Post #189 30 Mar 2019

Gentlefolk,

This post describes some of the activities in which we were involved during March 2019.

First, some international events of note:

The second Trump - Kim summit in Hanoi was a fizzer - no agreements.

Roger Federer won the Dubai Tennis Championship, and celebrated his 100th tournament win. What a champion.

Friday 15 March was the "Day of Global Action" with hundreds of thousands of school children around the world calling for more action on Climate Change.

Far-right extremist Brenton Tarrant (originally from Grafton NSW) shot and killed 50 in two Mosques in Christchurch NZ; many more wounded.

After 22 months of investigation Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivered his report on the 2016 US election to the Attorney General; the summary by the AG noted that no collusion was found between Team Trump and Russia. Methinks still more to come from this report.

PM Theresa May got a short extension for Brexit; on 24 March an estimated one-million demonstrated in London calling for a new referendum.

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Here are photos of some of the activities in which we were engaged during March 2019:

On the first day I watched some of the ladies at Royal Canberra Golf Club.  I followed this group for a couple of holes.  Shin Jiyai (Korean) ended up coming 3rd; Hannah Green (Aussie) came equal 8th; Laura Davies (English) didn't make the cut this time. The tournament winner was Anne van Dam (Holland, 17 under par 197), and runner up was Katja Pogcar (Slovenia).

Laura Davies watching Shin Jiyai putt.  Laura's tee shot went right and ended up under a tree but her second shot was brilliant; she was on the green for 3, and one-putted to finish with a birdie! Despite this good hole she had a bad round and the following day she missed the cut.  Laura is 55 years old, still going strong.  She has won 87 tournaments in her illustrious career (turned professional in 1985, aged 22). In 2015 she was inducted into the Golf World Hall of Fame in St Andrews.

We had a weekend in the Snowy Mountains; this photo taken at Dead Horse Gap lookout, with the main Range in the background. It was nice to be back in the 'high country' again; special place. We went with a group called "Guys & Dolls", which normally meets once a month for lunch or dinner. 

This is the view in winter - covered in snow.

Dinner time, from left: Vera; Ross Downes; Jo Mazengarb; Stafford Ray; Geoff Banbury; Peter Crapper; Sandy Daly; Dianne Downes; Neil Moffat; Helen Moffat (Nadia Potas took the photo).

We stayed at Clancy Alpine Lodge in Smiggin Holes where Sandy and Peter are members.

View of Smiggins Village from the chairlift on the opposite mountain.

The chairs from the chairlift stored for the off-season months.

We did the Porcupine Track walk near Perisher.

On the Porcupine Track.

Made it to the top: Vera, Sandy, Peter, Nadia, Helen and Neil.

We saw many dead trees (really started from about Berridale); whole hillsides affected; were told it is "die-back" a kind of disease.  

Couldn't go to the mountains without a side-trip to Guthega, where I had many happy days in years gone by (skiing in winter, hiking in summer)!

Tate Ski Club at Guthega; my sister Angie and brother Andy were members; good memories.

The view from Tate Ski Club across Guthega Dam and up to the Main Range - how we used to clamber up and down these mountains in the 'old days'!  We had great weather all weekend.  Vera & I called in to Thredbo on the way home - much busier than Smiggins or Perisher or Guthega - Thredbo has become a mountain bike mecca!   

We spent an hour in Cooma checking out my schools and the houses where we lived back in the 1950s and 60s.  This is the front gate of St Patrick's Primary School (then run by Brigidine Nuns). I had always thought it was at least 3km from our house in Orana Ave, North Cooma, but the car speedometer showed just on 2km. Still, a long way for little kids to walk, down-hill in the mornings and up-hill in the afternoons.

The front of Monaro High School, Cooma North, which my siblings and I attended. It was about 600m from our house at the top of Gerelong Place - much more convenient. The low building is the Admin Block and the tall building to the right is the School Hall. The teaching buildings and sports fields are further back.

The MHS sign in front of the school.  It as a warm day - still 30C at 4pm.

I went to a book launch hosted by the Lowy Institute. In her remarks Dr Schake mentioned that the only war between democracies has been the 1974 "Cod War" UK vs Iceland (4 shots were fired!) - a great Trivial Pursuit question.

I helped organise the U3A course "Why is it so?" which started on 7 March and will end on 30 May 2019.  We arranged an eclectic group of speakers on a variety of subjects.

Our first speaker in WIIS? was Jack Waterford, former editor of The Canberra Times and noted commentator. He was great; he perched himself on the edge of the stage and spoke for an hour, followed by questions; an impressive intellect and a great raconteur.

Vera finished her chemo and her immune system is strong again, so we jumped on a train to Sydney to see Andrew, Caroline and the grandkids. The train takes 4 hours to do the 300km, slow, but comfortable.

Queanbeyan Station where the train stops.

It was great to see Eddie and Jay-jay again (hadn't seen them since September).  Jay turned two the day we arrived in Sydney, and Eddie had his 5th birthday six days later.

Andrew with Jay at soccer on Saturday morning. Funny to watch the little two-year-olds running around.

After Jay's soccer the kids have swim classes, and then it's Eddie turn to chase the ball.  Saturdays are busy!

Paul helping Eddie with a new jigsaw puzzle - the little fellow really likes puzzles.  

Caroline and Eddie making tie-dye shirts.  Vera preparing food at the end of the counter.

Andrew washing away some dog-poo on the side-walk in front of their apartment block; most people clean up after their pets, but some are slack!!!

