a good role. Speaks with an Australian accent, not Asian-accented English, although this does not fit with the character profile.

Cons - Crazy character background. So your parents died in the Boxing Day tsunami and you came all the way across the seas to a shitty town in Australia to reconnect with some old white dude named Miles who is very friendly with you? Paedophile alert!!! How did you make it past Border Security? The notion of Asian Australians on Ramsay St or Summer Bay doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore does it? Also a stereotype of Asians being foreigners.

Hany Lee - Neighbours
Hany plays the role of Sunny Lee, a Korean exchange student. Sunny Lee was created by Executive Producer in response to claims that Neighbours was too white. Sunny’s last appearance was in November.

Pros – Asian Australian on Neighbours

Cons – What’s up with the weird ass hybrid Australian/Asian/American/wtf accent? Again, a stereotype of Asians being foreigners. There was quite a lot of negativity to Hany/Sunny being on Neighbours. There is even a I hate Sunny Facebook group (10,000+ members although the group seems to have disappeared now) and if you read many of the offensive posts before they are deleted by the mods, it’s easy to see that a lot of the crap is due to her being Asian. One of the more tame comments is “Go back to where you come from”, heard that before from somewhere?  Anyway, she's not on the show anymore so I guess that means Neighbours is back to an all white cast.

Hany Lee and Jordan Rodrigues were both born and raised in Australia and yet the roles that they play are those of foreigners. Hany was made to put on the accent so she was more convincing. I can just see it now, the casting agent telling her “Try and sound more like a gook”. Is it any wonder we don’t see many Asians on TV? When the few roles available are those where you have to de-Australianise yourself and act like a jackass, the frustration and disgust that so many AA actors must feel must make them question why this is all happening in the first place and for how much longer.

And a final one:

All Saints
The last Asian on this show was Ling-Hsueh Tang, in 2002 which is around seven years ago.

Cons -  A suburban hospital with no Asian doctors? No Asian male doctors?  What the f?  Remember the American show ER that was supposed to be based on a hospital in Chicago?  And in the 15 years of that show, there was only ever one Asian American doctor (played by Ming-Na), while in real life the ratio of Asian doctors to black/white was much, much higher.  If you don't know what I'm referring to click here: ER stands for Ethnic Ridiculousness.

Pros - The show is finally dead after 11 years of crappiness!!!


Television Ads
Woolworths Everyday Credit Card – Asian Australian Family
HBF – a few Asian Australian chicks
Beer Ad – South Asian speaking in a very stereotypical accent
Microsoft – Asian Australian guy, IT nerd

I do believe (as a general feeling as I didn't do a summary of the 08 AAs on TV) that we have seen more AAs on TV this year, but numbers alone shouldn't be a measure of the success of Asian Australian actors.  We need to look at their roles, and from above it's obvious a lot of them were based on stereotypes and misrepresentations.  The effeminate asian male, the asian foreigner, the submissive asian girl, all non-threatening characters.  Don't get too excited just yet, there is still a long way to go.

Stay tuned for part 2 where I'll tackle the arguments against having more Asians on Australian television.

Guilty plea to killing silence

A YOUNG woman has pleaded guilty to failing to report the killing of an overseas University of Tasmania student.

Jazmin Iris Haygarth, 18, of Moonah, appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart today in relation to the death of 26-year-old Chinese woman Zhang '"Tina" Yu.

Haygarth pleaded guilty to failing to report the killing of Ms Yu in New Town between June 25 and June 30 this year.

Justice Helen Wood made a suppression order regarding the publication of the details of Haygarth's crime.

She will sentence Haygarth on Friday.

Last month John Edward Mollineaux, 44, received a six-month suspended jail term for the same offence.

Stavros Papadopoulos, 21, of New Town Rd, New Town, and Daniel Joseph Williams, 21, of Channel Highway, Kingston, have been charged with Ms Yu's murder.

Both have pleaded not guilty and are due to face court again in February.

GQ Men of the Year - Lawrence Leung

Congrats to Lawrence for winning the GQ Men of the Year Award - Comedian of the Year

He was up against the likes of Charlier Pickering, Josh Thomas, Tim Minchin and Dave Hughes.

From Melbourne, Lawrence Leung is a comedian, writer and director, best known for his ABC series Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure. The show, which is based on “all the things I wanted to do as a kid but never got around to because I grew up”, has built a cult following.

Lawrence Leung: "Thanks GQ for recognising me as a man instead of a manchild. This [award] is going to the pool room with my other capital letters."

GQ

Police investigating 1987 murder arrest man in Berkeley

Detectives investigating the murder of a grandmother in Sydney more than 20 years ago have arrested and charged a man in Berkeley.

Unsolved Homicide Team officers attended a facility on Flagstaff Rd just after 11am yesterday where they arrested 46-year-old man of no fixed address.

He was taken to Port Kembla Police Station where he was charged with being an accessory after the fact to robbery in company, and receiving stolen property.

He is the third person charged by police investigating the death of Indonesian migrant Po Cin Lim.

On October 5, 1987, Ms Lim was standing at the corner of Goulburn and Pitt streets in Sydney's CBD when a man reached out of a passing van and grabbed her handbag.

The 66-year-old was dragged alongside the vehicle for several metres and fell head-first to the kerb.

The van drove off, and Ms Lim died the next day in St Vincent's Hospital.

In July last year, Strike Force Alukea was formed to re-visit the death and, on November 4 that year a 48-year-old man walked into Grafton police station and identified himself as a person of interest in the investigation.

Then in May this year, a 45-year-old man was arrested in Bundaberg in Queensland and extradited to Sydney.

The man arrested in Berkeley will appear in Wollongong Local Court today.
IllawaraMercury

Pedalling for a world of peace and harmony

COLIN LEE, a 29-year-old man from Ryde, was farewelled yesterday morning by Citizenship Minister Virginia Judge, as he set off to ride from Sydney to Melbourne.

Lee (pictured) is setting off on the journey as part of Pedallers for Peace, and will ride alongside Emily Alexander (18, Bahai), Mohamed Assoum (20, Muslim) and Evian Gutman (25, Jewish).

