Ambrose's Bloggerfella

At long last, a post

2010-03-06T07:03:00.007+11:00

I don't know if its the excitement of having booked my flights to South Africa, the boredom of bankruptcy [and therefore sobriety], the realisation that twitter will never get me a job or just the Singapore air, but I've decided I need to start blogging again. I've got four major essays due over the coming weeks but once they're out of the way you can expect to see a steady stream of articles once more.

As a teaser, here's the belated follow up photo to my last post in November. I ended up raising just over US$1000 which was a bit under my initial target but a solid effort nonetheless. We had a lot of fun with the hair, which my friends moulded into a variety of styles before eventually shaving it down to the Mr Mason look which I wore for a week. World Bicycle relief sent me a fabulous gift which I haven't yet seen but look forward to doing so.

Excuse my terrible editing. It's 4am.

See you soon with a real post!

Ambrose's Hair Campaign - your help needed!

2009-11-22T18:17:00.005+11:00

Today I need your help to plan my latest crazy adventure (which hopefully, unlike most others, will actually happen), Ambrose's Hair Campaign.

The Hair Campaign will be an innovative fundraising campaign for a worthy but yet-to-be-determined charity.

At the end of the month, depending on the amount of money raised, I will do something crazy to my hair. For example $100 might get me to dye my hair blue, $500 might make it straight and $1000 might turn it into a "half-fro" (the best suggestion so far). I will keep the new style for a week or so.

So I need your help to decide three things. The charity, the hair options and the amount of money each is worth. When I work those things out I'll set up a fundraising page and ask you all to chip in what you can.

Please leave suggestions in the comments box below. Thanks!

University of Sydney: a review

2009-10-21T00:12:00.004+11:00

After twelve weeks at Sydney's top-ranked university it's time to see how it stacks up against the other universities I'm familiar with. I'll use the same format as my previous NUS review and I'll try to get a similar ANU review up shortly.

Facilities
Sydney Uni prides itself on being a "sandstone institution" but the supposed charm of the older buildings does little to make up for their lack of functionality. Wooden benches, seats and tables abound and computers and projectors are rare. Some of the newer buildings, in particular the law building, offer state-of the art facilities but their benefits are sadly only seen by a select few. A serious downside is the absence of a functional and usable on-campus wireless network, now a standard feature of many universities, and the lack of alternate plug-and-play internet. On the plus side there's Manning, one of the better uni bars around. 3 Stars.

Academic Staff and Teaching
I can only comment on what I saw, and the three classes I took left an awful lot to be desired. The courses were poorly organised, course requirements were ambiguous, tasks ill-defined and the burden of learning was placed very heavily on the students. My courses often had an impersonal feel and tutors and lecturers were unconcerned with class attendance or participation. And the less said about the Hindi/Urdu program the better. 3 Stars.

Administration
I didn't have a whole lot to do with the admin at USyd, but the application process was poor. Students coming from another university, and in many cases from interstate, have to make two visits to the campus including one during first-semester exams. I was also enrolled in a course I hadn't applied for, but that worked out well. 3 Stars.

Lifestyle
This is where USyd shines. Not living on campus was a change for me but with all my school friends around and a great location in one of the world's greatest cities I couldn't ask for much more. 4 1/2 stars.

Overall
I've had a great time at Sydney Uni. I've enjoyed the social side of uni, made some good friends and taken in the surrounds and the weather. The academic side has been somewhat disappointing but that may be down to the courses I was taking. Overall it seems to be the sort of place where you get out as much as you're prepared to put in. 3 1/2 stars.

Blandville, or is it?

2009-10-20T22:38:00.011+11:00

Tonight I'm going to continue the recent trend of posting other people's material as I'm too "busy" to write my own.

The infamous Blandville Court at Gladesville has to be the most aptly-named building on earth. I've often driven past it on my way to visit my family at Eastwood and wondered what life would be like inside. The other day I stumbled upon this video, directed by Tahnee McGuire, which gives us a wonderful insight into the place. (For some reason it won't embed, so you'll have to follow the link.) As ever, there's more to Blandville than meets the eye.

A deadly enterprise: Ghana's designer coffins

2009-10-19T22:39:00.005+11:00

Life's a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.

Tourists visiting the Ghanaian tourist hotspot of Teshi would no doubt have the famous Monty Python song in their heads as they peruse the colourful coffins on sale.

Aeroplanes, mobile phones, shoes and sharks are among the designs which have been created by the casket-makers of Eastern Accra, who now receive a fair proportion of their income from adventurous Westerners, thanks to the power of the internet.

