A conversation with Mutasim Himmat – a Sudanese refugee looking back his life after coming to Australia for 17 years

  It was cold and late at night in a normal weekday. Kallangur, 30 minutes drive from Brisbane city, a tall but skinny man stood outside the front door of his house. He slowly walked forward, “You are welcome, come in and have a sit”, said Mutasim Himmat.

  Mutasim is a 40 years old Sudanese who makes a living by cleaning jobs in supermarket. In 2000, the North Sudanese came to Australia through the Australia’s refugee and humanitarian programme through the help of the United Nations. This has been the 17 years since he settled down in Australia.

“I went to Egypt as a refugee in 1998, I was 21,” said Mutasim while he was coming out from his kitchen with a tray on his hands. There were four cups, a tea pot and a box of sugar on the tray. He gently put the tray on to the coffee table, slowly he set down on the red old sofa, pouring tea equally to all four cups. “This is British Breakfast Tea, we drink it in Sudan, is our culture” he said.

“I was in University studying I.T back then when I was in Sudan, but if I want to graduate, I need to go to the army,” Mutasim began to explain his situation back in Sudan. “

In 1978, oil was discovered in Bentiu of South Sudan. 11 years later in 1989, civil war in the name of religious broke out in South Sudan, government forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation movement led by John Garang were involved.

“People in South Sudan are mostly Cristian while the people in north are mostly Muslim, so the Sudan government requires people aged from 18 to 23 to join the army to fight against the south,” said Mutasim.

He said if people in South Sudan wanted to be independent, the Sudanese government should have leave them alone, however, because of the rich natural resources in the south side of the country, the Sudanese government raised the war in the name of religious to ensure themselves with full control of the oil. During the civil war, teenagers were forced to join the army force for two years by the Sudan government to show as a support to the government.

“I don’t mind to join the army service for my country, but I will not do something I think is wrong…they are just greedy, they only want to be rich,” said Mutasim firmly.

“If you don’t join them, you don’t have access of life. You don’t have a certificate, you can’t find job in Sudan, the government is very corrupted,” Mutasim continued.

“People who protest and against the government would get caught and killed”

Since the government had absolute control of the economy in Sudan, most of the companies were owned by the government, companies would have background check if the applicant support the government or not.

“Two resume on the table, same experience and same degree, you would be chosen if you support the government, if you don’t, you can’t get a job, you won’t have money,” said Mutasim.

Suddenly, Yassir Birair, Mutasim housemate took out his phone and showed me a video clip. It was a man on stage, dancing in the middle of a speech. This man is Omar al-Bashir, the 7th president of Sudan who has been taking over the country for 17 years.

Everyone set around the coffee laughed loud after watching the clip. “He love dancing,” said Mutasim with his hand covering his eyes to avoid any eye contact with the video.

“In Australia, no matter what colour you are, you can get it job, it is fair,” Mutasim replied when he was asked about the difference between the society of Australia and Sudan.

In 1998, Mutasim seeked help from the united nation ambassador in Egypt and became a refugee, there were no United Nation’s ambassador in Sudan. “If you need help, you go to the ambassador of you home country, but if you are a refugee, you go to the united nations, you refuse the help of your government,” said Mutasim.

In May 2000, he first arrived Sydney Australia.

“My family is very happy that I can finally work and send them money haha,” said Mutasim.

“The first six month I got here, I went to TAFE Sydney to learn English, while I push trollies in the supermarket during the weekend.” Said Mutasim.

During the first two years in Australia, Mutasim has developed his professions to cleaning and became an Australian citizen in 2002. He slowly built up his network and business and began to cooperate with Supermarkets for cleaning jobs in a contracted relationship. Ever since then, Mutasim head back to his home country every two years to visit his family. “I can’t stay here for more than two years, I have to visit my family.” Said Mutasim.

Friend of Mutasim is happy with his life in Australia, “I see him as a true hard worker in a completely fair system, because you see how giving someone an opportunity can exceed their own expectations, but when you are not even given an opportunity as it is back home, the country wont move forward,” said Osman Jarel.

3 years later, in January 2005, the Sudanese government signed the peace deal with the southern rebels, the civil war between North Sudan and South Sudan had came to an end.

What kind of culture would people send money not just to their family buy their neighbours as well? “This is our culture,” said Mutasim.

“We Sudanese are very social people, we take care of each other, we know all our neighbours and their family very well,” Mutasim claimed.

“Say if one of our Sudanese friend here have cancer, and the treatment is very expensive that he can’t afford it, all the Sudanese in Brisbane would come and help, they help as much as they could afford economically and this is how it solved,” he said.

“I know all the North Sudanese in Brisbane I guarantee, as in they know me and I know them, maybe one out of 100 doesn’t know me, we are all brothers…Without people and this culture, Sudan is nothing, we don’t rely on our government, we rely and seek help from our people, we love our country, but not the government, he said. Mutasim’s proud of the sense of belongings among the Sudanese community in Brisbane had shown all over his face as he further described his country’s traditions.

He then shared his story of how he he helped an old lady, who was his neighbour when he lived I Toowoomba, by parking her car to her garage when she has plaster on her hand, and collecting letters for her in raining days and brought them to the hospital while she was living in the Toowoomba hospital.

Slowly his eyes turned red.

By how amazed and surprised the old lady was, Mutasim said” I just live across the road, just knock my door when you need help, we are neighbours, we are supposed to help each other.”

Speaking of future plans, Mutasim walked into his room, came out with his I-Pad with an adorable kid on the background. He smiled with and said,” this is my son, he is an Australian.”

He is Saijd Himmat, two years old son of Mutasim. Saijd was take cared by his mother and grandparents in Sudan for the past two months. As Saijid is turning three soon, Mutasim decided to let Saijid to experience the Australia education system.

“I have cleaning job offers from Sunshine Coast, so I might work there after my current contract ends and find him a school there…It is good for him to experience two cultures.” Said Mutasim.

“Australia is a very beautiful and safe country,” he said.