They will arrive in Melbourne in time for the Parliament of the World’s Religions meeting next Wednesday.

“Our pedallers for peace are setting in motion a pre-Parliament of the World’s Religions youth dialogue started in Sydney two months ago,” Ms Judge said.

“They are an inspiring group of young people, spreading a message of peace and harmony across two states.”

The 1050km journey will be filmed for a major documentary as the group rides through the Illawarra and along the South Coast.

They will conduct school visits and interfaith events in Thirroul, Kiama, Nowra, Ulladulla, Batemans Bay, Narooma, Bermagui, Merimbula and Eden before crossing into Victoria.

More than 10,000 people will participate in the Parliament of the Worlds’ Religions meeting, which addresses issues such as indigenous spirituality, health, education and peace building.

The Dalai Lama will speak at the closing session on December 9.

Peril Magazine - Issue 8 Out Now!

Edition 8 - Why are people so unkind.

I've been waiting ages to read this issue.

Note that there are two pages of articles just in case you miss some.

Articles Page 1
Interview with Kamahl
Editorial
Why are we so unkind?
The original introduction to "Growing Up Asian in Australia"
Interview with Pyuupiru
Poetry
Watch out for LOCA  -they can incite a riot!
Michelle Malkin - Awful yet strangely hypnotic

Articles Page 2
Interview with Haruka Yamada
Grass Liquor
Teh Halia
Why are people so unkind?

The Temper Trap at the ARIAs

 
Not interested too much in the ARIAs.  I know what music I like and couldn't care less if they win or don't win any awards.  But I was channel surfing tonight and caught a glimpse of The Temper Trap playing live.  They are a rock band from Melbourne.  The lead vocals is Dougy Mandagi.  Dougy was born in Indonesia and moved to Australia when he was 19.  He also lived in Hawaii for a while.  I don't think he's Australian, but he is in an Australian band, so we'll claim him.

The Temper Trap were nominated for the breakthrough artist album award and the highest selling album award but were beaten by Ladyhawke and ACDC respectively.

Below are their songs Sweet Disposition and Science of Fear






Jess Mauboy had seven nominations and won the highest selling single award.

War hero Jack Sue farewelled

Senior military personnel and dignitaries joined hundreds of mourners at Swanbourne's Campbell Barracks to pay their final respects to WA war hero Jack Wong Sue.

The funeral was held at the headquarters of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment in honour of Mr Sue’s war time service with the ultra secret Z Special Unit, who are widely regarded as the founding fathers of the modern SAS.

Hundreds gathered at the SAS garden of remembrance in silence with bowed heads as Mr Sue’s coffin, accompanied by an honour guard of SAS troopers, was laid out for the service by family members.

Behind the seated mourners, at least 100 other soldiers from all three arms of the Defence Force stood to attention in dress uniform while a lone piper played.

The Commanding Officer of the SAS, who cannot be named for security reasons, said the funeral was about honouring a great warrior.

“Warriors never really die, they simply move onto the next battle,” he said.

“Z-Force, men like Jack Sue, can rightfully claim to be the founding fathers of the Special Air Service Regiment.”

“Jack Sue is a true son of Australia. May his spirit guide us, and watch over us, as we the SASR strive to reach his benchmark.”

The Commander of HMAS Stirling, Capt Brett Dowsing of the Royal Australian Navy, said Mr Sue was a “remarkable man amongst remarkable men,” held in respect by all three arms of the Defence Force.

“He was a seaman who joined the Airforce and did army things” he said.

Other speakers included the Chaplain of Z Special Unit, Dr Shalom Coleman, and retired RAAF Sqdn Leader Ian Fogarty.

Tears flowed as Mr Sue’s son’s Kam and Barry Sue spoke of the loving family man behind the legend.

“Underneath the uniform, there was a heartbeat and a soul, a softness,” Barry said.

Mr Sue, who died last Tuesday aged 84, was sent behind enemy lines during WWII as part of Z Special Unit.

The Unit was charged with getting information on Japanese troop movements in the lead up to the Australian invasion of Borneo.

The mission was deemed so dangerous and sensitive, that all seven members of the unit were issued with suicide pills, which they were to take if captured to avoid giving away information during interrogation.

Mr Sue’s efforts during the war earned him the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

Barry Sue said this afternoon’s service was just what his father would have wanted and a fitting conclusion to the life of a great West Australian.

“If Dad could he’d jump out of that box and say, it’s good to be here with the boys.’”

The West

Join the Asian ANZACs page.

Banana Split - Portable Film Festival

I stumbled upon this short film on one of my forays into the internet world.

It's called Banana Split and is about growing up Asian in Australia and also Malaysian-Chinese-Australian in Australia.  Written by Sharon Chung and directed by Clinton Tan in 2005,  it was entered into the Portable Film Festival in 2006.

Synopsis

Grab a taste of Malaysian-Australasian life! The culture, the family, friends and bananas lah! An authentic recipe for what it takes to grow up as a foreigner in your own kampong (backyard).

If the video does not come up you can access it directly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF9VF1toZTg

Festival video site here.

Victor Chang killer refused parole

ONE of the men convicted of the murder of world renowned surgeon Victor Chang has been refused parole after a public outcry about his release.

Phillip Lim, 50, was due for release earlier this month after he served his minimum sentence of 18 years.

But the decision was "vacated'' last month to allow fresh submissions to be made by the New South Wales Government.

A NSW Parole Board hearing in Parramatta today heard it was not in the public interest for Lim to be released.

Judge Terry Christie cited the fact that Lim would almost certainly be deported to Malaysia upon his release.

"The (parole) authority recognises the need to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice,'' said the parole decision statement, handed down by the judge.

Judge Christie said Lim's parole would next be considered in August or September next year.

Dr Chang was shot dead on a footpath at Mosman in Sydney's northern suburbs on July 4, 1991, in a failed extortion attempt by Lim and Chew Seng (Ah Sung) Liew.

Lim and Liew were given maximum sentences of 24 and 26 years respectively.