I had originally heard, through a friend and various websites, that these designer coffins were the modern continuation of a longstanding Ghanaian tradition. However they are, as this BBC article explains, a relatively new phenomenon. Their success and importance to the local economy and to the Ghanaian tourism industry is an example of the results that can be obtained when lateral thinking, creativity and capitalism meet in the right way.

The Trafigura storm

2009-10-15T12:44:00.004+11:00

Over the past week a very interesting and worrying story has come to light in the UK. It's something everyone should know about and Daniel Graham at The Price of Green has done a great job summarising it. It's well worth a read.

On blogging

2009-10-08T11:48:00.004+11:00

This is the first time I've tried to keep a blog like this, and after about ten weeks I've realised how hard it is.

The main problem I have is trying to find the time and the state of mind to enable me to write something worth reading. Usually when I have spare time I don't feel like blogging, and when I have something good to write I don't have the time. You'll notice I've started writing more and more trivial articles and less of the serious stuff.

I've also been poor at following up on things I've written. I promised more on Singapore's migrant workers, but haven't managed to write more despite it being an important topic for me. I ended the toaster war and didn't update you when, to everyone's surprise, the blue toaster reappeared a week later. My recent RSVP stories have stalled and I need to find the motivation to continue them.

Despite that, I'm enjoying my life as a blogger. I have one follower who comments about once a month, and I get the occasional "like" when I spam Facebook with links to my blogs. It's enough for me, and I'll try to keep the blogs coming over the next few months.

P.S. The wind in Sydney today is as wild as I can remember. The severe weather events of recent weeks, including the devastating typhoons, floods and tsunamis across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, must serve as warnings about the way we interact with our environment.

Blogerfella in the dateosphere: episode 2

2009-10-03T10:36:00.004+10:00

So I'd signed up to RSVP, made my profile, uploaded some pictures and I was ready to start trawling the interwebs for a potential soulmate.

RSVP search allows you to filter your searches using any or all of around 20 criteria. I started by looking for females, 18-22 years old, living within 10km of my house, and found 442 potential matches. From there I began stalking, looking at profiles one by one and disregarding any girls who had wierd music tastes, a poor grasp of spelling and grammar, a boring profile, read Twilight or were looking for looking for "a real man" or "a man who knows how to treat a girl."

I didn't look through all 442 profiles but I probably went through about 50 and found five or so that I thought would be interesting to meet. I was ready to go to the next step, and set about reading the RSVP information to find out what exactly the next step was.

I had assumed when I received the free "paid account" for one month that it would be in some way functional. I was disappointed. The only message I could send to these girls was in the form of a "kiss", a single flirty sentence chosen from a list of ten. To "Razamataz" and "Miss Capulet" I said ""I'd like to get to know you, would you be interested?" while to "Susie Q" I said ""Your profile caught my eye so I thought I'd be brave and say hi!". My favourite line, however, went out to "Miss Pinkie":

"Excuse me, but I think I dropped something... my jaw!"

Now it was time to sit back and wait for the replies.

Blogerfella in the dateosphere: episode 1

2009-09-29T18:34:00.004+10:00

Since I mentioned the fact that I'd signed up for a free RSVP account I've noticed that hardly anyone my age knows about, or has needed to know about, the world of online dating. Over the next few posts I'll talk you through my experiences on RSVP and what I've learnt about how this parallel universe works.

The first thing you do when you sign up for RSVP is choose a username which will be displayed to the world. I wanted my potential stalkers to be able to find my blog and my Facebook if they wanted to, so that they could see how incredibly intelligent, sociable and respected I am. I also wanted them to be aware of my tremendous wealth. With these things in mind I chose the username "arockefeller", a simple moniker which carries in it all the information I needed to disclose.

The next thing to do is make an online profile. This is the page where you are free to express yourself in 1000 words or less. I launched myself into that task without any thought whatsoever, and what I wrote was apparently so misleading that later I had to add a disclaimer at the top.

The profile page comes with an option to add a subtitle, which is the only thing (apart from your username and one thumbnail photo) that is shown to other users in their search results. Lost for inspiration I went with something I'd heard mum say that night: "Every night the dog gets a new treat. Tonight it's a tin of sardines." I thought that quote accurately summed up the unique genius I was trying to portray.