Today, corruption and wars are still happening in Sudan, each Sudanese family has at least one family member works overseas in order to support their family. “Sudanese are everywhere around the world,” said Mutasim.

“

Wars in Africa is nothing about religious, maybe someday, some one would take over the government and safe the people……”    

“He loves his family a lot, but just a bit too talkative,” said Yassir.

Reference

Mutasim Hammit (phone: 0403 583 652).

Osman Jarel  (phone: 0413 687 773).

Yassir Birair

Who is responsible for the abandoned shopping trollies in Chermside?

Shopping trolleys are always being left in inappropriately in Chermside area.

With the urban development of Chermside, more than 5 residential estates had been built in the northern suburb of Brisbane with in 3 years.

Ever since 2007, the number or residents in Chermside had jumped from 6700 to 9780.

Walking along the Hamilton road, many abandoned shopping trollies from supermarkets of Westfield Chermside can be spotted, however who is responsible for it?

Dangerous to bus drivers in Chermside area

 “It’s been happening for more than a year.” Said Rob Rasmussen, security of Westfield Chermside bus station.

“People just dump their trollies next to the bus station and leave.”

Even there is a trollies collecting station, Rasmussen said people tend to leave their trollies in random places around the stations.

Despite the job of his own, because of the amount of trollies that were being left, he would clean up the trollies within the bus station.

“Normally the trolley boys come twice in the afternoon, but I push the trollies there, just to make it look clean”

Rasmussen added that people sometime leave rubbish in the trollies, which make it more difficult to collect.

He also pointed out the issues that the trollies bright to the bus drivers, they would have to stop the bus and get off to push away the trollies in the middle of the bus station.

“That happens very often and is dangerous.”

“Westfield is all about the money, this bus station is very dim at night, you see the lights there, it is supposed to be two, but they(Westfield) only switched one (light bulb) on.”

He explained that the design of the Westfield Bus station, which is a circled bus station, there are blind spots for buses, abandoned trollies could be the potential accident source of the area.

Aside from that, the security believes that supermarkets in Westfield should be responsible for the empty trollies.

“They should ask for 20 dollars (to rent a trolley) so that people would come and give the trollies back.”

“People requested for it, but they (Westfield and supermarkets) said they are afraid of losing customers for doing it.

trolley left with rubbish around the Westfield bus station

Lacking of labour

The abandoned trollies in Chermside area also addressed the issue of the lack ok human resources in trolley helpers in the mall.

“Normally we are responsible for empty trolley within two kilometres of the supermarket.” Said Osman Jarelnabi, part-time trolley helper of Coles.

He explained that that the lack of human resources of the supermarket could be the reason of the trolley issues in Chermside, as normally there should be two trolley helpers, however it is not a job that everyone is willing and capable to do.

“It is a tough job, especially when things turn crazy in weekend, is like a ten hours’ workout session.”

He added that the trolley job is meant to be shared by two people, however with the lack of human resources, it is common to find supermarket having only one trolley helper.

Jacob Abdullah, manager of Osman Jarelnabi also pointed out that employing trolley helper is getting more difficult than ever with the extant of shopping hours for customers by supermarket.

He added that there are code on each trolley, people could ring the supermarket to collet them.

It is our responsibility to report empty trolley in or city, report empty trolley by ringing 1800641597.

Report for empty trolley by 1800641597

Source

Osman Jarelnabi – 0413 687 773

Rob Rasmussen – keanverasmussen43@gmail.com

Jacob Abdullah – 0423 502 054

https://www.coles.com.au/customer-service/abandoned-trolley

http://profile.id.com.au/brisbane/population?WebID=430

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/laws-permits/complaints-fines/abandoned-vehicles-shopping-trolleys/abandoned-shopping-trolleys

Reconciliation Action Plan of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018

The Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) of the Commonwealth Games in 2018 aims to remain meaningful legacy to the aboriginal community through the employment, training, as well as pronouncement and showcasing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultures. The question is, what action been taken so far?

"It's Our Time To Shine" – Slogan of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018

It is indeed the time for Gold Coast to shine. This is the first time for the regional city to the biggest event of Australia in decades. With tourism as the main focus of the government, a total of $1.6 billion dollar was invested in infrastructure and creating job opportunities. In which, more than 12 new sports facilities and 30000 full time jobs will be available for Queenslanders by 2018.

Despite being the first first Commonwealth Game to have the equal number in medals for man and woman, this is also the first Commonwealth Games to have a Reconciliation Action Plan, which elders group and leaders group from the Aboriginal community is involved in different aspects during the decision making process of the game.

The decision to develop the Reconciliation Action Plan was made in 2015 by Australian Government, with claims that it would help to generate awareness and recognise indigenous culture, as well as building respect for the values and heritage of Australia’s First Peoples.

“As minister of the government, our focus is always about the long term and how we create opportunities for employment for young Queenslanders that that are coming to the jobs market.” Said Kate Jones, minister of the Commonwealth Game.

The Queensland Government has collaborated with universities in Queensland to take real action on providing work experience as well as long term career for the young aboriginal communities in specific in order to build culturally capable workforce.

“We have been working with Griffith University and TAFE Queensland to create indigenous opportunities both in regards to traineeships and internships, but also working with more than 20 aboriginal tourism business locally to get real work on real products, which is a million worth contracts that have gone to Aboriginal and Torres Islander businesses.”

Aside from having well trained aboriginal work force in tourism, the Queens Barton Rely will also be a major boost for indigenous tourism in Queensland, which baton bearers will take more than a million steps to run, jog, walk or wheel the baton from the northernmost reaches of Hammond Island in the Torres Strait to all the corners of the country.

In addition, activation of train services will be available to link businesses from Queensland with business opportunities thanks to the Reconciliation Action Plan.

She says with all the work the the government work on the plan is to ensure similar criticism or values from the previous Commonwealth Games in Brisbane back in 1982, which is the year Queensland has its biggest Aboriginal march. 2,000 people marched for land rights in Brisbane on 26 September 1982. In what was named Queensland's biggest Aboriginal march, protesters carrying placards and banners to express their demanded in recognition of Aboriginal land rights and the abolition of Queensland’s 
“apartheid” Aborigines and Torres Straight Islander Act. Chants of “land rights now”, and “smash the 
act” in Brisbane city streets.