Jim Counsel, who led the police investigation into the murder, said he was satisfied with the decision.

"We were very happy with the result, in particular for the family,'' he said outside court.

"This has not been a nice experience for them but I think that they'll be happy that the result has been what it has been.

``I think the justice system is working well.''
Corrective Services Minister John Robertson will be commenting on the decision at midday (AEDT).
News

Koga on the prowl for Tiger's Crown

Kota Kagasaki, like most aspiring golfers, dreams of one day beating Tiger Woods.

What makes Kagasaki special is that he has already come within a whisker of achieving his goal - at the age of 12.

Child prodigy Kagasaki, who plays off a handicap of just four, took on Woods one-on-one in a Nike exhibition event at Japan's Narita Golf Club earlier this month. Perhaps even more extraordinary is that the St Stephens College student from the Gold Coast went shot for shot with the greatest golfer of all time and almost beat him.

At the end of their nine-hole contest, Woods finished one-under. His young opponent carded a respectable one-over.

''[Woods] is really gentle, a really nice person,'' Kagasaki told The Sun-Herald.

''When I first met him one-on-one I was a little bit nervous, but when I went to the golf course I wasn't nervous at all.

''My goal was to win two holes against him and I only won one. But winning and losing wasn't the point of the round, it was about me learning.

''It's been a really good starting [point] for me.''

Already, the similarities between the pair are startling. They are both part Asian (Kagasaki was born in Japan before shifting to the Gold Coast via Hawaii and New Zealand). Both are sponsored by Nike.

And both showed an amazing aptitude for the game from the time they first picked up a golf club. In Kagasaki's case, that pivotal moment occurred on his eighth birthday.

''My dad took me to the driving range,'' recalled Kagasaki, who turned 13 during the week.

''He was hitting some golf balls and I said, 'I want to hit some as well.'

''I tried a right-handed swing but everything I do - writing and eating - I do with my left hand.

''Right-handed, I didn't hit it too well. I swapped to my left hand, got some rental clubs and started hitting left-handed.

''The first ball I hit, I hit it pretty good.

''From there, it became really fun.

''Since it was my birthday I asked my dad to get me a set of golf clubs.

''In the pro shop, luckily, there was a junior left-handed golf set.

''I asked him to buy that for me as a birthday present and then I started hitting in the driving range with my new clubs.

''A couple of professional people were watching me.

''They asked me when I started and I said, 'Today is just my first day.'

''They were, 'You're kidding, right?'''

''That's how I started.''

Only four months after he started, he produced his first hole-in-one. Four years later he was hitting up with Tiger. The next time they cross paths, Kagasaki expects to reverse the result.

''My dream is to go to the US PGA by 18 and win against Tiger Woods by the time I'm 20,'' he said.

''I hope I can. My goal is to beat him. I have to keep on breaking his [majors] records to beat him as well.''

Asked what he took from the Woods experience, he replied: ''He taught me a lot of things over the nine holes.

''What he told me was, 'Keep doing what you're doing.'''

The expectations are high but Kagasaki insists his main motivation is simply the love of the game. His coach, father Yoshi, expects the precociously talented youngster to do just as well at school as on the course.

''I wasn't forcing myself to play, I was just enjoying it,'' Kagasaki jnr said.

''I really liked it so I just kept on hitting golf balls.''
SMH

Where am I on television?

Opinion piece by Lara Song from Korean Bulletin which seems to be a short lived Korean-Australian news site.

In my senior years of high school, I used to watch the television show ‘Beauty and the Beast’. For those not aware of the program, it was hosted by the late Stan Zemanek (who really played up the part of being the obnoxious, foul mouthed ‘Beast’), with a different panel of ‘Beauties’ every show.

Viewers would write in letters with problems of varying consequence and the bevy of ‘Beauties’ and the ‘Beast’ would give their solutions (or at least their opinions) on the matter. The more difficult challenge for the ‘Beauties’ would prove to be on dealing with the onslaught of verbal attack and put downs from Zemanek if they happened to disagree with his typically hard line right wing conservative point of view.

Needless to say, it was compelling television viewing. One of my favourite ‘Beauties’ was Dr Cindy Pan. I was always that little bit extra excited when she was on the show. She was always so poised, calm and assertive in a charming, likeable way. She had an air of authority about her when she spoke. Plus, she was Asian.

There were no other Asian Australians on television regularly at the time, not one that I was aware of at least. So to me she was an oddity, unique, and deserving of admiration. She was the closest that I could see myself on TV. Not that I necessarily wanted to be on TV you see. But she represented something that I could be if I chose, and more importantly a feeling that there was someone who seemed to reflect me in the mainstream Australian media.

Growing up in the nineties, I was desperately searching for role models - someone or a group of people I felt represented me, in the media. Someone I felt I could really relate to, perhaps by way of looking like me, maybe with a similar background, or possibly a similar upbringing. Someone who would understand me and my way of looking at the world as an Asian Australian, or even as an ethnic migrant Australian. But unfortunately, I didn’t find much.

I remember in my early teens, I went through a phase when I watched quite religiously the dramas unfold in Summer Bay and on Ramsay St (otherwise known as ‘Home and Away’ and ‘Neighbours’). Never at the same time of course (for some odd reason, there seemed to be two camps during high school, and watching one precluded you from watching the other). I relished in the drama of the shows. But over time, it slowly dawned on me that rarely did the people on these shows reflect me, my group of friends (who were and are of various ethnic backgrounds), my family or the community of people that I was a part of in suburban Sydney. I lived in a culturally diverse community; why didn’t these shows reflect that? When was the last time you saw a Korean family, a group of Lebanese girls, or Sudanese brothers on Home and Away?

Sadly and unfortunately, these ideas and images of what an ‘Australian’ is, is also broadcast to some one hundred nations around the world through these programs. I find it quite amusing (and a bit annoying) when I meet tourists from overseas who upon walking through the city are surprised at the ethnic diversity we have in Sydney.

