Post #237 31 January 2021

 Gentlefolk,

This post covers events during January 2021.

The contents of this post are in the following sequence:

Photos of our activities during January 2021 (including Movies and Books).

(Some) major events in 2020.

American politics.

International trade.

Covid-19.

ALDI.

Herewith photos of some of our activities during January 2021.

My brother Andy celebrated his 72nd birthday on 2 January.  I sent him this photo taken in 1950 when he was about 18 months old (I was almost 4 and Angie was almost 3).
Mum & Dad and 3 little kids (plus 4 suitcases which contained all our worldly possessions) arrived in Melbourne Australia on 21 January 1951 - 70 years ago this month!

Electric scooters have become part of the landscape of Canberra over recent months. Very popular with young people. They cost $1 to start, and 38 cents per minute. Looks fun and a good way to get around.

Women's soccer at Viking Park. Watched Canberra United play Melbourne. It was one-all, then Canberra scored the winning goal with a minute to go. Womens soccer is surprisingly robust - they don't take a backward step - will impressive skills.

Played golf with June and Craig Pearson and the Southern Cross Golf Group. My first game at Yowani - lovely course, so green! But have to work on my swing - only hit 3 out of 18 fairways!

One of my regular golfing partners at Capital Golf Course, Heike Elvers.

My sister Aniko's birthday on 11 January - this was her First Holy Communion photo, many years ago.

My niece Britt celebrated her 50th birthday, surrounded by her kids: Lani, Tuey, and Nouvie.

Visited the special exhibition at the National Museum on Captain Cook's 'discovery' of Australia, from an indigenous perspective. Australia's national day is celebrated on 26 January, the day on which, in 1788, the first fleet of eleven British ships (comprising sailors, soldiers and convicts) arrived in Australia. Many indigenous now regard it as a day of sorrow, of invasion, when their lives/culture changed for ever.

The exhibition featured a model of His Majesty's Bark Endeavour, James Cook's ship on his first voyage. The Endeavour was relatively small: 30 metres long by 9 metres wide. Fully rigged it had 2,800 sq metres of sail and a top speed of 8 knots (about 15 km/h). It seems incredible to me, but there were 94 people on board: 71 sailors, 12 marines and 11 civilians (Banks and other scientists and artists).
Cook's first voyage of discovery: August 1768 departed England; April 1769 arrived Tahiti; October 1769 New Zealand; April 1770 Australia; October 1770 Batavia (now Jakarta); March 1771 Cape Town; July 1771 arrived England.
Captain Cook made two more epic "voyages of discovery" and history rates him as an exceptional explorer and navigator.

On 12 January we took down the Xmas tree and Xmas lights; Off to storage until next December.

The National Archives has an small exhibition about Australia's federation. This is a collection depicting Australia's "Founding Fathers": Edmund Barton (1849 - 1920); Andrew Inglis Clark (1848 - 1907); Alfred Deakin (1856 - 1919); John Forrest (1847 - 1918); Sir Samuel Griffith (1845 - 1920); Charles Kingston (1850 - 1908); Sir Henry Parkes (1815 - 1896); George Reid (1845 - 1918). The woman pictured is Catherine Spence (1825 - 1910) who stood, unsuccessfully, as a SA candidate to the 1897 Federal Commission. Canberra has suburbs named after all of them, except for Andrew Clark (we bought our first house in Spence in 1974).

Australia finally became one country on 1 January 1901. The Governor General appointed Edmund Barton to form a caretaker government until the first general elections were held in March 1901.  Barton's Protectionist Party won the largest number of seats (but not a majority), and formed government in coalition with the Labor Party.

On 18 January I attended my 3rd Big Bash League (BBL) cricket game at Manuka Oval.  Sydney Thunder were beaten by Hobart Hurricanes. Purists don't like this short form of cricket (each side gets 20 overs) but I think it's lively and entertaining.  

Visit to Brisbane

21 January we flew to Brisbane to visit Jen, Tom & boys for five days.

We took Sid, Kurt, and Nate to a Sushi-Train restaurant for lunch. Boy, can they eat!!!

Dinner under-the-stars on the new deck beside their swimming pool. From left: Vera, Nate, Jen, Sid, Kurt, and Tom.

Sid relaxing with their Ridgeback, Ketut. He loves that dog!

Tom has a 'tinny' and we went fishing one day on Moreton Bay. Left home at 4.30am and got back at 11am.   