“Our community will be protecting for the same reason in Gold Coast in that 11 days.” Said Freddy Dongulas , member of Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance.

 “This document (RAP) continues down a well worn path of appropriation, assimilationist re-branding and unwelcome state sponsored corporate intervention, that is in no way compatible with the values WAR stands for.”

“The members of WAR never were, nor ever will be in any way complicit or ‘loyal to’ their invaders, colonisers and abusers, as is implied within the so called “spirit” that the Commonwealth Games deliver”.

Meanwhile Jenna Lee, Graphic Designer of RAP logo 2018, who specialises in Aboriginal artwork and design, has a different take on the idea behind the protest as well as the Reconciliation Action Plan.

“It was an opportunity to try and create artwork that would be seen by a lot of people; nationally and internationally.”

“For me, as an Indigenous woman, I’ve always had a passion for making sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is accurately and meaningfully represented. You go to New Zealand and you see the influence of Maori culture, and I feel like that’s missing here in Australia.”

 
“I don’t actually think the protesting is a negative thing because the world are on our eyes on us, and it’s a platform to get our voices heard, although I generally believe the commonwealth game is a fantastic thing.”

“ But I also understand that it is a time that people can have there voices and opinion to be heard and there is a history with the common wealth games which has raised a lot in the stagey session.”

“There is a real understanding that this RAP while it wouldn’t fix anything, it was like a step in the right direction because they are the first Commonwealth games to do something like this their legacy is hoping that other country would take this format on broad because realistically the Commonwealth games happen a lot in colonised country.”

“I’ve met a lot of Indigenous people who have family employed by the Games. It would be really interesting to see in the lead up, I’m sure I’ll see more. I actually welcome the debate.”

She describe the collaboration with the Gold Coast Commonwealth games was smooth and comfortable for her to design and create art to promote her vision.

“There were three bodies, the Commonwealth Games, GOLDOC and the design team. So, they came to the office, about twenty of them, and we discussed what they wanted to achieve with this document. It was interesting, because there are four levels of reconciliation action plans – this one is an ‘Elevate’ plan, which is the best – and to get to that one you have to go through all the others. Except, the Commonwealth Games has such a short life span, so they managed to get accelerated to Elevate by proving they could achieve it. Reconciliation Australia would have said no if they didn’t think the plan could be carried out. We talked a lot, in the session, about the stakeholders – so community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Australian community, the Queensland community, the sporting community – and took all their perspectives in.”

“All the different layers have different meanings. It’s kind of around diversity but also with really big focus on Yugambeh elders. So, before we started the design, I met with Yugambeh elders and just gauged their thoughts and feelings. I told them what I wanted to do and they gave me their trust that I would do it right. If it had been that they weren’t comfortable, then we would have stopped. But they weren’t; they were happy with it.”

“With all the well developed infrastructure set up as well as the investment and resources provided by the government, the easy success for tourists to interact with the indigenous culture , RAP cultural influence would be way more significant that what the government had done before.” Said Dr Juliana McLaughlin, Lecturer of cultural politics.

While Anisa Nadula, founder of Voices of Colour also believes the RAP could promote the multi culture value to the world through the 11 days.

The game is expected to attract more than 672,000 visitors as well as 6,600 athletes and team officials from 70 member nations and territories.

“It is one of the toughest political calls because you know the economic scale as an industry, particularly in Queensland where we gonna see significant growth in our tourism industry, this is such a huge opportunity, but at the same time, committing that funding and knowing you goanna have that funding available in 2009 for event that happens in 2018. Often government are accused for having short sighted decision making, well, committing 1.5 billion dollars for something that is gonna happen almost 10 years later can sometimes be described as a brave call.”

“The tourism boost from worldwide is priceless for Gold Coast and Queensland,” said Kate.

Housing Crisis: Is The Great Australian Dream over in Brisbane?

7th September, 2017.

“The Australian dream” refers to the tradition belief of Australian, that home-ownership is the way to access a better and more enjoyable life. Sadly, with the elevating increase in today’s housing market comparing to the Aussie’s income, the dream doesn’t seem to be achievable anymore.

Housing crisis has always been worrying the new generation of Australian, the five major cities of Australia were all ranked in the top 20 most expensive city in the world. According to the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey 2017, median price of residential estates in Sydney is equivalent to 12 years’ salary of the Aussies.  Ever since 2011, home ownership here has been declining every year, 200,000 Australian became homeless in 5 years’ time.  

Foreign investors are often blamed for the constant increase in Australian’s housing prices. Report of Foreign Investment Review Board 2016 has recorded a 60 and 75 percent increase in foreign investment on real estate (worth about $61 billion) in the last two financial years. Yet, is it the case in Brisbane?

“The property prices I think of apartments, probably over the last 18 months, apartment prices in Chermside and some of the other suburbs has decreased.” Said Rod Hodgson, Position Property agent.

In fact, the latest HIA-CoreLogic Residential Land Report on August 2017 revealed the median lot price in the residential land market has come off record highs to sit at $245,000 which is 3.6 percent lower than it was in the first quarter of 2016.

Rod then explained that the supply of apartments has been quite high in those inner city suburbs. “There are a lot of supply, the demand in the market has been satisfied and there is still supply available.

Besides, the HIA-CoreLogic residential land report 2017 found median lot price on the Sunshine Coast is $278,750, while the Gold Coast is lagging behind at $243,400

based on sales during the March quarter.

Housing Industry Association principal economist Tim Reardon does comment on The Courier mail in August that Queensland is the only jurisdiction where there is a region with a land price higher than the capital city.

As a real estate agent in Chermside with a majority of local clients, Rob describe people today are purchasing real estates as a life style over than just a place to live. “They could be first time buyers or retired people, obviously because this area attracts elderlies as there are two hospitals and a shopping centre down the road.”

