Hey I'm Kevin - Asian Australian in Microsoft Windows 7 Ad

An Asian Australian appears in one of the new Windows 7 television ads, where he takes you through a new feature where you can snap windows to get two windows side by side.  Been waiting for this ad to hit youtube after seeing it on TV.  So great to see an AA speaking fluent Aussie English!

My other favourite ad is the Woolworths Everyday Credit Card Commercial, see if you can figure out why :)

'What the f---?' Aussie arrested in Dubai after swearing at policeman

I had to lol after I read this story.  Sun McKay, a South Australian, was arrested in Dubai International airport after swearing when a stranger came up and grabbed his wrist.  Unluckily for him, the stranger was a plainclothes policeman and swearing at an officer attracts a hefty fine.  So far, Sun has had his passport confiscated and has spent $4500 on legal fees.  He is still awaiting trial.

When Sun McKay was manhandled by a stranger in the arrivals hall at Dubai International Airport, he did what many young Australians would do. He swore.

"This guy in a blue shirt grabbed my wrist quite hard, pulled me towards him and started yelling at me in Arabic, and I just said: 'What the f---?'" Mr McKay said.

Unbeknown to Mr McKay, the man was a plainclothes airport policeman, and the 32-year-old private security consultant had just committed a crime.

Almost a month later, with his passport confiscated, Mr McKay remains stranded in the Emirate awaiting trial on charges of insulting and using inappropriate language to a police officer.

Mr McKay has already spent 15,000 dirham ($4500) on legal fees, with no end in sight.

"My lawyer and I will obviously push for a fine, but the penalties here can be straight away deportation or up to three years' imprisonment and then deportation."

A former Australia Defence Force member who has been working in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006, Mr McKay had visited Dubai about 20 times over the past three years without incident.

"I had no reason to know this guy was a policeman, because he had no insignia or anything."

When the officer produced ID, Mr McKay apologised, but to no avail.

"I was taken upstairs to a small room and interrogated, in quite a brutal way, for three hours. There was lots of yelling and gesticulating; they were smoking and blowing it at me. I was told repeatedly and very aggressively that this was not my country and that they could have me thrown in jail for what I had done."

Mr McKay said he asked for water, a translator and access to a phone, but was ignored. Despite continued apologies, he had his passport confiscated and was sent home at 3.30am.

Mr McKay's lawyer, Mohsen Mohamed Zin El Din, said that just getting a court date could take between three weeks and three months.

And once the criminal case is settled, the police officer could choose to launch a civil case against Mr McKay.

"Sun agreed that he was guilty," Mr Mohsen said. "It is not good for him. I told him to deny it."

Mr Mohsen said his client was most likely looking at a prison sentence of one month, plus court costs of 10,000 to 15,000 dirham, and compensation payments to the police officer.

Mr McKay said he had received little co-operation from Australian consular staff in Dubai, whom he accused of being “rude and abrupt”.

Consular staff met Mr McKay but said that he used “insulting and inappropriate language” towards them. Mr McKay denies this.

Mr McKay is living in a company-owned villa in Dubai's no-frills al-Rashida district.

"For the time being, they are allowing me to stay rent free, which is fantastic of them. But when I get out, I doubt I'll have a job any more. At one stage everyone was quite enjoying the joke. Now I am definitely not."

Mr McKay is the latest Australian to fall foul of authorities overseas, most notably in the Middle East.

In January, Australian citizen Nasrah Alshamery, 43, was arrested by Kuwaiti police after allegedly insulting the emir, Sheikh Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Saba, during a row with airport officials.
WA Today

'Cultural differences' saves child-beater from jail

"A KOREAN who beat his teenage sister-in-law for not doing homework or running fast enough has avoided jail thanks to cultural differences in discipline."  He hit her with a "metal vacuum cleaner pipe, a hard plastic pipe and a mop handle" and also made threats to tie her to a boulder and chuck her into Hinze dam.  The girl suffered extensive bruising and no doubt a lot of trauma.  Due to 'cultural differences' and the unique circumstances of the case, he was give a 9 month suspended sentence.

I really can't condone this kind of behaviour, by the Korean man or by the judge.  Disciplining your kids is ok but disciplining your sister-in-law?   Hitting her for not running fast enough, is this a joke? With regards to the type of discipline administered there is a blurry line between what is acceptable and what isn't.  I'm going to have to say that hitting her with a metal vacuum cleaner pipe (and all the other items) is way over the line.  There is nothing distinguishing the man from a thug.