We caught 3 mackerel fish which were just over the minimum size of 50 cm, and threw back two smaller fish. Here Tom and Kurt are measuring the fish.

Tom enjoys cooking. He filleted the fish, crumbed the fillets, and then cooked them on the barbeque. Jen made a salad and we had fish-burgers for lunch. Delicious!!!

Lunch with Michael Tjoeng at the Tsuru Japanese restaurant in Ashgrove. Michael was a fellow Trade Commissioner in the Australian Embassy Beijing in 1986.

We took the family to our favourite Thai restaurant: My Thai in Rosalie. Always excellent service and food, in salubrious surrounds.

Photo with the boys, from left: me, Nate (13), Sid (11), Kurt (15), and Vera. All attend Marist College, Ashgrove. They are growing into fine young men.

Jen and Tom. Jen still has her 'mohawk' haircut, normally she colours her hair but it is a natural brown at present.

Mother and daughter saying goodbye at Brisbane Airport. Jen will have her 45th birthday in a few days.

We were surprised that the price of petrol was much higher than in Canberra - see below. Usually petrol is more expensive in Canberra, but not at present.

Price of petrol at Costco (Canberra's cheapest) on 28 January. Prices here are higher than 2 weeks ago, but still well below Brisbane (Unleaded 91 is a whopping 38 cents per litre dearer in Brisbane, while Diesel is 9 cents a litre dearer).

Back in Canberra

On 27 January we attended the funeral service of our friend Val Horvath. We met her in 1996 when we joined the Canberra Old Time Dance Club. Val was originally from Hungary, and it turned out that she knew my parents and also my sister Aniko.

The funeral service was held in impressive St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Barton.  For the eulogy Val's family compiled a chronology of the major milestones in her life; made me realise how little we really knew about her. She was a teenager during WW2; married Louis in 1952 in Budapest; two children. The family escaped to Austria in December 1956 following the failed Hungarian Uprising against the Soviets. They came to Australia as refugees, and ended up in Canberra. New country, starting from scratch, many ups & downs. Louis died in 1989; Val just now in 2021. 

Books

I read two books in January, coincidentally both about women and about Indonesia.

'Bittersweet' describes the life of An Sudibjo; she was born Tan Sian Nio in 1912 in Kediri, East Java; 5th generation Chinese-Indonesian. She had a distinguished career as a teacher, first in the Dutch education system and after Independence in 1949 in the Indonesian system. Finally in 1967, concerned with increasing discrimination against the Chinese, An and Eddie came to Australia (their children, John and Ingrid, had come earlier to study here). But the White Australia policy caused problems and it wasn't until 1976 that they became permanent residents.
As with most new immigrants, life in Australia was not easy. They worked incredibly hard, but some poor decisions cost them dearly. I can appreciate her assessment of a Bittersweet life - she tasted professional and economic success early, under the Dutch, but an independent Indonesia disappointed with all its trials and tribulations. And the move to Australia at the age of 55 proved challenging: An appreciated the feeling of personal security, but financially/professionally it was a disaster.

Like many in the Dutch Merchant Marine (both Dutch and Indonesians)

 Anton Maramis fled to Sydney Australia when the Japanese occupied Indonesia in 1942.  He met Charlotte (Lottie) Reid; they fell in love and married in 1947 (Lottie was 19, Anton was 28). Anton fought against the Dutch colonisers. When Indonesia became independent in 1949 Lottie joined him in Jakarta. 

Lottie worked for the Indonesian Observer newspaper and covered the Bandung Conference in 1955. 

In 1961 Lottie returned to Sydney to care for her sick mother. Anton joined her the following year. They decided to stay in Australia because of all the political and social turmoil in Indonesia. Their home in Earlwood became a social centre for the Indonesian community. Anton died in 1999 and Lottie in 2012. 

 

Movies

We saw three very different films in January: 'How to be a good wife' (France); 'The White Tiger' (India); and 'The Dry' (Australia).

A bit of light fun, built around on Binoche's fame as an actress. We gave it 2.5 stars (out of 5).

I read the book "The White Tiger" about 10 years ago, not long after its publication. The movie of the book has just been released and we saw it on 19 January. The hero, Balram, is something very rare (like a White Tiger) - he is willing to break with tradition to get ahead (he decides to 'eat', rather than 'be eaten'). It is an interesting insight into how, supposedly, Indian society really works.
A good film, 4 stars (but it probably helped to have read the book).