The next step is to add pictures. This is where some people chicken out of online dating, too scared that they might be recognised and outed as a desparate loser by some other desperate loser. However I had no such qualms. I uploaded three of the craziest and most incongruous photos I could find and ended up with a profile that looked like this:

Below that vital information the profile page also offers searchers a chance to share with the world the things they really like and the things they're looking for in a partner. Here I adopted the honest-but-rushed approach with the following result:

Now that my profile was complete, I was ready to start my search. More on that next time.

A charitable plug

2009-09-24T12:27:00.003+10:00

In the vast expanse of the internet there are a select few websites which contribute wonderful things to the world. One of my favourites is Everyday Hero, an Australian site which aims to make it easier for individuals to fundraise for and donate to over seven hundred charities and non-profit organisations.

Anyone can set up a fundraising page, choose a beneficiary, set a fundraising target and begin asking for donations. It's wonderfully simple and easy to use and so far over $17m has been donated through the site.

There are a couple of events this weekend which could do with your help.

On Saturday my dad is participating in the Ride for a Reason Charity Challenge and is hoping to raise $500 for the Children's Hospital at Westmead.

On Sunday I'm joining with a friend in the City of Sydney Spring Cycle and we're setting the bar a bit lower, hoping to raise $200 between us for people with MS.

Any donations to these two wonderful causes, however small, would be very much appreciated. Arghya and I are also planning our own charity ride to the Blue Mountains later this year and I'll post details of that when they are finalised.

Thanks a lot for your support.

Indian student fiasco: a post-script

2009-09-21T23:43:00.004+10:00

In a timely development, Indian media is reporting the suicide of a La Trobe University student in Melbourne, and this comment from Federation of Indian Students in Australia founder Gautam Gupta:

It indicated failure of the system. Victorian Premier John Brumby should take personal responsibility for the victim's death.

This statement is, of course, ludicrous. Suicide is a serious issue of increasing prevalence in Australia and joblessness is increasing with the current strain on global financial markets. That a university student in Australia felt driven to suicide is worrying but in this instance has very little to do with race or nationality.

Comments of this sort only add to the confusion surrounding what is already an overly complex issue.

Indian student fiasco: so near but yet so far

2009-09-21T23:15:00.006+10:00

Attacks on Indian students are in the news again, with Victorian premier John Brumby leaving for Delhi just a week after three Indian students were set upon by up to seventy youths in Melbourne. The issue is so complex that no-one has yet been able to provide a solution. Despite this, most of those who have had a say on the matter have had a valid point, demonstrating the fact that the answer will lie in compromise from all sides.

It is unlikely that the majority of the attacks, which have been occuring for several years, have been racially motivated. Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland was most likely correct in his assertion, in his much-maligned statement that was at the centre of the storm in June, that:

Some of these crimes are racially motivated; however I also believe that many of the robberies and other crimes of violence are simply opportunistic.

Being accurate does not always translate to being politically sensitive, and Overland's comments were interpreted by the Indian media and public as dismissive of the very real problems of racism in Australia.

A scrape at the surface of the Indo-Australian relationship soon became a wound as Australian and Indian media soon diverged on the issue of whether the attacks were racially motivated. So confused was the subject that even Miranda Devine managed to make a salient point:

For at least two years Victorian police have been aware of the violent robberies occurring on trains late at night and in the western suburbs. It reached Indian diplomatic circles a year ago. Anyone on public transport late at night or in crime-ridden areas of Melbourne, especially if they are dressed well and carrying laptops, mobile phones and iPods, was a target in this lawless environment, regardless of skin colour.

Yet like most other commentators who turned their pen to the issue, Devine lost her credibility - at least to her foreign audience - later in the piece:

Of course there are racists in Australia, as there are everywhere in the world, not least India, where not so long ago the cricketer Andrew Symonds was abused as a "monkey".
But that is different from saying Australia is a racist country, which by any objective measure it is not.

This is the key point on which opinion has remained divided. While both sides have agreed that preventative measures addressing situational factors can reduce, if not eliminate, opportunistic crime against Indians and other international students, there has been a reluctance on both sides to address the less frequent, and more serious, racially motivated attacks.

For a multitude of good reasons, very few people in Australian public life are willing to admit to an undercurrent of racism. Racial riots, in part sparked by Australia's most powerful media identity, are dismissed as the result of alcohol and patriotism (the good kind, not to be confused with nationalism which is invariably bad). A spontaneous riot by Sydney's urban indigenous population is seen as a temporary response to an isolated incident. The detention of asylum seekers is defended in economic rather than humanitarian terms, while UN reports continue to accuse Australia of racism.

