Deciding on National Days

It is observed that the winner writes and interprets history. History is utilised as the primary basis for celebrations and reinforcement for the future of a country. National Days are examples of such celebrations. The problem starts when the concept of a nation is viewed only from the perspective of the ruling power/majority population and not for all groups co-existing in a so-called nation.

Think about the origin of National Days around the world. In Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, most of them involve religion, race and/or the anniversary of liberation from the rule of colonists or parties with strong opposing philosophies, and where there had been hectic and intense battles in mind or spirit, political conflicts and physical toll in loss of life, coupled with economic destruction, before reaching the marked day of freedom. Nations become stronger with a greater sense of unity and shared philosophy when a certain extent of blood has been shed in a common cause and much sacrifice incurred to reach that point of most recent independence.  This is most effectively attained when there is a sense of us against them and when us ultimately wins control of government and society. Think about China's October 1st, Vietnam's Day of Reunification, Argentine Declaration of Independence Day, Indonesian and Malaysian Merdeka Days, the Filipino Day of Independence or India's Republic Day.  History did not commence in those countries with the curently recognised National Days, but a sufficiently significant event did occur which still requires the nation to remember it as the National Day.

The Fourth of July in the United States is still marked with parades and a collective pride after more than 230 years.How this is managed, despite changed demographics, new dangers and different imperatives for its future, reflects the very strengths in how that nation was formed and born with. A Constitution and Charter that transcends the immediate events of 1776 has laid viable foundations that still carries a federation of different states confidently to the future, despite unknown waters and problems.  Where countries base their National Days on arrivals in a foreign land alone, it is hard to convince the natives of the conquered land to join in the celebrations. Observe Australia Day, now also spoken of as Invasion Day for the many Aboriginal nations existing when Captain Arthur Phillip claimed the lands around Botany Bay for the British crown..  New Zealand is cleverer, for Waitangi Day celebrates the day a mutually agreed treaty was signed between the arrivals and natives on more equal terms. 

The Repiblic of France celebrates the momentous events - and meaning - of Bastille Day.  Royals lost in this change of social order.  Spain had a more recent turbulent time in politics and societal disorder, and so did the separated nations that once formed the Yugoslav Republic, togetrher with all the various states that once were under the lock and key of the rule of the Communist Soviet Union.  All these aforementioned nations have been truly reborn, sometimes with boundaries redrawn, and how a reconstituted nation goes forward is also echoed in how it selects its new flag and National Day.  A national flag belongs to all in a nation and should not be hijacked by some to the exclusion of its other citizens - just like the meaning and spirit of a chosen National Day. In increasingly multi-cultural societies, the challenge of a foresighted Government is to utilise a National Day as one of reconciliation and common purpose, and not one of exclusion and divisiveness. How one began its first National Day at times may not matter - Brazil was freely granted independence by the then King of Portugal - and what is more critical is how a nation uses the day for its future.

Memories Are Made of These

Rohan with Kev

(Image credit - K Singh)

Rose chicken curry with side serves

Gaduh leaves for Straits Chinese dry salad (ulam) and juice from kumquats for garnishing and drinks

 Snapped at work - discussion at a forum.
(Image Credit - Mark Newsham)

Luv or dislike them - the king of fruits - durian.

Another Day

Aiya, don't forget dinner, I mention to Bee as she untangles tax related intricacies for her employer , still in the office.   On my side, I am trying to figure out how to download images captured on my Iphone to a computer, another kind of headache, as I seem to cannot locate the cable in the IPhone delivery box from mobile phone to a computer!

John, one of  my colleagues, kindly came to help me set up the monitor on my new tv cabinet - it needed a longer aerial cable. This was done under the suppression of the high of the Australian summer heat, amidst the joys of living in a small town....yeeya! Now the monitor sits nicely a bit higher on the pine wood cabinet, and I am half-watching a China movie on SBS 2. There are now 13 digital free to air channels in Oz.