Balram (he looks like a pussycat, but in reality is a White Tiger) with the wife of his employer, Pinky Madam. As the family driver, he agreed to take the rap when she killed a person in a hit-and-run car accident.

"The Dry", a murder-mystery based in a small town in Victoria. Fine acting (Eric Bana was in good form) and well constructed, we gave it 4 stars (out of 5).  Great to see Aussies making good films.

(Some) major events in 2020.

Covid-19 and Trump dominated news in 2020, but other things happened too - herewith a (very brief) summary.

January	Widespread bushfires continue on the East Coast of Australia (an area larger than England was burnt over 6 months Sept 2019 - March 2020; much loss of lives and property). A US drone assassinated Iranian General Soleimani. Iran (accidentally) shot down a Ukrainian airliner; 176 dead. Retired basketball star Kobe Bryant and 8 others (including his daughter Gianna) killed in a helicopter crash in California. Prince Harry and Meghan “stepped down” as senior Royals. Britain left the EU (Brexit); one year 'transition', future trade arrangements to be decided by end of this year. WHO declared Covid-19 (CV19) to be an “international health emergency” (31/1).
February	Trump impeachment trial – he was acquitted. GMH announced that the “Holden” brand would be discontinued.
March	First Aussie died of CV19 (1/3). WHO proclaimed a CV19 pandemic (11/3). USA stopped flights from Europe. Stock markets crashed. Severe global economic downturn - hospitality and travel industries hit hard. Australia introduced self-quarantine for all arrivals. Australia closed its borders (20/3); national lock-down (25/3). JobKeeper stimulus package announced by Aust Govt (30/3).
April	Australia’s High Court overturned Cardinal Pell’s previous conviction for child abuse (by unanimous vote). Australia introduced mandatory, supervised hotel quarantine for all arrivals. Australia called for an investigation into the origins of CV19 - bilateral relations with China went from bad to worse over following months. President Trump announced US withdrawal from WHO.
May	George Floyd (“I can’t breath”) died; Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement forms, demonstrations across America and the world.
June	China approved a new National Security Law for Hong Kong.
July	CV19 outbreak in Victoria; State lock-down; borders closed.
August	Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running-mate; he became the Democratic Party candidate for President.
September	Global deaths from CV19 pass 1 million. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, replaced by Amy Cony Barrett. Australia announced negative GDP growth for the first two quarters of 2020, first recession in 29 years.
October	President Trump and family tested positive for CV19; quick recovery. Victorian lock-down ended.
November	USA Presidential election won by Biden / Harris (3/11).
December	US Electoral College confirmed (9/12) Biden/Harris 306 beat Trump/Pence 232; but President Trump didn’t concede – alleged electoral fraud. UK was first to start anti-CV19 vaccinations; other countries quickly followed. New, more infectious, strain of CV19 found in UK. CV19 globally 81 million cumulative cases, 1.7 million cumulative deaths (31/12).

American Politics

We continued to be fascinated by American politics during January.  The US election was held on 3 November 2020. In December the Electoral College asserted that Biden / Harris (306) beat Trump / Pence (232). But Trump didn't concede - he continued to allege that the election was stolen by the Democrats through voter fraud. He lodged many legal appeals, including to the US Supreme Court, but all were dismissed for lack of evidence. 

The final step in the US electoral process was for the Senate to confirm the Electoral College vote on 6 January 2021. This is normally a formality but this time Vice President Mike Pence (who is President of the Senate) had to withstand private and public pressure from President Trump NOT to certify the result - Pence resisted, saying the Constitution didn't allow him to change the Electoral College vote. 

Trump supporters organised a "Stop the Steal" protest rally in Washington DC on 6 January. The President addressed the rally and urged them to stop the certification process. The participants marched on the Capitol building, barged in, and took control of it by force. 

The world was shocked at the images of a wild, unruly mob taking over the citadel of American democracy. There was widespread damage and five people died in the melee, including a policeman. Finally the National Guard was activated, and restored peace. Fortunately no Senator or Congressman was injured. Later that night the Senate reconvened and completed the task of certifying the Biden victory.

There was a huge backlash against the rioters, and a chastened President promised a smooth run up to the Inauguration on 20 January; but he said that he would not attend the Inauguration - the first incumbent in about 160 years not to do so.

