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

Post #188 28 Feb 2019

Gentlefolk,

This post describes some of our activities in February 2019.

First, international events:

NFL Super Bowl #53 was played in Atlanta. The NE Patriots 13 beat the LA Rams 3, the lowest score ever. It was the Patriots 6th Championship win (equalling the Steelers).  Evergreen 41 year old Tom Brady prevailed over 23 year old Jared Goff.

On 15 February President Trump declared a "national emergency" to be able to access military funds to build his wall.  Courts will determine constitutionality.

As I write this post, President Trump is meeting Chairman Kim Jong Un in Hanoi.  Let's hope this Summit has more concrete outcomes than the first one last year ...


Here are photos of some of our activities in February 2019:

The annual "winter wonderland" card from Isabel and Roger Banville in Gatineau, Ottawa. We always enjoy Roger's creativity with his camera. We first met the Banvilles in Jakarta in 1972-3 where Roger worked at the Canadian Embassy and I was at the Australian Embassy. Ten years later we met up again, this time in Beijing. Ah, those were the days!

I attended the launch of Tim Fischer's book "Steam Australia - locomotives that galvanised the nation" at the National Library.Did you know that at one stage there were 22 different rail gauges in Australia? Crazy! The first "standard gauge" line connecting Sydney and Melbourne started operating only in April 1962. Mr Fischer ended his talk with a plea for a Very Fast Train between Brisbane - Sydney - Canberra - Melbourne (wishful thinking - our population is just too small).

Me with the author, Tim Fischer AC.  He contributed greatly to Australia's public life.  We are the same age, born in 1946.  He is a farmer and went into politics; was Leader of the National Party (formerly known as the Country Party) from 1990 - 99.  He was part of the Coalition which won the 1996 federal election, and served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade 1996 - 99. I had some dealings with Mr Fischer when I managed the Americas Section of AUSTRADE - he was very approachable and knowledgeable, a very good Minister for Trade. He resigned in 1999 to devote more time to his family, but remained active in many areas. Sadly, in October 2018 he was diagnosed with acute mycloid leukemia. A remarkable man, and one of the nicest people around.

We went to a "Summer Sounds" concert at the National Botanical Garden; the band was from the Australian Military College Duntroon.

The lesson provided by Swing Dance Academy was fun (Vera & I can't sit still when good music is on offer!).

I attended the banquet to celebrate Chinese New Year, organised by the Australia China Friendship Society (www.acfs.org.au); start of Year of the Pig. 

The President of the ACFS, Carol Keil, welcomed members and guests to the banquet. It was held at the China Tea Club restaurant in North Lyneham. Delicious food, good company.

A poster welcoming the Year of the Pig.

At the CNY banquet one of the ACFS members gave me an old program from Canberra Repertory, of a play staged in November 1971. The main sponsor (advertiser) was Roberts Chemist of Civic - later we got to know his son, Richard Roberts, whose son Tom married our daughter Jennifer. Small world!

The program shows that I was an actor in this play, one of four soldiers.  The problem is that I can't recall this play at all.  Strange.  An explanation may be that, about two months later, in February 1972, I went to Jakarta on my first posting as a Trade Commissioner; and past events were quickly subsumed by the busy and eventful life which followed.

Two big events organised each year by the Australia China Friendship Society (www.acfs.org.au) are the Lantern-making Workshop (basically for children) and the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival marks the formal end of the Chinese New Year celebrations, and is usually held 2 weeks after CNY.  This year we held it on 23 February, a week later than usual, because Canberra's big Multicultural Festival was held last weekend.
Although the Workshop and Festival were two weeks apart I have shown the photos together (below).

About 30 children & parents participated in the Lantern Making Workshop on 10 February.  Here Jean Norman is handing out pre-cut kits to kids.

Two of the ACFS Committee members, John Wong and Neil Birch showing lanterns to two participants.

Making lanterns, a fun, easy, craft activity.





We arranged a full program for the Lantern Festival.



The Lantern Festival is held in the lovely Beijing Garden. We were so lucky, it was a perfect autumn evening.




One of the dance groups rehearsing before their performance. Cute kids.