So is the Australian Dream over?

“Bloody hell… Um… That’s getting more and more difficult.”

“I don’t think its over, the great Australian dream is difficult, still achievable but maybe to to the same extend.”

“Younger people tend to consider their life style when they purchase, they want to be in a convenient location. I have sold to some first home buyers, some young couples had purchased here (Chermside) and is simply because of lifestyle.”

“They understand the market sales, hey don’t want a big block of land and field, instead they would rather live in an apartment with a nice balcony.”

Rod believes that the Great Australian Dream has been redefined through out the years by comparing the housing affordability of today’s Brisbane and his father’s generation. “I was born in 1971, our family’s first home was a three-bedroom brick house, on a block of land at Palm beach, Gold Coast. He purchased that for $10,000 dollars in the same year I was born.”

In fact, housing affordability crisis is

“At that time, it is equivalent to three year’s salary, and this is the problem with affordability, as wages never increase as quick as the housing market does. People in larger cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong has higher salary in average to off set the cost of rent and liveability, but even in Brisbane the median of housing prices is somewhere around $500,000, which is like seven years’ salary.”

“Comparing that 40 years ago, is easy for the baby boomers to say “is not that hard”, but the extra 4 years’ salary is just different, plus you got interest on top of that, this is quite a big financial burden for people trying to get into the market especially for young family.”

How about overseas investment in Brisbane?

JQ1 Property manager Mei Wang, who’s clients are mostly Chinese investors believes that overseas investment doesn’t contradict with The Australian Dream of the young locals.

“Despite certain restriction on deposit and stamp duties, overseas investors are also restricted to buy flats that were still building or have only been built for one year.” Said Mei Wang, JQ1 Property manager in Kelvin Grove.

“Overseas investors tend to purchase apartments around city or universities campus, as it is more attractive for talents like international students to rent, and does has a larger potential.”

“Other than fresh new apartments, there are still a lot of choices for in the housing market for the young Australian in Brisbane to consider.”

According to the latest announcement from the Chinese Government, domestic companies in China will now be restricted from making overseas investments in sectors such as real estate, hotels, entertainment, and sports clubs, while report “Demystifying Chinese investment in Australia”, which was done by The University of Sydney, does found that Chinese investment growth has slowed down by six percent in 2016.

“This might stable the Brisbane housing market.” She said.

In fact, excess overseas investment do not only lead to an increase in housing prices, but cultural conflict and environmental damage as well.

In five years time since the Korean government establish the investment immigration for the Korean treasure island, Jeju Island, the amount of land bought by Chinese nationals has soared by nearly 300 times. While, the building of tourism and recreation facilities all over the island by Chinese real estate developers continues to raise concerns about eyesores and environmental damage of the locals. Which at last, the Korean Government had limited the ratio of land ownership of the island between the locals and the foreign investors to fifty-fifty.

Graham Wolfe, Executive Director Planning & Development of Housing Institute Australia believes that certain ratio restriction of land or house ownership could be adjusted and apply on to Brisbane to ensure the locals ownership in Brisbane, yet it was too “ideal” to apply in today’s Brisbane.

Beauty of multiculturalism : Red Carpet Multicultural Fashion Show 2017 .

John Hui 23/10/2017 8:15 p.m

Three years in a roll, the multicultural fashion show of Red Carpet Functions continues to bring different communities together and celebrate cultural diversity in Brisbane.

The Red Carpet Functions aims to eliminate barriers among diverse groups by organising events that promote multiculturalism as well as inclusivity. They also promote inclusivity, and believe everyone deserves a chance to showcase their talent, regardless of physical or mental disabilities

For this year, the show had attracted more than 300 audiences and 200 participants including modals, artists and designers from different cultural background to showcase their art works and bring business influences at the Princess Theatre of Brisbane.

While “Flight” was the theme of the night, the show brought their audiences aboard to travel around the world and presented the show along their way through different countries and continent.

The fashion parade was delivered with a wide range of performances ranging from Handpan and drumming performances to Vietnamese and Bollywood dancing.

It was also very honoured to have Mr. Duncan Pegg, Chairman of Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee, Mr. Steve Biddle, regional director of Queensland, Mr. Anthony Shorten, LNP Candidate for Toohey as well as Mrs. Pravinta Singh-Pillay, Principal Lawyer of Cornerstone Law Office, Lewis Lee OAM as well as Surendra Prasad OAM in the guest speakers line up of the night.

“It was truly amazing to participate in event like this, seeing some of Brisbane’s best art and artists all in one room and empowering each other with nothing but love and support…… while hearing some of the stories and what has inspired such individuals to do what they do and the sentimental value it holds to them is incredible for me.” Said Patrick Junior Oryem, fashion designer of Malaika Boutique Brisbane.

“As we can see, Brisbane is now booming into the new world city, so Red Carpet is a platform where every talent can showcase their art, like music, design and every industry you can think of.” Said Reena Augustine, founder of Red Carpet Functions.

Ms Augustine was awarded the Community Dedication Award of Brisbane Women in Business Awards for her work establishing Red Carpet Functions in 2016, aside from being on of the baton bearers for the Queens Barton Relay, she is also a mentor of The Lord Mayor’s Multicultural Business Scholar and Mentoring Scheme in 2017.

This is the third year for the Red Carpet Functions team to hold this annual fashion parade.

The fashion shows have become a platform to unite cultures, raise cultural awareness and celebrate the diversity of Queensland’s many ethnicities.

Ethical dilemma in journalism – reporting suicide

  Coming to the digital age of mass media in 2017, the standard and the way that people receive news has significantly changed. Despite of the accurate and quality content, with the raise of smart devices like iPhone as well as the social media, people in digital age would always in demand of the latest news. Thanks to the incredible fast information flow of the internet, news stories could be reported to readers in split seconds as long as they are connected to the internet. However, under the strong competition between media organisations on the internet, journalists miss out the practice of reporting, in particular of reporting suicide. This essay will be examining the ethical dilemma of reporting suicide by evaluating code of ethics and ethical theory with the aid of real world examples.

