Labor MP slams Gillard's 'cruel' asylum policy

From TheAge

PREMIER John Brumby's special adviser on Asian business relations, Labor MP Hong Lim, has attacked Prime Minister Julia Gillard's asylum-seeker policy, branding it ''cruel, political expediency''.

In an email sent to all state Labor MPs on Wednesday, Mr Lim said he was troubled and pained by the issue of refugee policy.

''I am at a loss as to know what to say to people, let alone what to do,'' he wrote. ''I hang my head in shame as a leader of the Cambodian community, as a member of the ALP, as an MP, as an Australian … as a human being … to see political expediency being played out so cruelly and so unconscionably even among our Party!''

The Gillard policy, which is supported by Mr Brumby, seeks to establish a regional refugee processing centre.

Mr Lim, who has held the seat of Clayton since 1996, said the resettlement of Indo-Chinese people in the 1970s would not have been successful if the refugees had been ''cruelly treated'' like current asylum seekers.

In a sign of the political sensitivity around the election issue, Labor MPs were sent an email from caucus liaison officer Ray Thomas yesterday afternoon, suggesting a response for the media, should MPs be contacted about Mr Lim's email.

Under the subject line ''re: media inquiries to state MPs about asylum seekers'', the email said MPs may want to reply to questions as follows: ''This is a matter for the federal government. While I am a member of the Australian Labor Party, I am simply expressing my personal view.''

Mr Lim is Cambodian-Chinese, and he came to Australia as a student in 1970. Last night, he declined to comment further on the email, saying the issue was a federal matter. ''My comment was for internal ALP consumption and indeed a very personal view,'' he said.

A spokeswoman for Mr Brumby said Mr Lim's views were personal and expressed privately to his colleagues.

Mr Brumby has backed the Gillard policy, welcoming an open debate on asylum seekers, whatever side of the debate a person takes.

''The steps she [Ms Gillard] has taken represent an appropriate balance between protecting Australia's interests and also reflecting our obligations in terms of refugees and asylum seekers,'' the Premier said earlier this week.

Mr Lim's email also criticises the response to the federal government's policy from a variety of community groups, saying there ''had not been a whimper'' from Cambodian, Indo-Chinese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian or Hmong leaders.

Lisa Yen - Mental health in the Chinese Australian Community

Lisa is on the panel of Insight and each week talks about the various issues affecting her for the upcoming election.  To see her panel page and all videos, click here.

Lisa is a mother of two young children and has lived in the seat of Bennelong in Sydney's north-west her whole life. The Chinese-Australian professional supported John Howard in 2007, but is currently undecided about her vote because even though she likes her local Labor member Maxine McKew, she believes Julia Gillard still needs to prove herself to the country.

For Week 2 the topic is Mental Health

The stigma on people suffering mental health is just as strong in the Chinese community, says Lisa. On week 2 of The Panel on Insight, Lisa talks about mental health in the seat of Bennelong.

Click here for a snippet or click here for the full episode.

See her views on the Week 1 topic, Industrial Relations, here.

You are invited to the launch of IF Magazine in Sydney

The first issue is nearly complete, the acts have been booked and finalised, and all that IF crew are waiting for is for Monday to come along.  That will be day 100 and will signal the launch party of IF Project Magazine.  If you're in Sydney then why not pop along to support some AAs, see the launch and the awesome acts they have lined up.

More information can be found on the facebook event page.

Tycoon helps UTS build its dream

From SMH

The man who donated $20 million for the university's new Frank Gehry-designed building has deep pockets and deeper political connections, writes Heath Gilmore.

The press conference for one of the most significant projects in the history of the University of Technology, Sydney, was under way.

The pre-eminent architect Frank Gehry and the university's chancellor, Vicki Sara, and vice-chancellor, Ross Milbourne, sat before the media gathering to announce a landmark building for the emerald city.

The media was crowding around the elder statesman of world architecture, waiting for some wisdom to be imparted on this June afternoon.