It may seem that I’m picking on Neighbours and Home and Away, but I only mention them because they are iconic Australian programs and are accepted as such. They are meant to reflect the Australian way of life. However, in an interesting report by Britain's racial equality chief, the show Neighbours was branded “too white” by black and Asian viewers in Britain. Trevor Philips who is the Equality and Human Rights Commission Chairman said that Britain’s major broadcasters remained “hideously white” when choosing programs. Perhaps Australian broadcasters can also take heed.

I am aware that I have made no mention of SBS, the multicultural and multilingual broadcaster. Certainly as a public broadcaster set up for this purpose, they promote cultural diversity in all forms in their television and radio programs. Programs like ‘Fat Pizza’ have gained popularity beyond SBS into the cultural consciousness of the mainstream public. Hence I’m concerning myself with only what is broadcast on the commercial networks, which more accurately reflects the level at which we have embraced ethnic diversity on television.

It’s not all bad news however. I’ve observed it’s a very different story when it comes to reality programs. Shows like ‘Australian Idol’ and ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ (SYTYCD) which is based on the skill, talent and popularity of the contestants usually have a broad ethnic and cultural mix of Australian society. From Guy Sebastian and Natalie Grauci off Idol to Demi and Saramsa off SYTYCD, these shows present the personalities, the stories and the talents of the performers, and we end up falling in (or out of) love with them for who they are. I wonder if the diversity of talent on these shows is a factor in its success perhaps.

Aside from the reality shows, has Australian television embraced more diversity and difference in the ‘noughties’? I believe yes. I’ve noticed a greater range of ethnicities particularly on commercials, TV shows, the news, and other programs (think Fuzzy off Video Hits, Ahn Do the comedian, Karen Tso from Channel Nine news, Nuala Hafner from Channel Seven weather). I think if nothing else, commercials will have to reflect more accurately the consumers they hope to target their products or services if they want to be competitive, and it seems that they along with the commercial networks are slowly coming around to that idea.

I have only made mention of television so far but there are other mediums of media that are undeniably under-represented by a broad spectrum of ethnicities including talk back radio, publishing e.g. magazines, and Australian literature although we seem to be slowly progressing on all fronts (‘Growing up Asian in Australia’ is a particularly relevant and entertaining book; a collection of stories edited by Alice Pung).

I believe that if we look ahead ten years from now, we would have moved even further ahead on the road to reflecting more accurately on television and in other media, the cosmopolitan multicultural society that we are. We must, to be a more inclusive society, one that accepts and embraces a person regardless of where they are from and is happy to represent that image to the rest of Australia and to the rest of the world. That is my vision for Australian media anyway. I think it’s an inevitable change and it’s happening now as we speak. However, as citizens of this beautiful country we call home, I think we all need to question and challenge what we see more on television. And most importantly, get involved ourselves. As Gandhi’s famous quote goes, perhaps we need to first be the change that we want to see in the world.

Nam Le's The Boat wins Prime Ministers Literary Award

THE venue might have been a clue. Against the creaking masts of Sydney's National Maritime Museum, The Boat by Nam Le was named winner of the $100,000 Prime Minister's Literary Award for fiction yesterday

The much-awarded debut collection of short stories by Le, 30, who came to Australia as a Vietnamese refugee, covers a cosmopolitan cast of characters, from a Colombian gang member to Vietnamese boat people. ''Le combines almost reckless artistic boldness with highly disciplined craft,'' said the judges.

In announcing the awards, the Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett, did not mention the political timeliness of Le's subject but others noted topical themes running through the winning books.

''Both [non-fiction] books are about the disease of the 20th century - racism,'' said Phillip Adams, the non-fiction judges' chairman.

''They are all books about arrival in Australia,'' said James Boyce, author of the short-listed history Van Diemen's Land.

Le's win kept the fiction award in the ranks of debut authors as Steven Conte's first novel, The Zookeeper's War, won the inaugural award last year. Le's win recognises that ''short stories are so much part of our literary tradition'', said another short-listed novelist, Peter Goldsworthy.

Le could not be at yesterday's function, but in a speech read by his publisher, he thanked the judges for rewarding a ''collection of unlinked short stories from an ex-lawyer'' and said he felt ''like a petty thief on murderers' row'' in the company of the other finalists: Goldsworthy, Murray Bail, Geraldine Brooks, Richard Flanagan, Joan London and another first-timer, Sofie Laguna.

Books, he said, ''are the truest means of telling and showing us to ourselves, that they do a strange, unaccountable, irreplaceable work that the loose, baggy monsters of film, TV, and internet cannot''.

Jail stint avoided over student death silence

A 44-year-old man who failed to notify authorities of the death a Chinese student in Hobart has avoided going to prison.

John Edward Mollineaux last week pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to report a killing.

The charge followed the death of Zhang Yu at New Town in June.

In the Supreme Court in Hobart today Mollineaux received a six month suspended sentence.
ABC

Trooper Billy made a rifle sing

THE Great War, now known as World War I, reached its conclusion in a rail car in France and a cease-fire was declared to take place at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 – 11am, 11.11.18.

The day has been celebrated ever since as the day peace came to the world after the ‘war to end all wars.’

Later on, other wars were also commemorated on that date but it is still regarded as a World War I memorial date.

Australia joined The Great War from the beginning and it’s first major engagement came at Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1915 and while many soldiers are remembered for their acts of bravery and self-sacrifice and names became legends, only one man gained the name, ‘The Assassin of Gallipoli,’ Trooper William Edward (Billy) Sing DCM, Croix de Guerre, of the Fifth Light Horse Regiment.

It was a Queensland unit and its officers and men were primarily from the country areas.  Trooper Sing, like most of his fellow members of the Regiment, had grown up and worked with horses in the Australian bush.

Part of their cumulative stock-in-trade was an ability to ride well, estimate distance carefully, track strayed stock and animal pests, and to fire both rifle and shotgun accurately.

Sing's considerable skills with a rifle were well-known in his central Queensland home district, even before the outbreak of War. He was a member of the Proserpine Rifle Club and a leading kangaroo shooter around his home town of Clermont.

Sing signed his enlistment papers at Proserpine on October 24, 1914, and became a member of the First AIF.  Billy Sing travelled by ship to Brisbane and after a brief period of training, the ship set sail for Egypt. It was five days before Christmas 1914.