Importance of the right approach to report suicide

   Suicide is a public health issue , instead of using viral images and victimizing those who passed away on the title , journalists should balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort when reporting. Media and online coverage of suicide should be informed by using best practices. Some suicide deaths might be newsworthy. However the way media cover suicide can influence behaviour negatively by contributing to contagion or positively by encouraging help-seeking. Aside from bring true and accurate content to readers, one of the core principle of being a journalist is suggested by the Ethical Journalism Network is humanity, which they should bring not bring or to minimize harm on what they publish, as their words and pictures bring impacts to others (2017, para. 5). Besides, The American Foundation For 

  Suicide Prevention also suggests that suicide is complex, which could be multiple causes, including psychiatric illnesses, that may not have been recognized or treated. However, these illnesses are treatable (2017. para .  2), which amplifies that journalist plays an importing role in raising suicide awareness and suicide prevention.

  The evaluation of two suicide reporting examples will be examined bas onthe code of ethics of Mindframe National Media Initiative of Australia.

  Risk of additional suicides increases when the story explicitly describes the suicide method, uses dramatic headlines or images, and repeated or extensive coverage sensationalizes or glamorizes a death. However The Daily Mail Australia and Boston Herald did not seem to be responsible when reporting suicide. According to the Code of Ethics by the Society of  Professional Journalists (2017), to minimize harm, ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect, while journalist should also consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication.

 The Boston Herald irresponsibly reported in April 2017 with the death of the former NFL football player, Aaron Hernandez.

  The article sensationalizing the headline of the death of the former NFL football player by “EX-NFL star Aaron Hernandez hangs himself in his prison” , which is in appropriate as the former bowl’s player suicide would attract enough attention from the public without embellishment, it could have been titled “EX-NFL Star Aaron Hernandez dies by suicide” as instead of giving to much detail on method and location on where the suicide happened to the public, as explicit depictions of self-harm have been linked to copycat behaviour and methods of self-harm are often similar or the same as methods of suicide (Mindframe, 2017).

  Aside from the dramatic headline, the article also covers a lot of irrelevant details of Hernandez. According to reporting and portrayal of suicide by Mind Frame 2017, including the lawsuit of Hernandez mother’s over the estate of Hernandez, as well as where he tied to hang himself, as well as the security level of the stadium he played and his criminal history. Which disrespectful for his family but potentially a trigger for others at risk.

  The article also stereotyped the death of Hernandez by irrelevant source by quoting a random neighbour of Hernandez to comment about his cause of death by  “In the Dorchester neighborhood where Lloyd grew up, a family friend of the victim wondered if Hernandez could no longer bear the weight of his crime and his squandered potential.”

   It assumes the direct cause and effect as only one reason for the suicide by Most suicides are the result of several factors including health such as head trauma, family history of suicide or mental illness as well as environmental factors such as his incarceration. While life in prison no doubt played into his decision to end his life, it’s probably not the only one. Telling the story in a simplistic way like this undermines the struggle and perpetuates the stigma surrounding suicide.

  Lastly, despite having explicit images of the player, the are no mention of suicide prevention resources accompanying the article. At least, there should be a suicide hotline, as it provides options for crisis support to vulnerable people who may be adversely impacted by a euthanasia story.

Positive suicide report example

  Covering suicide carefully, or briefly, can change public misperceptions and correct myths, which can encourage those who are vulnerable or at risk to seek help. The report on Shah's youngest son, Alireza Pahlavi’s death in 2011 by The Sydney Morning Herald is an good example.

  The article did not only place the death of Alireza Pahlavi in context, but respectfully providing readers with information regarding the ongoing personal and medical issues he dealt with throughout his life. Additionally, the story includes personal tributes from family and friends, recognising Alireza's strengths and achievements throughout his life. In which, the word 'suicide' was not mentioned in article or the headline. It also reminds the media outlets to include helpline numbers whenever reporting on suicide related issues.   

  The inclusion of helplines gave readers who may have been upset by the article access to further information and support services.

  According to the principle of utility by John Stuart Mill, journalists should seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number, that good news must be promoted while bad news has to be restrained (Lavalle, 2017). The article is a perfect piece of journalistic example to ethically report suicide by addressing the cause of suicide of Pahlav, which is depression to the public, and raise the awareness of depression as treatable mental health to avoid suicide.

  In stead of giving irrelevant details and stereotyping certain menial illness, the article emphasises the impact that mental illness has on family members, friends. It also warned against judging people with mental illness. Besides, the article offers hope to the public by giving out hotlines and website that encourages people to seek help, as it is important for the public to recognize the early signs of mental illness. By emphasises the importance of seeking treatment early , it allows the public be aware about mental health services.

  Aside from that, information about mental illness and specific mental disorders are bring reported based information from reliable sources such as recommended experts. Allows people who have experienced mental illness to tell their own stories or. Highlights the complexity of mental illness. The term ‘mental illness’ covers a wide range of symptoms, conditions, and effects on people’s lives

  In brief, pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness, higher ethical standard in suicide reporting is essential, at the end journalist are human as well, they should report suicide to the public with ethics, respect and dignity in order to minimize harm.

Reference list

America foundation of suicide prevention. 2017. Accessed on May 1, 2017.https://afsp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/recommendations.pdf

Ethical journalism network. 2017. Accessed on May 1,2017http://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/who-we-are/5-principles-of-journalism

Boston herald. 2017. Accessed on May 1,2017http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2017/04/ex_nfl_star_aaron_hernandez_hangs_himself_in_his_prison_cell

Mindframe. 2017. “Reporting suicide” Accessed on May 1,2017http://www.mindframe-media.info/for-media/reporting-suicide

The Sydney Morning Herald. 2011. Accessed on May 1,2017http://www.smh.com.au/world/shahs-youngest-son-found-dead-after-years-of-battling-depression-20110105-19g8i.html

Society of professional journalism. 2017.“Code of ethics” Accessed on May 1,2017

  https://www.spj.org/pdf/spj-code-of-ethics.pdf

Ethics of reporting suicide in Hong Kong

What kind of problem does a city have if 34 students ended their life by themselves in just 2 years time.