Luckily Wollongong is near the ocean and around sunset (830pm currently here), more than a breeze blows in. I am half tossing about putting an air conditioner, but its only used for such few hot days in summer in the Gong. The daun gaduh in the garden has been observed wilting if I do not hose them with water every 3 days these past few weeks. I think of some individuals I know who make a fuss about leaving carbon footprints and go gung-ho about environmental sustainability - and then without remorse go home in this heat to air-conditioned comfort. Here I am resisting hooking up air-conditioners, whilst at work I wilt like the gaduh leaves as the old air-conditioning tubes  in my office building do not have sufficient capacity for the new work station lay outs below them with increased numbers of staff.

I had a chance to visit my local fav butcher, Paul's Meats, in Fairy Meadow this evening on the drive home from work. Hey ya, this is as if I live in a small town in the sixties in peninsular Malaysia. It's liberating to be able to get fresh quality meats fifteen minutes before I cook dinner and tonite it is kong tau yew bak, juicy, lean pork neck cuts dowsed in soy sauce, livened with a dose of oyster brew, marinade with garlic and garnished with a small roll of cinnamon. Goodbye Woolworths and Coles, eat your heart out. This is what I mean by, and enjoy, living in a village.

Gong Xi Fa Cai - The Lunar Year of the Tiger

Golden kumquats in Balgownie garden

Roses are red in Balgownie

Verdant green of the daun gaduh, an essential ingredient of Straits Chinese salads and the colour for calmness and harmony.

Goldfish are a sign of energy and plenty - denizens of Balgownie tank

A pot of jade plant

The ever useful bamboo

Flowing water and growth - good chi

Christmas Giving

A few work colleagues thought it was just the festive Santa in me which drove the provision of  gifts in the run-up to the most recent Christmas. What underlies the real spirit of giving?

Gifts, when shared or made, are best from the heart and obviously need not be material.  They can at least be gestures and tokens of the feelings they try to express,  at most are true sacrifices of time, sweat, concern and effort and, at best, be unseen and anonymous. Some of the fellow beings I am surrounded with have me amused, suggesting a myriad and complex framework of obligations that gifts must only be amongst family and those who decide or support their pay packet, or only when the giver gets something tangible in return, with the bathwater thrown out with the proverbial baby for others.  This makes culling easier for most, but to me is very short-sighted.

I feel strongly in making an expression to show appreciation for those who have been kind and helpful to me in the past year, especially to those I do not have to or those who do not expect anything, and to send a strong and clear mesage to those who fall in the opposite dimension. It is not a gift, in my view, when one can authorise and/or organise a paid another to do the work and arrangements in one's name.  A gift is  making time and effort for another in a personal way.

To acknowledge thanks and recognition to a well deserved person only once annually, and near the commercialisation of Christmas time, can be just in bad and insincere taste. How have I been treating the person the whole of the year, and have I surprised such recipients of a gesture in a smile, a word of grateful expression or some unexpected act of reaching out,  especially when it is least expected, at a point of time before the annual holiday season? Has this person reciprocated likewise? Gift giving at best can be a mutual exercise, a real process of give and take and enhancing the magical circle of enjoying each other's company in simple understanding.

Gift giving is not linked to a chain of outward expectations. The nature of gifts can be especially delightful when it reflects an innate understanding of the both the recipient and the giver.  True gifts can outlast temporal vibes and be appreciated even if given only once.  They are not subject to trappings, diverting appearances and need not be wrapped in glittery paper. Gifts are essentially tokens of  conduiting and reflecting larger feelings.  A gift that nurtures positive things in recipients beyond the seasonal hype lives up to the original meaning of the action.  True gifts accentuate what is already encouraging in the recipients and make their star shine even more.  They never pose a further problem but help to resolve partly what the recipient may be looking for.  Reflect on this, you may have actually received a more valuable and unique gift, even when it was not obvious, not initially tangible and when it was not even Christmas.