The men of the Fifth Light Horse chaffed at the bit during April, 1915. They cooled their spurred heels on the Egyptian desert, while a few hundred kilometers away their infantry colleagues were creating Australian history at Gallipoli.

The rising casualty toll on the peninsula saw Sing and his mates embark for the Dardanelles on May 16.
For the first month, the Light Horse men were scattered through the Infantry Battalions to gain some experience, but, by mid-June, they had farewelled their foot-slogger comrades and rejoined their Regiment, when it moved to the seaward side of Bolton's Ridge.

In honour of a young English-born Light Horse officer, the new position was called Chatham's Post. It was here Billy Sing’s shooting expertise stood out and his lethal occupation as a sniper began.  The sniper's daily modus operandi began with his taking up his 'possie' in the pre-dawn darkness. This, and the fact he rarely left the area until well after dusk, ensured there was no tell-tale movement near him during the daylight hours.

Once Sing and his spotter were in position and had settled in, the true discipline of maintaining a quiet and motionless patience began.  This was not a job for fidgeters. It demanded infinite resolution, an almost unconscious yet alert tranquility and the steady pursuit of professional perfection - snipers rarely get a second shot at a specific target.

The equipment available to the Australian snipers at Gallipoli was basic and, in some cases, nothing more than the standard-issue Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) No. 1 Mark III .303 calibre rifle.

However, there is evidence that some former rifle club members were allowed to take their own privately purchased weapons with them when they left Australia.

Some of these same sporting shooters used rifles which had been fitted with various target and peep sights, primarily the ‘Lattey optical sight’ but, in the end, the fundamental qualifications were above-average eyesight and a cold-blooded resolve.

Sing, a methodical man, encompassed, exemplified and expanded upon all of these characteristics. His uncompromising commitment and business-like approach impressed the British commander, General (later Lord) W.R. Birdwood and other senior officers.

Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) S. Midgely of the Fifth Light Horse, once candidly asked Billy how he really felt about killing men in cold blood. Sing replied that shooting "the illegitimates" had not caused him to lose any sleep.

It was steely comments like these - and prominent personalities such as Billy Sing - that gave Australian commanders on Gallipoli opportunities to boost the morale of battle-weary troops.

It was probably with official blessing that word of Sing's steadily mounting macabre tally was passed mouth-to-mouth like a cricket score, along the Allied trench-lines.

It was careless soldiers, as well as raw Turkish reinforcements, who presented easy targets of opportunity for the Anzac snipers. The nervous curiosity of these new-comers compelled them to snatch quick and often fatal glances over the parapet toward the Australian trenches. The actual area presented by their momentarily exposed bodies was minimal from the front. But it was the view from the flanks of the zigzagging trenches that gave a chance to the waiting Allied marksmen.

One of Sing’s better known spotters was Ion ‘Jack’ Idriess (author of ‘Desert Column,’ ‘Cattle King,’ ‘Lassetter's Last Ride’ and many other books on Australian history).

Idriess described the world of the sniper as being like a cat watching a wall with many mouse holes. Behind the holes worked the cautious mice, with ever-watchful felines waiting for just one mistake.

As the campaign moved on and Sing's persistence and accuracy took their toll, it was inevitable a response would come from the Turks.

At first, orthodox military methodology was applied to put an end to the Australian who had taken out as many as nine of the enemy in a single day. One such Turkish reaction saw Sing's growing confidence shaken by a very near miss, one quiet morning in late August at Chatham's.

Sing and his observer, on this occasion Trooper Tom Sheehan, sat silently surveying the enemy trenches, waiting for an unthinking mouse to appear. Their eyes and telescope swept the ground to the front, seeking the almost imperceptible giveaway signs.

A Turkish marksman with a similar intent seized upon a sudden and inadvertent movement in the Australian sniping team and fired on them. His shot passed through Sheehan's telescope, end to end, wounding the Australian in both hands, before entering his mouth and coming out his left cheek. The almost-spent bullet travelled on, striking Sing in the right shoulder.

Tom Sheehan was evacuated to Australia to reflect on his own mortality. It was another week before Billy Sing was physically and psychologically able to climb back up to his elevated ‘possie.’

The next attempt by the Turks to clear their left flank of the unrelenting Australian sniper was more formidable.

Reports of these efforts came to light later, from accounts by Turkish prisoners, as well as translated extracts from diaries removed from the bodies of their dead.

The Turks sent for their own champion near the centre of the front line.

The Australian’s called him ‘Abdul the Terrible’ and he was a marksman of great skill who probably relished the challenge of taking out the Australian sniper.

‘Abdul’ had already been decorated by the Sultan for his proficiency and brought with him a determination which matched Billy Sing's.

The Turk, in order to find Sing’s position, attended the sight of every sniping victim where he would thoughtfully examine the spot and reconstruct each fatal shot.

By doing this, he was able to determine the angle of trajectory and direction from entry and exit wounds and the stance of the victim at the moment of impact as recounted by those who stood nearby.

His calculations led him to gaze consistently towards Harris Ridge and then on one specific location – a small rise on the heights at Chatham’s Post.

At last he had found the lair of the too-efficient Australian killer.
The Turk selected a suitable firing position.

In the darkness of each night, he built his own position. When it was finished, ‘Abdul’ - like his Australian adversary - took up his post each morning well before dawn.

Many days were spent simply watching and waiting until eventually, his persistence paid off.  Sing and his spotter took up their position before daybreak and as he settled himself in, the observer began his day's first semi-alert frontal sweep with the telescope.  Almost immediately the man’s movement ceased and he whispered to his sniper that he already had a target.

Sing took the telescope and, glancing towards a point indicated by his spotter, he stared ahead - in the face and rifle-muzzle of ‘Abdul the Terrible.’

Carefully taking up his rifle, Sing made a final check that nothing would betray their position then gently eased the loophole cover back and cautiously pushed the weapon forward.

The Turk also saw Sing and began his own firing sequence. As he settled the rifle into his shoulder, ‘Abdul’ drew in a breath and steadily sighted it on Sing.