Over the last two years, 34 students in Hong Kong has committed suicide, which is a scarch figure to look at comparing to the average of 23 student suicides a year between 2010 and 2014 according to the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention.

Protest has been made by parents, the amount of  homework have been cut down by teachers, yet two things remain unchanged, the Hong Kong government attitude on the public critics on the education system as well as the style and content of suicide reporting of Hong Kong media.

Just like other Asian country, Hong Kong students are known to be pressured and stressful According to the student survey done by Hok Yau Club (student community since 1949 in Hong Kong) on April 2017, over half student feel stressed because of the intense examination, huge amount of home work and the very limited enrolment capacity of universities of Hong Kong. The education system has once again grabbed the public’s attention with the continuous coverage of student suicide by the Hong Kong media.

   Suicide is a public health issue , instead of using viral images and victimizing those who passed away on the title , journalists should balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort when reporting. Media and online coverage of suicide should be informed by using the best practices. Suicide deaths might be newsworthy, yet the way that media covers suicide can influence people’s behaviour negatively like copy cat effect, or positively by encouraging help-seeking. Aside from bring true and accurate content to readers, one of the core principle of being a journalist that was suggested by the Ethical Journalism Network is humanity, which they should bring not bring or to minimize harm on what they publish, as their words and pictures bring impacts to others (2017, para. 5). Besides, The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention also suggests that suicide is complex, which could be multiple causes, including psychiatric illnesses, that may not have been recognized or treated. However, these illnesses are treatable (2017. para . 2). These guidelines from the officials amplify that journalist plays an importing role in raising suicide awareness and suicide prevention.

Reference:

http://www.hyc.org.hk/files/press/Pressure.pdf

http://www.hyc.org.hk/data/

http://csrp.hku.hk/statistics/

New generation in Hong Kong no longer feel linked to students in the June Fourth Incident

It’s been 28 years, yet nothing has changed.

Thousands, or perhaps hundreds according to the government, were killed during the military repression of the student protest in Tiananmen square on 4th June, 1989.

The government had never admitted or apologize for the incident, while history, textbooks and related articles are censored. Citizen in mainland China could barely access further information and details about the incident with the full control of the media as well as the internet within China, the incident is a taboo in China, except its special administrative region, Hong Kong.

The Tiananmen square student protests led to fears that the Chinese government would renege on its commitments under one country, two systems following the impending handover back of Hong Kong in 1997 from the British.

For Hong Kong people, Tiananmen served as a turning point for when they lost trust in the Chinese government. The incident had generated uncertainty over the status of the society, that a huge amount of Hong Kong people had immigrated to Western countries such as Canada and Australia prior to 1997.

Despite the transfer of power to the Chinese in 1997, there have been large candlelight vigils attended by tens of thousands in Victoria Park Hong Kong every year since 1989. Many Hong Kongers see the continued protests as a symbol of the territory's autonomy and freedom from the interference from Beijing on political issues.

To understand Hong Kong people’s perspective towards the incident, The University of Hong Kong has been conducting opinion survey on behalf of the June 4incident in the last 20 years. While the statistics in this year show that newer generation of Hong Kong doesn’t seem to feel as linked to the

According to the survey, 30 per cent of the Hong Kong people do now support the reversion of the official stand on the June 4 Incident, which is the highest among the recent ten years.

Besides, over on third of the candidates answered in the survey, that Hong Kong doesn’t have the responsibility to instigate the democratic development of mainland China, which had jumped from 6 per cent in 1993 to 30 per cent this year.

Chairman of the University of Hong Kong student union, Wong Chingtak said that the new generation in Hong Kong doesn’t have connection with the Beijing students in the 1989 democratic movement.

The student union of HKU will not attend the annual candlelight vigil hosted by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in the evening on June 4, but will instead host their own forum in the afternoon that day.

 Wong said that in the past when Hong Kong teenagers look at the June 4 incident, they have a strong feeling of being patriotic or being Chinese, yet with the decrease in recognitions of identifying themselves as Chinese, the new generation of Hong Kong people find it less relatable towards the incident.

 “The feeling of being Chinese has disappeared. As identity and emotional ties have changed a lot, I believe we have a very different understanding of the Tiananmen massacre than the older generation” he added.

Time flies and memories lapse, will the incident remain to be a taboo.

Reference

1 Wong Chi Tak - +852 9109 3633

2 Public opinion programme, The University of Hong Kong https://www.hkupop.hku.hk/english/features/june4/datatables.html#q1

3 http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/04/world/the-persistent-mystery-how-many-died-in-1989.html

The Chinese reporting style

The tough controls and censorship under president Xi Jinping has further restricted the press freedom in China. According to ABC news1, many journalist in China are giving up their profession, as they can’t find themselves any spaces to question and investigate towards the Communist Party of China.

  Despite the restricted press environment, China does have one of the largest TV industry in the world. In which the Chinese national television channel, CCTV has 140 million people tune in every night at seven for its news bulletin.

  As the news is reported in five different languages, different versions vary with each other. This article will compare the English and the Chinese CCTV news on 28th June, 2016 by the five values of news, as well as its reporting style and amount of coverage on certain politically sensitive story.

  In broad, the English and Chinese version of CCTV news shared the same news stories coverage, which include the bilateral relation between Germany and China, the high speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the approval of the new pilot program for mainland China travellers to Tai Wan, yet the story line up could be spotted as the differences between the English version and the local version.

  The story about the bilateral relation between Germany and China was prioritized as the most important news that was as the first story to report in both versions, which is understandable as the the meeting of the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel was indeed news worthy as it the press conference between the two leaders are, important and significance for Chinese citizens.