One person, however, was missing: the enigmatic Chau Chak Wing, whose name will grace the Gehry-designed building. In fact, Chau and his entourage were surreptitiously ushered past the media throng during the press conference in the refurbished former Fairfax building off Broadway.

Chau was signing a final agreement to hand over almost $25 million to the university over 10 years for the new building and a scholarship program.

It was the biggest philanthropic gift in history by an individual for a university building in Australia. None of the media was the wiser.

Originally, the university had wanted the announcement to be a double header.

However Chau refused to front the press conference. He is known to be acutely media shy, but also strongly aware of cultivating a public image of power, charity and good taste.

He has quietly built relationships with some of the biggest names in politics and business in Australia, and this latest announcement added to his reach.

The Australian-Chinese property billionaire has emerged as the largest overseas benefactor of Australia's political parties. Chau has poured more than $2 million into the coffers of the Liberal, National and Labor parties in the past decade.

In the two financial years that had the heaviest impact on the last federal election, 2006-07 and 2007-08, he gave $980,000 to the Coalition and $402,000 to Labor.

Besides the strong links Chau forged with the former prime minister John Howard and other senior Coalition ministers, he seems to have been adept at singling out future stars of the Labor government. In 2004 and 2005 he partially funded trips to China for the future prime minister, Kevin Rudd, the future treasurer, Wayne Swan, the future foreign affairs minister, Stephen Smith, and the future agriculture minister, Tony Burke.

He also paid for a trip to China in 2005 by Mark Arbib, the then NSW Labor secretary and now parliamentary factional leader in Canberra.

In Sydney, Chau was well known to the former NSW premier Bob Carr and his successor, Morris Iemma. Chau's daughter, Winky, worked for both as a community relations adviser. She joined Carr's office in 2004, the same year her father opened a Chinese language daily newspaper in Sydney, the Australian New Express Daily.

Interestingly, Chau accompanied Xi Jinping - the Chinese Vice-President and likely next president - on his trip to Canberra in late June. He received the photograph, almost compulsory in China, with Rudd and Xi.

The Chinese language version of his website shows that not only did Chau meet Rudd on that Canberra trip but also Julia Gillard, Swan and Smith.

Milbourne says the key to Chau's involvement with the Gehry building was the businessman's son, Eric, who is studying architecture at the university. The university has enjoyed a growing friendship with Chau for almost four years, but the wooing of Gehry provided the perfect confluence of circumstances. ''I knew Eric would be interested in Gehry,'' Milbourne says.

''The development manager spoke to Eric about our plans. Dr Chau liked me and the vision for the UTS, so we had a strong foundation for a relationship. We invited Eric to meet with Gehry and his team in LA in April. ''

Milbourne says he broached the subject that Chau become involved by making a leadership gift, the term for major philanthropic donations, particularly popular in the US. He suggested $25 million.

Chau demurred. He would give $20 million for the building and $5 million for a scholarship program. Milbourne says the money is payable in $2.5 million tranches over 10 years. ''It was a good meeting,'' Milbourne says.

The day after the Gehry announcement Chau and university representatives had a celebratory lunch at Flying Fish restaurant at Pyrmont.

It was a private lunch, just the way Chau liked it.

Update on stolen Porsche story

 
Remember the story about Lee Lua's Porsche getting stolen?  The police have arrested two people and charged them over the use of the vehicle.

Peter Edward Holland, 25, was arrested at the weekend, after police seized security footage from a service station allegedly showing him filling up the Porsche. 

and

He was granted bail on the condition he live with his mother...

Co-accused David Alexander Young said that Holland turned up at his house one day with the car, claiming a friend had lent it to him, but he couldn't find it's fuel tank and asked for help locating it.

Holland has refused to tell police how he got the car or where the car is now. 

Saw movie franchise to get Guinness world record

Saw's James Wan, right, and Leigh Whannell.

From TheWest

The Saw horror movie franchise is getting a place in the Guiness World Records as the "Most Successful Horror Movie Series," one of the film's producers, Mark Burg, said on Thursday.