At that moment, a bullet struck the Turk between the eyes.

The frustrated Turks then resorted to artillery to stem Sing’s mounting tally of bodies, and with pin-point accuracy, eventually blew his position to dust – fortunately, the very first shell landed a little short which gave Sing and his spotter the chance to get away, the second shell did the damage.

Trooper Sing wasn’t just a merciless killer; he had that customary Outback Australian dry humour surrounding his daily pursuits.

This surfaced on one occasion when the Australian had as his observer, General Birdwood.

It was a windy day, not one conducive to long-range rifle accuracy. As Sing fired on a recklessly exposed Turkish head, his first shot missed, its path deflected by a fleeting gust. He waited for the wind to drop before sighting once more.

The second bullet spun a Turkish soldier out of the trench; a satisfactory effort given the blustery conditions

With a hint of virtue, mixed perhaps with unintentional irony, the poker-faced sniper told the general he would not add the latest kill to his score - he had been aiming at another Turk.

Eventually, official recognition of Sing's exceptional sniping skills began to appear.  On October 23, 1915, General Birdwood issued an order announcing his compliments on Tpr Sing’s performance in accounting for 201 Turks.

The general was obviously happier in accepting the higher, but less official score.  There is clear evidence the international press knew of the Queensland marksman and reports of his Gallipoli successes appeared in London and American newspapers.

In February, 1916, Sing was also mentioned in the dispatches of the Commander of the Allied forces, Sir Ian Hamilton and on March 10, Sing was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for conspicuous gallantry as a sniper at Anzac.

By June, 1916, the AIF was bound for the battlefields of France and Belgium and Sing was posted to the 31st Infantry Battalion and was in France by August.

Over the next 19 months, wounds caused Sing to be frequently in and out of the line. He also suffered the recurring effects of old illnesses and injuries from Gallipoli.

During one period of recuperation, he travelled to Scotland where he met waitress Elizabeth Stewart, the 21-year-old daughter of a naval cook. They married in Edinburgh on June 29, 1917.

Once again, his worth as a soldier was recognized by the Allied High Command. In October, 1917, the Army Corps Commander expressed his appreciation for Sing's ". . . gallant service during recent operations".

This may have taken place at Polygon Wood in late September 1917, when Sing led a fighting patrol which succeeded in eliminating German snipers who were causing casualties among the Australians.

Sing was recommended for the Military Medal - for his work in identifying and dealing with German marksmen. But this was never approved.

However, early in 1918, he was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre, which may have been the result of the Polygon Wood action.

In July, Sing was posted to a submarine guard on an Australian-bound troopship. It had been almost four years since he had left Clermont for his grand adventure.

When Billy and Elizabeth Sing arrived in Proserpine, the town's residents turned out in force. A large procession, led by a local band, accompanied the couple from the railway station to the town hall, local dignitaries made welcoming speeches.

The transition from the green hills of Edinburgh to the dust and rough life of the mining district around Clermont was too much for Elizabeth Sing and she disappeared from her husband’s life.

As the post-war exuberance waned, Billy returned to Clermont. He moved on to a mining claim on the Miclere goldfield.
In 1942, he left the district for Brisbane. He told his sister Beatrice that it might be cheaper to live in the city.

Billy Sing’s Gallipoli reputation faded from memory with the increasing number of Anzacs who passed away each year and he took a labouring job which did little to help his poor health.

On Wednesday, May 19, 1943, William Edward Sing's aorta ruptured and he died alone in his room at the house where he boarded in 304 Montague Road, West End. He was 57.

Apart from five shillings, which were found in his room, and six pounds ten shillings and eight pence, owed to him in wages, the only thing of value left by Billy was a hut, probably on the Miclere claim, worth twenty pounds.
A pathetic postscript to the life of a man whose name was once known to an army and a nation.

- By the Australian Light Horse Association.
Warwick Daily News

Forgotten Carlton hero celebrated on canvas

What is it about the wonderfully-named Wally Koochew that more than 100 years after chasing the leather for the Carlton Football Club he should now be immortalised on canvas?

Though he only wore the original Carlton guernsey with the chamois yoke in four senior appearances through the 1908 season, Koochew is forever remembered as the first League footballer of Chinese origin.

And now, his portrait – in mixed media on polycotton - proudly hangs on a wall of the aptly-titled Kick Gallery in Northcote, as part of artist Tim Vagg’s exhibition, Heroes, Drunks & Bounders – Forgotten Tales of Melbourne.

For Vagg, a 36 year-old Ballarat-born artist of 15 years experience, there’s no doubting Koochew ranks as a hero.

“For the most part I’d prefer to leave judgment to the viewer, but certainly, Wally fits into the ‘hero’ category,” Vagg said.

“I originally heard a fellow named Sam Pang mention this largely forgotten story of Sino-Australian footballers like Wally Koochew and decided to follow it up. Although I’ve never done studies based on famous figures before, I wanted to provide a living memorial to people like him who didn’t get recognition in their own lifetime . . . and every painting has a distant story.”

Walter John Henry Koochew (sometimes spelled Kou Chow, Kow Chow or Ko Chow) was born in Carlton on July 6, 1887. Wally’s father, James, migrated to Australia from Whampoa, 13 kilometres south of Guangzhou (Canton), aboard the ship Frances from the port of Hong Kong in 1865 - one year after the Carlton Football Club was formed.

For James and so many Chinese, the lure of Australia was gold.

Having spent his formative years in the north-western town of Macedon, Wally Koochew was recruited to Carlton from neighbouring Brunswick. But by 1909, he was back at Macedon after an all-too-brief Princes Park foray.

Upon his retirement as a player, and after health issues intervened, Koochew ran a hot dog stand at the old Arden Street Oval in North Melbourne. He died in the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1932, aged 44, and was laid to rest in Heidelberg Cemetery, not far from the grave of the great Australian game’s founder, Tom Wills.

