Lip Service

I was instinctively disturbed by a news story , based on some university research, about job applicants, with names that are not Anglo sounding, facing more daunting challenges in getting a job in Australia. There were percentages quoted of how many more applications such individuals had to make before they were successful, ranging the lowest for those with Italian ancestry, to the highest with Chinese names. I found it odd that one could link this single factor - names and what they represent -with such a high impact on impressions from recruiters of individual candidates, even before they were considered for an interview. What about personality, qualifications, experience, the ability to effectively communicate and a past record of team work?

This evening, on a day with weather rather best suited to stay-at-home, I came across the persistent efforts of a dear old pensioner lady in New South Wales in trying to ensure that a complaint she had was followed up. It all started with a a tin of canned fruit that caused her negative health effects after she consumed part of the contents. She wrote to the regulatory authorities in her state of New South Wales and to the Federal officials in Canberra, but was told that it was a Victorian state matter, as the manufacturer of the can in question was Goulburn Valley based in Shepparton. The length of time it has taken for her complaint to receive any inkling of a solution or through the intermediate replies is shockingly long. For example, it took six weeks for a Canberra official to reply to her. The matter I understand has still not been resolved.

In the interim, the evidence of the can, which she kept in her home refrigerator, exploded, due to the understandably long fermentation. Industry practice is to not allow such canned food to be consumed four years after it is manufactured, but it looks like the fruit in the can relating to this complaint was made eight years ago and still being sold to that lady earlier this year.

Charade or parade, legislation is meant to provide and protect and nurture equity.
Why are laws passed, and then applied unwillingly, variably or not at all? Maybe it is better to have not passed such laws, if the supporting practice and bureaucracy show that those responsible for implementation are in obvious disagreement with the tenets of the applicable law. Private or public resources are unnecessarily spent to make a semblance of acknowledgement of the related legislation, but which practically never helps the individuals they were meant to protect.

It all boils down to this: there can be no trust for someone who is too afraid to show true colours upfront.

Sometimes

What is life today? Another Tuesday, another late night before coming back from the office work. The rain continues coming down outside my office window. Thick cumulus white clouds were spotted by me earlier that afternoon, and now the wind must be pushing them down. The last person to leave the workplace before me gave me a shout far away to say goodnight, and I continue to clear off another relentless stream of business emails, follow-up requests and official whirlpool.

What is life meant to be? Is it in the faces of people streaming away from the game between the Dragons vs Broncos last weekend. They are dressed contentedly in their choice of team colours, and in Wollongong, it is mostly the red stripes of St George. It is more than national rugby league to these individuals, groups of mates and whole families. It is a lifestyle, something to look forward to on a dreary Wednesday morning. It promises the synergies of group power, safety in familiarity and something to motivate when other parts of life can be threatening or not promising. It offers moments of celebration even when everything is all right. It promises a life of more than just earning, spending and filling in the time in between. Maybe.

What can life be? Is it the chatter I overheard from bright-eyed overseas students in a cafe called Dong Dong? These UNSW students freely express themselves in the language and nuance they grew up with. They sang a quick birthday song for one of their mates, Justin. A lady wondered aloud why it was great to be a doctor or engineer long ago, but now it's cool and all right to pursue other careers. On a Sunday afternoon, this seemed to be a picture of relative innocence the week before the semester examinations. It is repeated all over the world in campus suburbs - the wonder of promise, the excitement of anything being possible and the comfort of being with friends.

What was life like? Beijing duck, Fujian poh pniah rolls, tamarind laksa, fruit rojak - all soul food served at a warm house gathering with the wind and rain howling outside. The sitting around a table to partake of food together is a necessarily comfortable ritual. To be able to do that with people you are truly comfortable with, and in not some imposed scenario, is not to be taken for granted. The home made pastries and tasty cake not made with butter but healthy ingredients were made with a labour of creativity and care, as the dishes for dinner on a Saturday night. And then to be able to sink into total mind-bending oblivion with audio-visual entertainment rounded up the night.

What will life be like? 2009, and it's the June 13 weekend. The United States has just switched off its analogue television broadcasts and fully gone digital instead. In Australia, we are at the nexus just before a similar change, but still with both analogue and high-definition telecasts available. Things we are used to - and enjoyed - can, and have, changed.

I like what I heard on Saturday night: "Life is like having ice-cream on a stick. Enjoy it before it all melts away."

Mateship

I got thinking of mateship, after reading the related musings of a friend on her blog. Living away from networks I grew up with, residing in a special region of the country I adopted with differences and various nuances and being of a cultural background not seen as mainstream, I did and do face some challenges and opportunities. Whatever the scenario, I am here to stay and enjoy these unique perspectives.

After graduation, I worked in a close-knit environment of a family-owned bank. My colleagues and I saw the blurring of job and personal relationships after work. We congregated around individuals and random groups each of us found ourselves to be comfortable with. Extra-curricular activities were organised and encouraged around sports, food, outdoor and indoor activities.There was no need to have formally appointed mentors, employer-paid support groups and talk about what should be done in career and personal development - we just did it, relentlessly, subconsciously and with gusto. We got to know families of people who started out as working colleagues, but who gradually turned out to be friends in all senses of the word - mates whom we could call late at night to get an opinion, people with whom we could go camping and whose children came to know us as more than just from the office. The synergy we got from our outside encounters positively returned to the workplace to add to productivity, efficiency and better resolution of employee problems.

In another world now, I find myself with some people who vehemently compartmentalise whom they associate with. I can speculate on the various sociological and historical reasons why it is so, but in the end, the result can be impersonal, unmotivating and isolating. Social drivers that can so easily be utilised to embed team spirit, avoid unnecessary diversions and achieve business/career targets, with minimal roadblocks and pain, are ignored. Many I know end up not believing in the surface value of what some say or do and just give their minimum effort. At the worst, I have come across back stabbings, unfounded accusations, peculiar personal behaviour that reinforces petty selfishness and an uncanny negative focus on the now and not the future.

The happy medium that I thrive in is between these two contrasting experiences. In mateship, I believe in knowing how far to reach out and when to withdraw. The best friends are those I can drop by anytime with both good and not-so-good matters on hand, or just to sit side by side in silence. The best mates are those who accept us as what we are and yet provide quiet inspiration for us to want to better take care of ourselves. A true mate does not forget us once they move on to other stages of their lives. Reliable friends tell us as it is and keep in touch no matter what the phyiscal or psychological distance. To me, mateship is wanting to be connected, even if we do not have to.