"I'm still in shock," Burg told Reuters. "The fact that we beat out (such horror franchises as) 'Friday the 13th,' 'Nightmare on Elm Street,' 'Halloween' and 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' is a testament to our cast, crew and our partners at Lionsgate."

The franchise consists of six movies, each one having come out consecutively every Halloween since 2004. The seventh, and final, instalment is due out October 29th and will be featured in 3D.

Collectively, the "Saw" films have made over $73O million (�478 million) at the worldwide box-office and sold more than thirty million DVDs, according to distributors Lionsgate.

The films centre around a killer named Jigsaw who puts his victims through psychological torture before killing them.

Burg said it was during the production of "Saw 2," that the producers decided to "etch out" one long story spanning seven films. Therefore, after the seventh movie, called "Saw 3D", there will be no other movies, including spin-offs or prequels.

"We are done; this is it," he said. "We don't want to be that boxer who fought one too many fights."

Burg said the seventh chapter was always "anticipated" by fans as the final one.

Apparently Saw is the first horror franchise to have a roller coaster based on it.

When they say this will be the last film, they better mean it and not do a John Farnham.  I do recall James and Leigh saying the third film was to be the last...

James Wan was the director and writer for Saw I, producer for Saw II, producer and writer for Saw III, and producer for Saw IV to VI and Saw 3D (seems alll movies are coming out as 3d these days?).  He is currently working on thriller Insidious (starring Rose Byrne) and Castlevania.

It's quite interesting to read about their original short film called Saw, created by two friends on a low budget, and how it has progressed to become a massive franchise including video games.

Thumbman dumped for seat of Chifley, replaced by AA

And in recent Election news, Thumbman David Barker, the Liberal candidate for Chifley has been dumped following a series of anti-muslim comments.  Barker, who calls himself "a man of strong Christian faith" used his facebook account to make the comments about muslims.  He also stated "Someone get me into parliament...and watch me go.  They will see my talent as the voice of...God himself".  See Thumbman in happier times.

Barker with "wife", gifted to him by God (how else would you explain why these two are together?)

Barker has been replaced by Asian Australian Venus Priest, a small business owner and former nurse who immigrated to Australia from the Philippines in 1995.  Good luck to Venus and I hope she makes the most of this opportunity.

Venus Priest, new Liberal candidate for Chifley

So, a Christian nutter has been replaced by someone with the surname of Priest?  Coincidence? No Way....hehehe

'Inception' Trailer

Here is the trailer for the movie Inception. You might recognise some familliar landmarks in the trailer and that's because this trailer was made in Sydney, by a group of fans. AA fans I might add. See if you can figure out all 8 of the locations that they shot at. It's stuff like this I really like and I've watched it a couple of times already. Where on earth did they manage to find a white youtube beanie? Lols. Enjoy.

via Asian Australian facebook group

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in how many seconds?

Fastest fingers ... National and State texting champion Jian Li, 18, with her friend Megan Nguyen, 18

13, if you want to beat Australia's Fastest Texter, 18 yr old Jian Li.  Ms Li typed an 80-character sentence in 16.5 seconds to become Australia's national representative in the LG Mobile World Cup last year.

This weekend, she will need to type an 80 char sentence the fastest to become NSW's fastest texter.  If she wants to hold onto her Australian crown, she then needs to beat Victoria's Cheong Kit Au, who won the Victorian comp.  He also managed to win the Vic comp in a snappy time of 12.5 seconds.  Now that's fast!

The winner of that duel gets $10,000 and an overseas trip to rep Australia.

It took me 41 seconds. Maaan.

See the news report on the NSW comp

LG Australia - National Texting Championship Facebook Page
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in 13sec
Meet Australia's Fastest Texter

Adam Liaw and Masterchef

I'm not going to write anything about it so here is a roundup of Masterchef links from other blogs.  Go Adam! (and well done to Alvin too)

Slanted Magazine
Barracking for Adam Liaw but is Australia ready for an Asian Masterchef?

Why Poh's Kitchen makes me mad
Some very good observations, I definitely noticed the lack of AA chefs on her show.  I don't think Poh is totally blameless though.