The Koochew painting, which has already been snapped up by a Carlton tragic, is taken from a team photograph captured prior to the Blues’ round three match with Essendon at Princes Park in early 1908. The photo appeared in the Weekly Times of May 23, 1908.
CarltonFC

RIP Jack Wong Sue

 Jack with three of his seven children

It is with great sadness that I make this post. Jack Wong Sue OAM DCM, WW2 ANZAC, has passed away at the age of 84.

It was over a year ago on ANZAC day when I first noticed Jack while channel surfing. He was in the ANZAC day march in Perth and my first reaction was "wtf". I was confused. The commentator said something along the lines of "...WW2 veteran Jack Wong Sue..." I made a mental note to chase this up. This is something I never expected to see.

ANZAC day for me has always been a day when the whites grandstand over the rest of us. That we were just 'japs' and we were a threat to them in WWII, conveniently forgetting that the other menace during WWII were the Germans, aka whites. Or that I wasn't even a 'jap'.

So to see someone with Asian features in the ANZAC parade was truly mystifying. In my full twelve years of Australian education, not one teacher had even hinted that there may be Australians of non-white race, apart from indigenous Australians, fighting for Australia. No one ever told me about Chinese Diggers. You can see why they would omit those details.

Anyway, it wasn't until this year that I started to do a bit more research and boy was I surprised. There seemed to be so many: John Joseph Shying, Billy Sing, Jack Wong Sue, Kate Quan and many more.  There are also many who had fully anglicised names who we may never track down, and many mixed children of Chinese fathers and white mothers who took on their mother's maiden name when enlisting in the hope that they would not be discriminated against by the army/government.

In addition to these, there were also many who were denied the opportunity to fight for their country due to discrimination and many whose efforts were not recognised. The Australian Government had betrayed them.

Jack himself suffered a lot of racial discrimination and abuse before, during and after the war. Yet despite all of this he was a determined man who achieved everything with steely resolve. He took crap from nobody, not even higher ranked officers. A larger than life character who was skilled in many things, he enjoyed scuba diving and playing music with his band. I don't think my descriptions or his wiki do him justice. I really recommend reading his book "Blood on Borneo".

I had been in discussions with his son Barry on Friday about making a documentary on Jack's life, especially before and after the war. Barry had told me his father was really sick and it had gotten worse. So this afternoon when I came across a story about his passing away, I was shocked but not surprised.

We've lost one of our greatest.

Lest we forget.


Hear Barry Sue talk about his father

World War II hero Jack Sue has died in Perth at the age of 84.

Mr Sue was a member of Z Special Unit, a special forces reconnaissance unit which operated behind enemy lines in South-East Asia during World War II.

Z Special Unit was the predecessor to the Special Air Service Regiment.

Mr Sue spent months behind enemy lines in Borneo and in his memoirs claimed Z Special Unit commandos in Borneo killed 1,700 Japanese and trained 6,000 guerrillas.

Allied forces later invaded Borneo.

Mr Sue was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and rose to the rank of Sergeant during his army career.

He was awarded the Order of Australia in 2006.

His son Barry Sue confirmed he died today.

In 2006, The West Australians' Rod Moran wrote of Mr Sue's war-time exploits.

Head-hunting Dyaks, murderous Japanese infantry and the tragedy of the Sandakan Death Marches in the fetid jungle of what was then British North Borneo provided the grim backdrop to teenage warrior Jack Wong Sue's experience of World War II in the South-West Pacific, Moran wrote.

His award of the Order of Australia Medal was partly for his recording of those experiences in Blood on Borneo, a remarkable memoir of his nine months behind enemy lines in 1944-45. Published in 2001, more than 17,000 copies of the book have been sold in WA alone.

But Mr Sue's trajectory to war began when he was merely 16 years old. After receiving a white feather in the mail - a symbol of cowardice - he joined the merchant navy, sailing the submarine-infested high seas on a Norwegian oil tanker.

En route, he rubbed shoulders with nazi sailors on shore leave in pro-German neutral ports, and witnessed the fiery death by torpedo of an Allied merchantman at night.

On returning to Fremantle he attempted to enlist in the Royal Australian Navy, but was rejected because of his Chinese background. The fact that he was Australian-born and that China was a wartime ally made no difference.

Ironically, it was precisely his oriental appearance and connections - as well as his fluency in Chinese and Malay - that led to Mr Sue's recruitment into Z Special Unit, an ultra-secret organisation that infiltrated agents behind Japanese lines throughout the South-West Pacific for sabotage, guerilla warfare, and intelligence gathering.

After extensive training in the ruthless methods and technologies of clandestine warfare, Mr Sue was sent into the field as agent AKR 13. Leaving Fremantle on the USS Tuna, he was inserted into Borneo to conduct operation Agas 1. He had been issued with “L-tablets”, lethal capsules to be ingested if captured. At the time, Borneo was occupied by 37,000 troops of the Japanese Imperial Army.

The aim was to gather intelligence on Japanese troop movements as a prelude to the Australian invasion of Borneo. It was during this operation that Mr Sue won the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions in securing intelligence at Bongawan railway station.

Mr Sue was also involved in Operation Kingfisher, a plan to rescue the PoWs at the brutal Sandakan prison camp in northern Borneo. With nearly 2000 Japanese troops in the area, Mr Sue had to reconnoitre the camp and its hinterland.

All but six of the 2400 prisoners at the camp died on the subsequent Sandakan Death Marches, or were murdered at the camp itself. Mr Sue is the last living witness to the third and final march.

Historian Lynette Silver, author of Sandakan: A Conspiracy of Silence, describes his predicament: “Into their line of vision came a contingent of Japanese guards, followed by four skeletal creatures, so starved and emaciated they looked more like mummified corpses than human beings.” They were Australian PoWs.

Mr Sue's instincts told him to kill the guards and free the prisoners. But his training told him to stay under cover. The image of his countrymen as the living dead haunted Mr Sue.

In 1945, at the age of just 19, Mr Sue emerged from the jungle emaciated, psychologically haunted and a decorated war hero. With great fortitude, he began the process of building a new life in civvy street.