The judge should have given him a proper sentence, this sort of behaviour is not acceptable and shouldn't be accepted in this country
News.

Asian Australian Host on New ABC3 Channel

Just found out that there will be another ABC channel, ABC3, which will be a dedicated channel for kids shows.  ABC held a comp to find six new funky hosts and one of them will be Hannah Wang.  Hannah beat over 5000 other entries to get the gig.  She will co-host Rush-TV which is supposed to be an action sports show.

Check out her profile on the ABC3 site (scroll down midway).  ABC3 will officially launch on December 4.

It'll be great to see another Asian face on TV, even though she'll be the token Asian chick paired with a white dude.  They'll also be showing Heartbreak High!  I remember this show from the 90's, really diverse and not that bad to watch.

NT matriarch opens office

THE matriarch of the Fong Lim family has opened the newest NT electoral office named in honour of her family.

Norma Fong Lim was surrounded by four of her daughters as she cut the ribbon for the newest parliamentary electoral office at the Winnellie shops for inaugural member of the electorate, Dave Tollner.

Mrs Fong Lim, 80, the widow of the late Darwin Lord Mayor Alec Fong Lim told the Northern Territory News it was a great honour to have the electorate named after the family.

"My dearest wish was that Alec would be alive," she said. "It means (the Territory) has come a long way. (Alec) would be gobsmacked - he would be laughing and joking with everyone."

Federal Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Tony Abbott, climbed on an Esky to MC the opening.

"What makes Australia special is that we are a great cosmopolitan country," he said, "The Fong Lims are a model of the Australian dream."

Mr Tollner paid homage to the Fong Lim family and added that it was a great honour to be the inaugural member for the electorate.
NT News

Wow this is amazing, I learn something new.. most days anyway.  Alec Fong Lim was the first Chinese Australian Lord Mayor of Darwin and was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 1986 for services to the community and local government.  A man-made lake was named in his honour, Lake Alexander. See plaque below.

The Fong Lim electorate "is located in the suburban corridor between Darwin and Palmerston. It takes in the suburbs of Bayview, Woolner and The Narrows, and parts of Coconut Grove and Ludmilla. The district also includes Darwin Airport."  It was first contested in the 2008 election.

Vietnamese officer breaks down the barriers

TRUNG Luu was five years old when he endured a horrific voyage from Vietnam with his parents in which their overloaded boat ran out of drinking water.

One elderly woman died and her body remained on board, and the boat was raided by pirates seven times. That was 1979, and his family was among Australia's first Vietnamese ''boat people''.

Thirty years later, Trung Luu, 35, a leading senior constable, is again making history as the first member of Victoria Police to become a Vietnamese-community liaison officer.

Even the now-disbanded Asian squad did not have a Vietnamese member.

Its role was strictly investigatory, not community relations-focused.

Leading Senior Constable Luu, who studied civil engineering before joining the police force, said he was proud of the appointment.

''I like helping people and I want to assist the Vietnamese community where I can.''

Drugs, gangs and gambling have all been problems within the community, he said.

''People in the community are suspicious of authority figures. They need to be given information on the role of the police here, rather than them thinking of the police as like in the past. The more they know, the more they will be able to accept and respond to the Australian way of life.''

With the refugee experience being one shared by many Vietnamese, he believes his personal story helps him understand his community: ''It gives you a different perspective.''

The boat that carried the Luu family was one of three taking refugees from Vietnam to Malaysia.

When one of the vessels broke down, its stranded passengers crowded on to the other boats.

The boat he was on carried 200 refugees and was just two days out of Vietnam when it first encountered pirates.

Leading Senior Constable Luu recalls clinging to his father and hearing passengers screaming.

The refugees were ordered to ''get to the other side of the boat'' and the pirates searched their belongings.

They had run out of drinking water when they passed another refugee boat that had run out of oil.

They swapped oil for water. Later, they had to swim to shore after their boat was deliberately sunk near Malaysia.

Leading Senior Constable Luu spent six months behind barbed wire in a refugee camp before he and his parents were approved to come to Australia.

Now based at Yarra police station in Richmond, he said Vietnamese was the most commonly spoken language after English in the area.

He observed a cultural wariness of the police that made it difficult to work effectively with the community.

A Vietnamese-speaking officer could help break down that suspicion, he said.

He was backed by Yarra District Inspector Dean McWhirter for the new role of multicultural liaison officer, which begins on October 1 on a pilot basis, two days a week for six months.