Kapooka Baby
Yay to Non-White faces on MasterChef; but is duck egg yolk custard bad, or just different?

Eds Rant
The Cook Off

Adam Liaw's Blog

New Asian Australian Mag!

I'd like to point everyone in the direction of a new AA production called Slanted Magazine.  Slanted Magazine is a continuation of the former Hello! online magazine.  The site was officially launched last Monday (sorry, me wasn't 'ere) and already has a number of interesting articles written from an AA perspective.  Currently all articles are written by a couple of friends, who met up for coffee one day and blah blah, no need to listen to me dribble on, read their About Us as it's heaps more interesting.

It's launch is a welcome addition to the online smorgasbord of AA ezines, including Peril Magazine and....well, that's all there is really.

I'm really excited to see more AA stories and experiences.  This actually encourages me to clean up my own site (and not just by changing the blogger theme) and put a bit more effort and opinion into my posts.

Their most recent post is about Monkey Magic, which I friggin' enjoyed watching to death back in the day.  I almost had a heart attack when I found out they were doing reruns years later on Recovery(a crap ABC show for the different people).  The first Pigsy was my fav character, what a horny bugger he was!  I can't believe the article mentions Under One Roof too, that would've on been during my high school days!

They also have a facebook page.  I'm adding the feed to my Down Under Blogs sidebar.

PS Courting Red is a dating service (started up by some members of Slanted) whose main aim is to match Asians with... Asians!  I read about an agency in America years ago that did this and was wondering if there was anything like it in Oz. And here it is!  Though, it is in the eastern states which is probably why I hadn't heard about it earlier. 
(ignore their Asian to non-Asian service, aren't there enough yellow fever agencies around?)

I get an opportunity to post this cute pic from AM Revolutions too! - yeah it's an Asian American couple, but don't Asian Australians and Asian Americans all look same?

Fw: A Chinese Australian stands tall in the Australian political moonscape

The election date has been set and I came across this email doing the rounds.  This line reads so true: "because we are not organized, not mobilized, hence not credible and respected, thus never consulted or listened to"


----- Original Message -----
From: hong.lim@parliament.vic.gov.au
To: Chek Ling
Cc: Unity Party WA ; cccavic@gmail.com ; tonypun@hotmail.com ; anthonypun@optusnet.com.au ; Stanley Chiang ; Wesa Chau
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 12:32 AM

Subject: Re: Fw: A Chinese Australian stands tall in the Australian political moonscape

My Dear Chek,

Of all the accolades and well wishes that have been flooding in during the past couple of days, yours is the most welcome and highly regarded. I accepted it as a badge of honour, especially coming from you - one of the most truly respected Chinese elders, opinion makers, opinion leaders and thinkers.

You would probably realize by now that many of your contemporary and the younger generation of our community, who do really care about making a difference and doing the real, and the right things for the Chinese community in this country, are hanging on to your every word of wisdom every time you care to come out to make some pronouncements or prognosis about our community. Because we know you truly care as you do not have hidden agendas and you are without fear or favour. You truly set the standard and I believe many of us live in fear of failing you - hence failing our community and ourselves - (yet I have not even met you!). There are not enough like you in our Chinese community.

People like you, and Eddie in WA, reminds me constantly of a Richard Briggs, a Kiwi man (half Maori and half English) who spent all his energy, time and financial resources to assist the Indo- Chinese refugees during the late 1970's and 80's, although he was not well-off by any standard. He had a BA(Hons.) but chose to work in the mines of WA because that way he earned more money and had the flexibility of travelling to help the survivors of Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge's Killing Fields in the refugee camps at the Cambodia -Thailand border, which included tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese like my family. He wrote, printed and distributed the book about the suffering of the refugees and challenged the world community to come to the aid of this genocide survivors. He came to stay at my home one night (I lost track of him since then) and I asked him why he did what he did, and I will never forget his response: "Hong, what does a man need? All we need is a bed and a meal!".