Jack Sue, a quiet hero and a brave man
World War II RAAF Officer and Z Special Unit hero Jack Sue remembered
PerthNow
ABC
Yahoo

Join the Asian ANZACs page.

Korean Australian Twins climb Youtube rankings

Meet Janice and Sonya, or JS as they're known, twins who hail from Sydney.  They've been posting cover songs on Youtube since 2008 and have steadily gained a loyal following.  They sing a mixture of songs, sometimes in Korean too, accompanied by an acoustic guitar. They have super s w e e t voices.

They've uploaded 22 songs so far but my favourite, and by the looks of it, everyone elses, is Officially Missing You by Tamia.  Keep it up girls!



Looking through some of the comments, Janice seems to be more attention than Sonya, even though they're twins.

Their official channel is here.

Australian‐Chinese War Memorial Design Competition

 
What would be a better way to contribute to the Chinese-Australian community than to design a monument dedicated to those before us who fought and died for this country, whilst encountering lots of discrimination from their country and fellow countrymen.  Oh yeah, and you get $1000 for your winning entry.

Slowly, Chinese-Australian servicemen and women are being recognised for their contribution to this country.  Earlier this decade, a monument was installed close to the Sydney Chinatown (which I can't seem to find a lot of information on).  Even though this new monument will be built in Brisbane, entry is open to everyone across Australia.

To be eligible you must be between 18 and 25 as of the 1st of November, which unfortunately rules me out.  But hey that means less competition for you guys :) 

Entries close at 5:00pm Friday 26 March, 2010. Spread the word and get designing!

Graham Perrett and the Sunnybank RSL are working with the Chinese community on Brisbane's southside to establish an Australian-Chinese War Memorial to honour the service and sacrifice of Australian-Chinese who have served in the Australian Defence Forces.

The memorial will be erected in the Veterans Memorial Garden at the Sunnybank Sub Branch RSL in Gager Street, Sunnybank.

The Competition Organising Committee is seeking designs from 16 to 25 year-olds. The winning designer will be awarded $1,000.

Read the full conditions of entry here.

Join the Asian ANZACs page.

Tomorrow, When the War Began

Just found this out from Maria Tran's blog, filming for the movie version of  "Tomorrow, When the World Began" by author John Marsden has begun and is set to be released next year.

The book is described as a "young adult invasion novel" - umm what?  Anyway, the book details an invasion by a foreign power.  A small band of teenagers in a small country town group together and launch a campaign of guerilla warfare.  There are seven novels in total so assuming the first movie goes well, the rest of the series will also be made into movies.

One of the main characters is an introverted Asian Australian, Lee Takkam, who is played by Chris Pang.

Lee is part Thai and part Vietnamese and keeps to himself a lot. Before the war, lee played the Violin, Piano and was good at Visual arts at school. Lee, like Ellie, becomes more violent as the war progresses and because he keeps to himself, he sometimes causes a few problems. Lee tends to kill soldiers directly (with knives and guns for example) and becomes more left out when he finds everyone's parents are okay except for his. But Lee, also like Ellie, finds his lighter side with the "feral" children.

Lee's parents own the local Asian restaurant. Yay.

Some things to note and look out for:
There's supposed to be a bit of AM/WF romance, between Lee and Ellie (played by Caitlin Stasey - quite fit).  Knowing how Australian TV and cinema depicts Asian males, it will be interesting to see how far their relationship is explored.

Lee Takkam is supposedly part Thai and part Vietnamese.  But this is really boggling my mind, a quick google of Takkam as a surname results in no matches.  Takkam does not sound Vietnamese so that leaves Thai, but that gives no results either.  I do get Tak Kam, which is cantonese.  I'm also guessing the restaurant will actually be Chinese.  What the hell was John Marsden thinking when he made up the character?  It's all the same?

The foreign invading force in the book is not named and is unidentifiable.  This was verified by an article in The Australian.  I wonder how the film will portray this.
Edit:  Just checked the forum. The invading force will be Asian!  No surprises. 

Masa Yamaguchi - Sergeant

 Andy Minh Trieu - Tanker Soldier

This movie is actually reminding me more and more of the Red Dawn remake that is being released at the end of next year.  The original had a Russian invasion but the remake will have a Chinese invasion.

Talk about Asian Invasion overload in 2010!

Red Cross calls for more donations from different ethnic groups

VICTORIA might be an ethnic melting pot, but as it turns out, its blood supply is not as richly diverse.

As part of its campaign to recruit more donors this year, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service is trying to obtain more blood from different ethnic groups to ensure the state's blood supply represents community needs.

Transfusion specialist Erica Wood said that aside from commonly known blood types like A, B, O and Rhesus, many other groups were found in varying frequency among people from different parts of the world.

As Victoria had become more multicultural, she said demand for these types had increased, prompting the service to encourage more people from Arab, Asian, African, Pacific Island and some European backgrounds to donate.

''We have a very diverse patient group now with all sorts of conditions that are more common among people from particular ethnic backgrounds,'' she said.

''However, our donors have primarily come from a European background.

''We've always had good support from a range of community groups, but we would like to increase that so we've got really good representation.''

The need for rare blood types was felt this year when the service had to import blood products from New Zealand and interstate to help four pregnant Polynesian women because there were no matching donors in Victoria.

''It's an ongoing issue for us. We've had a lot of people with rare blood types that could not be easily found among Victorian donors,'' Dr Wood said.

She said it was important to provide compatible blood to people with special needs to ensure their condition was properly treated and to minimise potentially fatal adverse reactions.

Harkirat Singh, from the Sikh Federation of Australia, said he started mobilising his community to donate this year to boost supplies not only for his own people, but also for the broader community. ''Our religion says that we should do these sorts of things so there is equality in the world,'' he said before giving blood yesterday.

''We are organising for people to come in every three months. We're very proud to be part of it.''

Dr Wood encouraged Victorians to donate, especially over Christmas when donations tend to drop.

''We all hope and expect that blood will be available when we or our family and friends need it, but we might not give much thought to how it gets there,'' she said.

''We really need a blood supply that will help everyone.''

To donate blood visit donateblood. com.au or call 131 495.

WAToday