And that's what happened. President Trump and Melania flew to Florida on the morning of 20 January and were not present when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated later that day.

But the whole, sorry saga didn't end there. On 14 January the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for inciting an insurrection against the US Government, an impeachable offence; on 25 January HoR sent the articles of impeachment to the Senate to bring President Trump to trial . He became the first President to be impeached twice (he faced impeachment 12 months ago on charges of pressuring a foreign government - Ukraine - to provide 'dirt' on Joe Biden. Most Republican Senators stood by him, and Trump was acquitted).

The trial in the Senate is expected to start in the week beginning 9 February; early indications are that it is unlikely that the required 67 Senators will vote to convict Trump despite the wealth of evidence against him. 

(Something I find puzzling is why the US Administration doesn't go into "caretaker mode" from when an election is held until the new Administration takes office???)

Other extraordinary things that happened during January:

Democrats won both Senate seats in Georgia in the run-off - which will make the Senate 50 each, with Kamala Harris having a casting vote. 

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram all blocked President Trump (for spreading false information). 

CNN poll on 17 January: only 34% of Americans said Trump was doing a good job; 54% said Trump should be removed from office immediately; 65% said the November Election was OK, 24% said it wasn't; 55% blamed Trump for the mob storming the Capitol on 6 January. 

The Washington Post calculated that President Trump made about 35,000 tweets and re-tweets during his 4 years in office, of which 30,573 contained false or misleading information. He will be remembered for coining phrases such as "fake news" and "alternative facts". 

President Biden signed dozens of Executive Orders in his first week, pursuing his agenda and undoing many of Trump's policies (including re-joining the WHO and the Paris Climate Change Accord). Biden is pushing for a stimulus package worth $1.9 Trillion. It is such a relief to see a calm, reasonable, professional at the helm.

Tesla shares soared and Elon Musk became the world's richest person with net worth estimated at $191 billion (Jeff Bezos $187 billion, Bill Gates $132 billion).

International trade.

My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner has given me an interest in matters related to international trade.  I subscribe to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines - tracking Covid-19's impact on trade" (former title 'Trade Matters').  

The coronavirus pandemic has had a big impact on countries' economies and on international trade.  

Here are some of the more interesting graphs in the Bloomberg newsletter during January 2021; they are largely self-explanatory.

China is Australia's biggest trade partner, by far.

Covid-19 pandemic.

As at 31 January 2021 Global cumulative cases totalled 103.1 million and cumulative deaths 2.2 million. Top ten countries on 31 January 2021 were:

USA 26.6M cumulative cases and 450,000 cumulative deaths; India 10.8M / 154K; Brazil 9.2M / 224K; Russia 3.8M / 73K; UK 3.8M / 106K; France 3.2M / 76K; Spain 2.8M / 58K; Italy 2.5M / 88K; Turkey 2.5M / 26K; Germany 2.2M / 58K.

According to CNN, the UK has the highest death rate from CV19 at 143 per 100,000 population; next is Czech Republic 141; Italy 139; USA 125; Spain 118.

Australia's Lowy Institute rated 100 countries on how effectively they handled the Covid-19 pandemic. The following were the top 10 performers: New Zealand; Vietnam; Taiwan; Thailand; Cyprus; Rwanda; Iceland; Australia; Latvia; Sri Lanka. Indonesia was ranked #85; India #86, and the USA #94. Although China's overall handling of CV19 seems to have been very good, it was not included in the study because Lowy could not obtain all of the information it required. 

Lowy concluded that smaller countries had been more effective in responding to the pandemic.

An expert team from the WHO arrived in Wuhan to try to establish the origins of CV19. Won't be easy to get to the bottom of this coronavirus, a year after it was first reported.

ALDI turns 20.

On 25 January 2021 my favourite store, ALDI, celebrated 20 years in Australia. It started with two stores in Sydney, now has 500 stores spread across every State and Territory. 

Australia's food-grocery market is worth about A$110 billion a year. The following supermarket chains dominate: Woolworths (aka Woolies) 34% market share; Coles 27%; ALDI 12%; IGA 7%. 

Despite its relatively recent arrival, ALDI is rated as the second "Most Trusted Brand" (after Bunnings) in Australia.

Onya, ALDI!!!

...

That's it for this post.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah

Canberra, Australia

Sunday 31 January 2021.