Just imagine if only we have enough people in our Chinese community thinking and acting like him, there would be so much we can achieve as a community in this country, in the world; especially with the brain and resources we can muster for the common goal/good. With a dedicated group of people like him we can stand and walk tall and we would be in the position to dictate the terms of engagement, with the power to be, like other more established communities in Australia. The problem, as you keep reminding us, there are far too many who only care about their next Mercedes and when they are going to have their photo taken with Hu Jintao or the PM of Australia, just to promote their respective commercial interests - yet we rate nothing in the mind and eyes of the power to be, as compared to the Jewish, Greek, Italian........ because we are not organized, not mobilized, hence not credible and respected, thus never consulted or listen to....... And instead of progressing to a more deserved and mutually respected level of engagement with the power to be, we are now being dragged down and distracted by the miserable and disgraceful affairs in Sydney (and also in Melbourne) that now consume and waste intellectual energy and time of our leaders like Tony Pun, as he has to mob up the spills and pick up the pieces. (As a community we might need to push for a nationwide review of all the funding allocated to the myriad Chinese organizations in Australia to ensure if they are up to the expected KPI (Key Performing Indicators), let alone their CBA (Cost Benefit Analysis) in relations to our community's changing dynamic and needs. May be we should discuss all these as part of a national conference, which need to be soon - now that you are prepared to come down south to share your wisdom!. There are so much we need to work on - a vision/plan/mission for our growing community for the next 10-15-20 years......to take our proper place in this, our, country....with Chinese judges...in the Supreme court...more Councillors, ...MPs.... Premiers/PM.... Governors.... heading the police, armed forces, VCs of Uni....and more ..why not!?)

Never-the-less, I believe there are enough people/leaders amongst our community and business sectors who are conscious about our failing and are very keen to play their part to assist in this quest to make a difference. I believe that if we work together with an open heart and transparent agenda and do the real and right things we would achieve our common deserved ambitions. I hope like many other good and real Chinese community leaders you share this dream.

Indeed Check, I am most honoured and encouraged by your endorsement. I hope, now that we are on the same wavelength, together with other like mind and concern we could make a difference.

Most sincere regards,

Hong Lim, MP
Member for Clayton
Special Advisor to the Premier
on Victoria-Asia Business Relations

PS: I take the liberty of broadcast this message to as many leaders of our community as possible and hope to hear their response to this our common concern.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Chek Ling"
To: "Hong Lim"
Date: 09/07/2010 10:21 AM

Subject: Fw: A Chinese Australian stands tall in the Australian political moonscape

Dear Hong
My admiration for your free spirit and great principle.
What a splendid example.
I hope you don't mind what I have done with this wonderful news.
If I have misrepresented you, I am sorry, and please let me know.
All best.
Chek
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Chek Ling
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2010 10:07 AM
To: huarenlist@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Graham Perrett ; Michael Choi ; Andrew Jakubowicz

Subject: A Chinese Australian stands tall in the Australian political moonscape

Dear all

I thought I'd share my elation of seeing a Chinese Australian in public life, standing up for his principles, and not winning himself any brownie points from his own political Party.

Hong Lim laments Julia Gillard's spoutings on boat people. That is a brave thing to do, in print no less, given the dire circumstances under which Julia Gillard became PM just a week or two previously. You can read the article at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/mp-hong-lim-slams-gillard-asylum-solution/story-e6frg6nf-1225889566827

Is this a milestone in public life for C-As? Is this a proud legacy we can unequivocally bequeath to our heirs? (Away from the three monkeys approach to public life, or the obsequious middleman mentality of self-enrichment at the cost of degrading the Chinese-Australian brand.)

This seems to me to be an opportune time for one of the "peak Chinese community" organisations to come out and host a function to celebrate this milestone. There is at least one such state and one such national organisation in Hong Lim's home state of Victoria. Could have a guest speaker, say Julian Burnside, the well-known (barrister)activist for the humane treatment of boat people. No doubt it might just as well be, instead, for Hong Lim to talk about his approach to public life.