  However, the reporting style of the Chinese CCTV news is totally different. It spent 13 minutes out of the 30 minutes of the news program to further celebrate and appreciate the speeches given by the Chinese Premier, while the English version provides a more objective view towards the story by having the speeches of Chancellor as well as the views and perspectives of human rights in China by the former Primer Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, which hadn’t been covered in the Chinese version.

  Apart from that, the difference in the amount of coverage on behalf of the approval of the new pilot program for mainland China travellers to Tai Wan in the English and the Chinese version was very questionable.

  The Chinese version of the CCTV news used 5 seconds (26:55 – 27:00 the second last news story of the news bulletin) in total to cover the new pilot program to Tai Wan.

  Yet, one third of the English news bulletin (5:55 – 16:55) were spent on covering the new pilot program, with experts pointing out how Tai Wan could benefit from the Chinese tourists, as well as suggestions on how to avoid conflicts and disputes in Tai Wan.

  Such different in coverage amount is questionable with the history of intense divide conflict between China and Tai Wan2 .

 CCTV could be seen as “political censoring”, to avoid reporting too much Tai Wan related news stories to the nation through the main channel. The main coverage of the new pilot program from China to Tai Wan was reported in English only, was greatly reduced the possibility of the Chinese citizens to get into further details of the story with the language barrier.

  Are these the difference in “news worthiness” or CCTV being politically correct towards the Chinese Communist Party? Who knows.

Reference

1 ABC news http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2016/s4428199.htm

2 BBC news http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538

Will the increase in universities fees discourage foreign students from choosing Australia as the option to study abroad?

As Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced in budget 2018 on 2nd May 2017, Australia universities will face a 2.5 percent cut to their teaching payments in the coming two years

 University fees are set to increase by 1.8 per cent next year and continue rising to a total of 7.5 per cent by 2021.

 Starting from next July, local graduate will have to repay their student loan once they start earning $42,000 rather than the current threshold of about $55,000, the whole package is expected to save $2.8 billion for the federal government in the next four years.

  In which, around 200 protesters demonstrated outside a Brisbane luncheon speech by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on 17th May 2017, angry over budget changes to higher education.

International students face significant increase in tuition fee for higher education in Australia 

(Source: University of Queensland)

  Despite the the increase in financial burden to domestic students, international students in Australia will be facing an even higher increase in tuition fee than local students as the universities announces their tuitions fee in 2018.

  Unlike local students, international students in universities will have to pay an extra 3.5 per cent to 11 per cent each semester for their coming academic year in 2018.

  The University of Queensland had established their tuition fee for international students 2018, to study popular programme like Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Business Management, foreign student in 2018 will have to pay an extra $600 to $1200 each semester.

  While the course fee for Bachelor of Arts in University of Queensland had significantly increase by 11 per cent, which is one of the programme with most increase in indicative semester fee in 2018, which is far higher that the 1.5 per cent increase for local students. 

Would it discourage international student studying abroad in Australia

  According to the international student data monthly summary by the Department of Education and Training of the Australian Government established on March 2017, there are 279 thousands of international students currently receiving higher education in Australia.

  Over half of them are from Asia, 30 per cent of them are from China ,11 per cent are from India, while Malaysia and Vietnam took the third and the fourth place.

  Jessica Choi, Manager of Student services in Modern Education believes Australia will still remain as a popular country for foreign students to study abroad despite the significant increase in university fee for international students .

  She pointed out that the costs of studying in Australia are considerably lower than in the UK and the US, and students can work part-time and access scholarships and grants, which is what Australia stand out from other countries.

 “Comparing to other English speaking country, the potential of urban development as well as the technological innovations would still attract many foreign students. There are plenty of visa options for students who want to stay and work in Australia after graduation.”

  Chan also added that the relatively warm weather and the reputation of Australian universities are factors that international students in Asia will continue prioritize Australia as the country to study abroad in.

 Over the last two years, international students in Australia has continuously increased by 12 per cent in 2016 and 15 per cent in 2017.

  April Siu, GEA institutions agency of Modern Education GEA (Global Education Alliance) Hong Kong said that the despite the increase upcoming increase for tuition fee in Australia, the depreciation of Australian dollar in the last two years is the factor that Australian universities remain its popularity among Hong Kong parents when it comes to consideration school fees.

(Source: Department of Education and Training of the Australian Government)

(Source: Department of Education and Training of the Australian Government)

  International student representative of Study Brisbane, Ralph Teodoro said that in this stage, their community have no plan to do any sort of protest against the increase in tuition fee for international students in Australia, while Tylor Kelly, representative of Right to the city – Brisbane also replied that at this stage they have no planning on doing any event to discuss this issue, as most of their energies are focused on building up the campaign for something instead of a casino to be built at North Banks.

Reference

https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/International-Student-Data/Documents/MONTHLY%20SUMMARIES/2016/12_December_2016_FullYearAnalysis.pdf

https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/International-Student-Data/Documents/MONTHLY%20SUMMARIES/2017/Mar%202017%20MonthlyInfographic.pdf

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/05/17/students-protest-turnbulls-uni-budget-measures

https://future-students.uq.edu.au/sites/future-students.uq.edu.au/files/ckfinder/files/14607-UG_International_Indicative_Fees_2017.pdf

https://future-students.uq.edu.au/files/6387/UG_International_Indicative_Fees_2018.pdf

Should the Australian media care about the climate change in pacific region at all?

Indeed, Australia might not be significantly threatened by climate change right now, the indirect impact that it brings from pacific islands to Australia could be huge and newsworthy to local media as well as Australians.

  Locating in Oceania and being surrounded by pacific nations, Australia has a strong bond with island countries like Fiji and Tuvalu that was constantly impacted by climate change. While being a member of The Pacific Forum, Australia has agreed to be responsible to work in support with other forum member governments so as to enhance the economic and social well-being of the people of the South Pacific by fostering cooperation between governments and between international agencies, and by representing the interests of Forum members in ways agreed.