Part of the crowd watching the performances at the Lantern Festival; we estimated around 900 people attended, mainly families with young children.  It was a fun, relaxed evening enjoying displays of Chinese culture.



These were some of the competitors in the "best hand-made lantern" competition.


ACFS members decorated the Pavilion and the Performance Area with lanterns and lights - they looked gorgeous when the sun went down.  The final event was a lantern parade around Beijing Garden, led by Lion Dancers and followed by children and parents carrying lit lanterns - a memorable night, especially for kids.

I attended the book launch of "Troll Hunting" at the National Library.

Chris Ulhmann interviewed journalist Ginger Gorman for the launch of her new book "Troll Hunting". She was the subject of unsolicited Cyber hate attacks so decided to examine this phenomenon. She claims about 40% of Australian adults have experienced cyber hate on social media.

It's Super Rugby footy time again - yipee - here the Canberra Brumbies played the Melbourne Rebels. We had a narrow lead at half-time, but then the Rebels ran away with the game in the second half (34 - 27).  Not the start we wanted.  But the following week we thrashed the Chiefs from New Zealand (54 - 17).  Go figure???

We had a weekend at Broulee, from left: me, Vera, Christine Evans, Paul Flint, David Evans, Neale Emanuel.  Walked on the beach, swan in the sea, played some golf, it was a lovely relaxing few days. Our first outing since Vera's diagnosis back in July 2018.

A view of the Moruya Golf Course, green and lush.

Paul and David on the 18th green. For me it was great to be back on a golf course again after not playing for several months.

We caught up with Barbara and Richard Roberts who live at Broulee - lucky sods!

Another book launch, this time at the Asia Bookroom.

Professor James Fox (right) interviewed the author, Prof George Quinn (right). A most entertaining exchange, these two guys are real Indonesian experts. In the last 25 years 'pilgrimages' have become very popular in Java, and big business!

A model of Parliament House made of Lego.  I spent a couple of hours there - attended Question Time (it should be renamed "No Answer Time" - just theatre!) and then sat in on a couple of Senate Committees examining Departmental estimates. Brought back memories when I was in the 'hot seat' during my AUSTRADE days.

I had 9 holes of golf at Murrumbidgee Golf Club. From left: Beverley and Tony Butterfield, me, David Evans, Peter Joyce, and Jim Larkey.  We used to have a weekly game (at Federal GC) before Vera & I went off to China - we had more hair in those days! It was good to catch up with them again (although my golf was awful!).

Interesting talk last night by Dr Peter McCawley. He described the 7 Presidents of Indonesia:  Sukarno 1945-66 ;  Suharto 1966 -  98;  Habibie 1998 - 99;  Gus Dur 1999 - 2001;  Megawati 2001 - 04 ;  SBY 2004 - 2014;  Jokowi 2014 - present . All very different, but all made positive contributions. The next Presidential election will be in April, only a few weeks away; Jokowi, the incumbent, is the favourite but Prabowo is closing the gap.

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Vera got the "all clear" from her Oncologist last week, so life is getting back to normal.  It has been quite a journey since the first diagnosis back in July 2018.

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I arrived in Jakarta on my first posting as a Trade Commissioner on 23 February 1972 - 47 years ago this month!

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Read "The Ladies in Black" written by Madeleine St John in 1993. We saw the film recently, which we loved, and I was keen to read the book.  Not bad, but the characters lacked development.

The setting was David Jones Department Store (called Goodes in the book) in Sydney in 1959; the main characters were: Lisa Miles (summer job after finishing High School); Fay Baines a shop assistant who falls in love with Hungarian immigrant Rudi; Patty Williams, a shop assistant with a recalcitrant husband Frank; and Magda (from Slovenia) who runs Ladies Gowns and is married to hungarian Stefan.

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Canberra Capitals beat Adelaide Lightning to win the WNBL championship.  MVP was Kelsey Griffin, Caps captain.

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Lots of news coverage of the conviction of Catholic Cardinal George Pell for child sex abuse. A jury found him guilty, although apparently it was just the victim's word against his. Appeal pending.
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We discovered a Belgian crime series called "Professor T" - excellent scripting and acting - highly recommended!

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That's it for this post.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
28 February 2019