Would someone in Victoria please pass on my pleading to the pertinent leaders of those peak organisations in Victoria please?

I promise I will fly down to attend. For me it would be close to an "historic" occasion in the annals of Chinese Australian affairs.

Ever the optimist,
Chek
Brisbane, Australia

The IF Project

IF is a new magazine that will focus on issues including global development, the environment and society and culture. It was conceived by Jane Lee after the online mag she was working on closed down.  The current blog is very interesting and tracks the development of the project from day 100 down to day 1 (release date).  There are 24 days to go and counting...

The IF team is

 Jane Lee

Thantu Nguyen

 Jennifer Duke

The site blog
The facebook page
Jane Lee's blog
In the news

Kung Flu Fighters

I saw this on The Worst of Perth and then after a little bit of searching, I found that this is actually legit gear, from Australia. It's called the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Program for pharmacies and get this, is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.  Tax money well spent.

Check out the main site here

So...where do I start with this one?
Chinky font - check
Some Kung Fu shit - check
Dragon - check
Dragon lady - hey you missed one.

All this chinky text is giving me a massive headache.  I can't wait to get my hands on the Kung Flu Board Game though...

Pride of Australia Medal Nominee - Ngan Truong

From Couriermail

WHEN Ngan Truong came to Australia as a high school student, she was overflowing with ideas on how she could help the local community.

"My school's science club provided a great avenue for me to get involved in helping younger kids to learn about science and maths," Ms Truong, 19, said.

Her passion for science has also earned her the titles of UQ school ambassador, Dux of Ipswich State High School and won her a place in the Dean's Scholars Program to complete an engineering degree at QUT.

Volunteering at the Inala Youth Service, Miss Truong has been involved in various projects including the translation of parenting materials from English to Vietnamese, writing articles for the newsletter and organising family fun and health information days.

It was from this experience that Miss Truong developed the idea of the Inala Youth Club.

"Vietnamese youths don't have the opportunity to get involved in some of the activities that the club can provide," she said. "We organise days out to the beach, horse-riding, ice-skating, bowling and get kids involved in their local community."

Miss Truong has recently taken up residence with Keitha Darcy, an elderly piano teacher suffering vision impairment.

"Keitha occasionally has trouble reading the music, so I am sometimes able to help with her classes," Miss Truong said.

For her desire to better the community and enhance the understanding and interest of students in science and maths, Miss Truong has been nominated for a Pride of Australia medal in the Fair Go category.

Nominate someone for a Pride of Australia Medal online or contact Denise Ryder on (07) 3666 6304 or ryderd@qnp.newsltd.com.au. Entries close 5pm Tues, July 6.

Some more o' Benny Law

From Readings



-Thanks W

Wesa Chau wins Young Victorian of the Year Award

Congrats to Wesa.

From TheAge

YOUNG Victorian of the Year Wesa Chau has challenged the state government to improve safety for international students.

At age seven she moved to Australia from Hong Kong. With little knowledge of local culture and limited English she struggled with school and the racism of some classmates.

Ms Chau, 28, was yesterday named Young Victorian of the Year for helping international students confront the issues she faced.

''The government is starting to help, but it's not enough,'' she told The Age after the awards ceremony at the Melbourne Town Hall. ''There are a number of problems including housing, transport and exploitation that together make an unsafe environment for international students. The government must also make information about multicultural issues more available and accessible to students.''

Ms Chau founded the Australian Federation of International Students in 2002. She is also a councillor at ethnic community radio station 3ZZZ and deputy president of the Chinese Community Council of Australia.

Ms Chau said the struggles she experienced as an international student drove her to help others. ''At university I was mainly friends with international students and I wanted to help people who were going through their settlement like I did,'' she said.

Ms Chau said the recent media attention on the safety of international students put the spotlight on multicultural issues. ''Familiarity through the media means people are more interested in and accepting of international issues,'' she said.

''The first step the government, especially the Victorian government, needs to take at this point is promoting cultural awareness. Getting to know each other's cultures is the first step.''

-Thanks EL