Holy Basil @ Canley Heights : exotic Laotian Thai Cuisine

Long queues start building up from 5 pm. No bookings required/permitted. Just join the line. Usually short wait of 10-20 minutes because of efficient service and quick turnover.

Tastefully renovated with ethnic features but not overly showy and intrusive.

The chef has been trained at five star Australian kitchens, helped by business savvy partners. Employees are hip and Aussie speaking youngsters who are attentive, courteous and helpful. Not your usual family run Indochinese or Southeast Asian business.

Must have : BBQ ox tongues. Don't be put off by the unusual idea. In poverty stricken NE Thailand and Laos, every item whether live or fixture, is an investment and all parts must be fully utilised.

 Crab meat fried rice - soft and moist yet filled with the bursts of pan fired flavours.

Lao papaya salad with fermented small crab - very pungent. The authentic recipe calls for 20 birds eye chilli but meek Aussie palates would prefer to settle for a mild version.

Panang curry chicken - a tad sweeter than desirable, would have preferred a spicier version with more mixed vegetables than just long beans.

Fried ice cream with wafer thin batter showcases the skills of the chef. Palm sugar, raisins and toasted coconut flakes are uncommonly ventured in most restaurants here.

Full but tempted to try the speciality of sticky rice with durian pulp. The alternative is mango but that would have been too ordinary. Go for the strong scented and lingering pungency of the King of Fruits.

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Seriously, do you really want Rudd to return as PM? Australia needs stability

Kevin Rudd would be best remembered as the man who helped to topple the Howard government. 


We don't expect Kevin Rudd to be the perfect gentleman but he has  many personal weaknesses that would undermine the effectiveness of national policies.


As more documents and revelations emerge, it is clearer that Rudd is partly if not mostly responsible for his own downfall.  Sympathy for the underdog is slowly running out when he turns into a persistent destabilizer for the party, government and country. 


http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-20120224-1ttxx.html

Rudd may have or believed that he could continue to exercise strong leadership.  But ALP is not Liberal under John Howard. Few leaders in modern democracies could pull the party together for so long. Anyway, Australia is not a dictatorship and ought not to backtrack to those days where a PM's supremacy and views could hardly be challenged by cabinet members and community interest groups. 


How would the world would look at Australia?   It is not possible to put things "right" from the past when we are living in the present.  


Julia Gillard may similarly not be the perfect leader. However, she has steadily learned to get things done. Getting through the difficult but necessary carbon and mining tax legislation is a notable achievement. 


Once again, I appeal for pragmatism. For the sake of our citizens, Kevin Rudd and labour supporters should consider what is in the country's best interests. 

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/rudd-gillard-shape-up-for-labor-battle-20120224-1trgx.html

Cuts in Tertiary education negate potential gains in investments - reconciling Gonski report

Coordination has never been an Aussie forte. 


Gonski study is being seriously considered to lift Aussie students' academic competency in math and science may only cover part of the problem. 


The longstanding and lingering reluctance to fund education up to tertiary level, sharpen competitiveness with world institutions and provide good learning experience is likely to falter. Blaming it on purely economic factors shows the lack of vision in sustaining Australia as a destination for international students. The education sector has served us well in the past decade and should not be allowed to slack without taking proactive steps to live up to the challenges. Indeed, the importance of investing in tertiary education could not be emphasised more. 


Within a week, I heard two pieces of negative news from students and staff who are directly impacted from staff cuts. 


Some segments of students with needs deemed dispensable would be slashed ruthlessly no doubt. With worse times ahead, a strong Australian dollar and effects of past stringent student visa policies, universities seek short term measures. 


Decisions are purely made on monetary considerations rather than performance criteria and feedback from consumers.


There is fine line between downsizing justified by efficiency and dump sizing which compromises on quality of service. After all, education is a service, and not all solutions could be found in technology. 


Heartaches but no sweat for most who are able to find alternative employment or start a business. However, in the current gloomy job market, losing a job is easy but replacing one isn't. 


What about those whose career, passion and lives who have been closely tied to university education, with skills that are not so easily transferable across industries and countries?


U Syd will cut hundreds of academic and general staff in tandem with anticipated reduction in student enrolments, and in order to free up money for IT and maintenance.


http://theconversation.edu.au/sydney-uni-to-cut-academic-and-general-staff-but-boost-it-4404