Another book launch; this one about Compulsory Voting in Australia.  We are one of only about a dozen countries which force their citizens to vote. Actually, that's not quite true.  Citizens must register on the Electoral Roll, and attend a Polling Station when there is an election (or face a fine of $20). Their name is crossed off and they are given a ballot, but whether they actually fill it in in the privacy of the booth nobody knows (still, over 90% complete valid ballot papers).  

Author Dr Judith Brett was interviewed by Dr Andrew Leigh, two clever people. Compulsory voting in federal elections was introduced in 1924 (voting was already compulsory in some State elections).  Personally, I'm strongly in favour of compulsory voting - without it our turn-out rate would be low, probably similar to America's. In Australia elections are always held on a Saturday (much more convenient than Tuesday in the USA and Thursday in the UK).

My former student Charles Yu Zhi Chao visited from Sydney, with his girlfriend Chloe Liu Si Yi. He did Safety Engineering at the China University of Petroleum followed by Mechanical Engineering at Wollongong University.  He would like to get some professional experience in Australia but jobs are hard to find. Chloe has just started a Master of Accounting at Macquarie University in Sydney.

 Aussie culture #1. I took them to a rugby game; the Canberra Brumbies played the Sydney Waratahs.  Behind us is the Rugby Choir entertaining the crowd.

We all got some Brumbies face-paint.

The crowd stood for a minute's silence to remember those killed in the massacre in Christchurch which had taken place earlier in the day.

Charles watching the action while Chloe is more interested in her phone.  The Brumbies won the game 19 - 13 (but the following weekend they were thrashed by the Queensland Reds - disappointing).  

Aussie culture #2: a walk on the top of the Australian Parliament House; impressive building.

Aussie culture #3. Chloe was very taken by the wild kangaroos in Weston Park.

Aussie culture #4: fish & chips for lunch at the Yacht Club - delicious!

Aussie culture #5: I took them to a golf driving range; both Charles and Chloe took turns at hitting the ball. Not as easy as it looks.

Lunch with ex-Austrade colleagues, from left: Brendan Dyson; Geoff McKie; Pat Stortz; Jim Enright; me; John Bush; and Ian Ffrench.

Get-together of the Australia Indonesia Families Association (AIFA). Always lots of great Indonesian food and lots of joking around.  Good fun.

John Robson acted as Returning Officer during the AGM.  Ketut Nanik Clynes stepped down after doing a great job as President for two years; Ami Spinks was elected the new President of AIFA.

Played nine holes at Queanbeyan Golf Club with Paul Flint (hitting the ball, the kangaroos didn't seem bothered at all) and Noel Cock.  First time I'd played here - the course was in great shape! The weather gods were kind - it drizzled for about 10 minutes but then cleared up. 

I attended a talk by visiting Indonesian political scientist Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar about the Indonesian General Elections which will take place on 17 April 2019. There will be elections for 5 different levels of government, but most interest is on the Presidential contest between Jokowi (the incumbent) and Prabowo.  The polls have Jokowi ahead, but Prof Anwar is taking nothing for granted. 

With friends Kaye and Patrick O'Hara we attended the opening night of "To Kill a Mockingbird".  We hadn't been to a play for a long while, but live theatre is good fun, isn't it!

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Vera continues to improve after her chemo; still gets tired, but stronger every week; she has started back at the gym, very positive. Vera has joined "Bosom Buddies" a support group for sufferers of breast cancer. Nice people.

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It was good to re-connect with Eddie and Jay-jay again. Jay has definitely changed a lot: 6 months in the life of a two-year-old is huge! She is becoming a little person; interesting that one can see character developing even at such a young age.

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Up in Brisbane Nate excelled in a Swimming Carnival - 3 first places (including a 4x50m relay) and a second.

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Both of us are now busy with University of the Third Age (U3A) courses.  Vera is taking "Introduction to Harmonica" (Mike Ilchef, Thursday afternoon) and "Beginners German" (Peter Judge, Friday afternoon), while I am taking "Why is it so?" (Thursday morning) and "Managing your Superannuation" (Carol Flynn, Tuesday mornings).

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I have started as a volunteer teacher at an English Conversation Group at Woden Library on Monday mornings. My colleagues are two wonderful former teachers, Sue Plaistowe and Sue McMurtie. So far only 7 or 8 migrants attend but we are hoping the numbers will increase over time.

Still do the occasional duty as a Volunteer Guide at the Museum of Australian Democracy. Looks as if I'll have to wait until one of the old-timers falls off the perch before I get a permanent gig.

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We saw two movies during the month: Green Book and Hotel Mumbai.  Green Book won Best Picture this year - it was a fine film, but we were surprised it rated tops. Hotel Mumbai was also good, but lacked depth and too much shooting.

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I read two books this month, both related to Indonesia. The first was "The Year of Living Dangerously" by C J Koch; set in Jakarta in the months leading up to the Communist uprising on 30 September 1965. The novel was made into a film of the same name in 1982, starring Mel Gibson (his first big role). Actress Linda Hunt won an Oscar for her portrayal of Billy Kwan.

I saw the film, years ago, but had not read the book.  I was posted to Jakarta in 1972 and could identify with many of the places described in the book - good fun.

The other book was "Indonesia etc - exploring the improbable nation" (2014) by Elizabeth Pisani.  She really gets down to the grass roots of this diverse country - spent a year travelling to remote corners and connecting with real people - provides a different perspective - definitely recommended.

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That's it for this post.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex Olah and Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Saturday 30 March 2019