Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Wilkie : whistleblower of Iraq invasion gets apology and acknowledgement

The private apology by a Coalition leader to independent MP Andrew Wilkie who criticised the Howard government's invasion of Iraq based on fabrication of intelligence is long overdue.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/abbott-apologises-to-whistleblower-wilkie/1924006.aspx

Recalling some time ago, we showered accolades on many brave truthseekers who wanted to correct moral hazards by exposing powerful wrongdoers. http://ausletters.blogspot.com/2010/02/australian-whistleblowing-cases-more.html

It may take many years, a decade, or even a generation for the truth to be known but it must come forth. The psychological sufferings Wilkie underwent of being vilified as "unbalanced" are impossible to compensate materially or verbally in the light of now widely known foreign policy mistakes.

Some may even ask if Abbott really felt sorry and had approached Wilkie if he did not need to rope in independents to form a government.

Heroes like Wilkie are owed not just a government's apology but deserve to be commended publicly.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Bosses stereotype - discriminate in different ways

Like it or not, employers and managers have certain mindset of their preferences. At the core, it is power transforms (and possibly corrupts) the benevolent to stereotype as some studies have shown. For the lack of time, lack of touch with the ground or inclination to utilise authority, bosses tend to become judgemental rather than objective, not necessarily working for the betterment of the company.

The Power Trip

Contrary to the Machiavellian cliché, nice people are more likely to rise to power. Then something strange happens: Authority atrophies the very talents that got them there.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425561952689390.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_lifestyle#printMode

I believe the jury is still out whether age is an asset or liability for jobseekers. There are advantages of hiring younger workers including from overseas but there may be subconscious and inherent cultural prejudices working against recruitment decisions. Nevertheless, it is comforting to know that the over 55 year olds are not deliberately discriminated against, but may even be preferred. Attitudes are changing, hopefully it is for the better of businesses without compromising employee welfare.


Age not a barrier but an advantage to some bosses

The common assumption that employers do not like hiring
older people is wrong ...

http://www.smh.com.au/national/age-not-a-barrier-but-an-advantage-to-some-bosses-20100824-13qfs.html


Sunday, August 22, 2010

Future Australian governments must deliver promises

One good lesson that emerged from the ambiguous and tenous cirumstances is that politicians would not take the electorate for granted. Instead of looking around for scapegoats and pointing fingers to put someone carry the burden of failures, politicians must buck up and get their act together. They are supposed to serve the people not their own narrow interests.

With Labour leading by a razor thin majority in the latest vote count, they must now work hard on healthcare to win back sceptics. They must prove they really mean business and deliver on their promises.

There is no second chance as the nation is divided and Labour could have easily lost this elections. It was not so much that Julia Gillard was popular and people wanted a Labour government but that . The message is loud and clear but it it is unheeded, it will lead to an unreserved and crushing demise for Labour in the next round.

The setback, however, would be the government's inability to push for the bills to be passed by the legislature.

On the brighter side, Liberals might be compelled to do some internal reorganisation and soul searching if it wants to gain the confidence and trust of voters in three years' time or sooner for the state elections.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Australian Muslim Women - the Burqa paradox

A courageous Muslim women who dares to voice her thoughts and of those afraid to speak up. It is a dilemma that the community ought to resolve but the pervasive reluctance to face it is regrettable.


Burqa defenders' paradox of injustice

by Ruby Hamad Sydney Morning Herald August 13, 2010

I am Muslim by birth and I find the burqa confronting. I even wish no women would wear it. Does that make me a bigot?

Tony Abbott used similar words last week when he stated that a Muslim woman should not be permitted to give evidence in a West Australian court with a burqa concealing her face.

The internet exploded with well-intentioned outrage. ''Oh yeah I find your f---ing face confronting,'' the writer and radio host Marieke Hardy said on Twitter. ''I find budgie smugglers a 'confronting form of attire' and wish 'fewer' Australians would wear it,'' the Greens staffer David Paris tweeted.

It is the natural tendency for many to leap to the defence of those they feel have been marginalised or unfairly targeted. But in this instance, their defence is problematic.

Let me be clear that I do not and will never advocate a Western-imposed ban on the burqa. Apart from consolidating Muslim women's unfair place as the primary targets of Islamophobia, the only outcome a ban would achieve would be confining them to the home.

You cannot compel people to abandon hundreds of years of culture and tradition by force. Any change to the position of women in Islam must come from within Islam. And, crucially, it must be spearheaded by Muslim women. The real trouble with the burqa-banning bandwagon is that it is obliterating any chance of a progressive female Muslim voice.

Why is the battle for Muslim women's rights being fought by non-Muslims? The defence of the burqa by Hardy, Paris and others is, more than likely, propelled by their desire not to malign Muslims. What they fail to consider is that criticism of the burqa is not necessarily an attack on Islam.

Shortly after Abbott's comments, Ameer Ali, a vice-president of the Regional Islamic Da'wah Council of South-East Asia and the Pacific, advocated for a burqa ban, calling it ''the lingering relic of a patriarchal, misogynistic and tribal culture'' and saying it has no basis in the Koran.
While many Muslims might disagree with Ali, his comments highlight that even within Islam the burqa is a contentious issue. It is precisely Muslims such as Ali who should be discussing it but Ali faces a backlash from the Muslim community because the burqa has become such an albatross around its neck that Muslims would prefer that no one mention it at all.

The pressure on Muslim women is enormous. Even moderate strains of Islam (one of which my family belongs to), are, if you happen to be a non-conformist, stiflingly oppressive by Western standards.

The honour of the entire family lies in controlling a woman's sexuality and maintaining her ''purity'' until marriage. After marriage her body is for her husband's eyes only. Enter the burqa.

Not all strands of Islam require a burqa, or even a hijab. But they all do insist on modesty. Hence, the burqa itself is simply the symptom of a much greater ailment and that ailment is, as Ali indicated, a patriarchy that still places the destiny of a woman in the hands of her male relatives.

Many Muslim girls growing up in Australia are finding themselves caught in an impossible conundrum. Do they adopt a liberal outlook on life and ruin the reputations of their family, thus risking almost certain ostracism from their entire family circle? Or do they go along with these traditions that have existed seemingly for eternity, denying their own autonomy in the process?

By framing the issue of the burqa as nothing more than a ''woman's choice'' and denying the history of the burqa as a patriarchal tool, we are running the risk of alienating those Muslim women who seek to break free of the constraints of their culture, as well as abandoning those women who are physically forced to wear it.

Likewise, by decrying all criticism of the burqa as bigoted, we are actually consolidating its previously tenuous position within mainstream Islam in Australia, and thus hindering the religion's progression in this country.

When even the so-called permissive West is staunchly defending an article of clothing whose primary function is to deny the sexual autonomy of a human being based on nothing other than her gender, what recourse does a lone Muslim woman have to stand against it?

Undoubtedly there are many Muslim women who really do believe God wants them wear the burqa and no doubt they wear it with pride. Perhaps they are the lucky ones, never to have to make that impossible choice.

But what of the others?

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/burqa-defenders-paradox-of-injustice-20100812-121bm.html