 With the constant increase in green house gases, sea water level and temperature in pacific nations has risen significantly through out the last decades, which could bring potential negative impact on economic and social issues on Australia. Taking Fiji as an example, according to the World Bank report, climate threats to Fiji’s society and economy include:

·       higher rates of disease as average temperatures rise;

·       increasingly destructive storms as oceans get warmer and weather patterns become more severe;

·       and disruptions to agriculture as the intrusion of saltwater damages existing farmland.

·       On Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu, these factors are expected to contribute to economic damages of up to $52 million per year, or roughly four percent of Fiji’s gross domestic product

In which, Australia could be greatly affected with negative economic impact that brings to Fiji by the climate change.  

Looking back to 2013, the Australian Government has provided $35million of assistance to Fiji in response to Tropical Cyclone Winston. to provide ongoing reconstruction support to Fiji, aimed at returning life to normal, giving Fijians back their schools, medical clinics and livelihoods.

Despite being the biggest trading partner of Fiji, there are up to 50,000 Fijians who live and work in Australia and over 300,000 Australians visit Fiji each year. Australian investment in Fiji worth $1.7 billion in 2013, while two-way trade between two country worth over $1.8 billion annually.

To conclude, with the mutual economic reliant between pacific nations and Australia, the Australian media should pay more attention onto climate change in threatened country.

Reference

http://fiji.embassy.gov.au/suva/relations.html

http://newsroom.unfccc.int/cop-23-bonn/how-fiji-is-impacted-by-climate-change/

https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/9054c140-a03c-4c6e-ae9e-ab9d7972dd19

Oktoberfest 2016: Less queue time and more joys with the introduction of digital wallet

The Australia’s largest German festival continues to share and promote the beauty of cultural diversity here in Brisbane. This year, Oktoberfest Brisbane 2016 celebrates the 500-year anniversary of The Bavarian Purity Law at the Brisbane Showground on 7th -9th and 14th -16th of October.

New payment method for this year’s festival

This year, Oktoberfest Brisbane announced the introduction of cashless technology for the festival. Customers would be paying their beers and wines with digital wallet. When customers enter the festival at the entrance, a smart wristband would be delivered that customers can top up their digital wallet with their back card or cash.

“I believe the intention of the digital wallet is to avoid long queue time for customers, since people don’t just come here for a cup of beer, they come here to have a good time.” Said Ashvin Farro, contract bartender of the festival.

“For festival like last year, customers had to find their coupons or reach into deep pockets to get their coins. The digital wallet just makes it overall more easy and efficient for us and customers at the bar, you just tap, and you are good to go.” He added.

The digital wallet of Oktoberfest Brisbane 2016.

Queue time for beers in the festival is not as intense as last year.

Osman Garelnabi, two times visitor of the festival finds the festival more enjoyable with less queue time.

“It helps with the queue time definitely, last year when I come here, me and my friends would have to queue for like 10 minutes just for a beer. But this year with this wristband, I might have to queue a bit at the top up station but then I can go straight to get my beer easily, with no lines at the bar.” He said.

“Another thing that I appreciate the new payment method is the fact that it makes us visitors less stressful about our pockets. I come to the festival to drink, it will be much better for me to avoid any “interaction” with my wallets, because that means I will be less likely to loose my wallet!” He added.

Food and vending machine in the festival remain cash only

Although new payment method is introduced in this year’s Oktoberfest Brisbane, food and vending machines in the festival are still cash only.

Johnson Shum, visitor of the festival believes that the digital wallet should be applicable for the food shops in the future festivals.

“I think digital wallet should be applicable for food shops in the festival as well, I have been queued up for a hot dog for around 10 minutes already. I didn’t even need to queue to grab a beer from there(bar).” He said.

Carol Kamahoro, contracted kitchen hand in the festival believes that using digital wallet for food shops in the festival will not make a big difference for customer’s queuing time.

“Unlike beers, making food for sure takes a longer time than serving a cup of beer to customers, it takes time to get the food prepared for customers, using digital wallet wont make a big difference in my opinion.” She said.

Contrast of Human rights: Australia and China (2016) 16/09/2016

  After 20 years, on 14th September, Australian Politian Pauline Hanson, delivered her Senate Maiden Speech to the Federal Parliament once again since 19961. Indeed, the controversial immigration policy that she pointed out towards Muslims and Asians had raised hot debate among the Australian media and society. This demonstrated Australia as a highly demarcated country, that members of parliament are able to represent their people and express their opinion to the government publically, with freedom of speech and human rights they have. Mean while, human rights issues of the biggest trading partner of Australia, China, has sparked grave concern.

  On 14th September, 5 Hong Kong Journalists were violently treated and detained by the Chinese police in the “protest village” of Wukan, Guangdong province of China.

  Wukan was seen as a “democracy experiment” after widespread protests in 2011, which the village was allowed to elect its own leaders. Protests again erupted this year after village chief Lin Zuluan was detained by police under suspicion of taking bribes. Villagers held 85 days of demonstrations calling for his release since June 2016. A court in Foshan sentenced Lin Zuluan to three years and one month in jail last Thursday for taking bribes and accepting bribes as a non-state employee2.

 3 in the morning on 13th September, hundreds of police crushed into the village. Protesters waved flags and threw stones to the police, while police answered with rubber bullets and tear gas, villagers were injured and 13 of them were arrested for spreading rumours, inciting mobs and disrupting public order.

  5 journalists from Hong Kong newspapers Ming Pao6, the South China Morning Post7 (SCMP), and news website HK018 were detained by the Chinese police for 5 hours.

  According to interviews with the 2 Ming Pao journalist, they said that the police walked up and slapped them for no reason. One of the journalist shoes was loosen during the crush, yet the police did not allow the journalist to pick his shoes back.

  While journalist of SCMP was conducting an interview with the villagers, 2 dozens of police broke into the house and arrested him for stealing.

  He claimed that this phone rang right before the police broke into the house and was believed that his phone was tracked for his location by the police.

  Journalists were sent back to Sheunzhang and were back to Hong Kong after spending 5 hours in the police office, they were forced to sign an agreement for stop investigating in Wukan as well.

The key word “Wukang” has been disabled on the internet of China.