When such incidents continue to stack up, especially in a country which offers so much to its longer-standing inhabitants, the international community grows tired of excuses. Events which might have legitimate local causes begin to be viewed in a wider racial context. Dismissing this reality rids Australia of the chance to reflect on its cultural failings and to discuss their solutions.

In the wake of the May attacks popular Indian news and social site rediff.com invited Indian students to share their tips for staying safe in Australia. The well-educated respondents shared the view that talking in foreign languages in public was most likely to get an Indian student into trouble. This post, from Sandeep Kumar, was representative:

Never talk in Hindi or other languages when you are standing next to Aussies. This is a very big humiliating thing to those people. Always talk in Hindi.

Is this the kind of multiculturalism Australia really wants?

Health care debate a reminder of the American reality

2009-09-19T19:06:00.009+10:00

Just when the rest of the world thought the United States was beginning to get its act together with the election of an intelligent, progressive, and socially minded administration, something happened to remind us why we thought Americans were such a foolish bunch in the first place. The debate over universal health care in the US has become, like most American debates, a reminder of all that is good and bad about the world's most powerful nation.

On the one side are the reformers, led by Obama and the Democrats, who want to see medical extended to the most unfortunate members of society so that all Americans may benefit from the country's health care system. To those of us in nations like Australia, where an income tax levy of up to 1.5% provides access to necessary medical services such as GPs and hospitals, universal health care seems as basic a public good as roads, transport or education. Yet the American ideal of individualism means attitudes are very different, and Obama's proposal has been met with opposition at just about every turn.

Some of the opponents are intelligent and in many cases prominent Americans who have real concerns over Obama's vision. They see the cost to taxpayers as too great, feel that the burden will fall on those who cannot really afford it, such as seniors, or feel that it is not the job of the wealthy to subsidise the poor. Whether you agree or disagree with these views, when well made and informed they are valid opinions.

And then there is a group which is undoubtedly a minority of the American population but which is most responsible for the attitudes of the global community towards America and Americans. This group can be summed up by the following video which came out of the "Tea Party" protest held in Washington DC last weekend. The people in this video manage to confuse socialised health care with not just socialism but communism, fascism and satanism as well. The videos were made by a left-leaning organisation and as such are not an entirely accurate representation of the demonstrations; yet even with that in mind they are disturbing.

I won't add any more now, I'll the American minority, or what I hope is the American minority, speak for itself:

RSVP me

2009-09-16T20:42:00.004+10:00

Today I received, in the email, from a secret source, what claimed to be a free 30 day subscription to online dating site RSVP.

After my brief flirtation (so to speak) with speed dating, I thought I'd give this one a go. I have signed up, made a profile, uploaded some of my more ridiculous pics, and "kissed" a few girls.

I'll let you know how it goes.

The true blues are back

2009-09-13T01:25:00.007+10:00

There was a certain sense of inevitability about Sydney's 1-0 loss to North Queensland Fury tonight. Anyone who's followed Sydney over the last four seasons will be familiar with the pattern we've now reverted to: high pre-season expectations and strong early-season form followed by a string of dire performances, poor results and losses to the league's most unfashionable teams.

Sydney have played worse than they did tonight, and the evening may have turned out far differently had John Aloisi not missed from the spot for the second time in four attempts (if we include the first of his two chances in Gosford last season). But Paul Henderson's save, and North Queensland's incorrectly disallowed goal, gave the visitors the confidence to take the game to Sydney, who in the end got the result they deserved.

Viteslav Lavicka's side were flat, uncreative and at times uncommitted. Terry McFlynn's absence was sorely felt, Aloisi's performances are again becoming a concern and Steve Corica was desperately in need of a fellow playmaker with whom to share the responsibility of creating Sydney's chances. Kofi Danning should start next week and I'd like to see Aloisi drop to the bench to give our forward line some much needed pace and mobility.

On the topic of forwards, Robbie Fowler's sublime strike highlighted the fact that finishing will be the key to results this year. Shane Smeltz - if he stays in Australia - should carry Gold Coast to the plate, while Fowler's class could yet prove the difference between the Fury and the other also-rans. Sydney still look to be lacking, a shame considering their marquee striker is the league's second-highest paid player.

At the other end Clint Bolton, for all his heroics in Gosford, is still a poor imitation of an A-League goalkeeper. Whether he was to blame for the goal is debatable but his issues with the high ball are showing no signs of going away. On two occasions tonight he was left in no-man's land, unsure whether to come for a cross, and was grateful for the aerial presence of Stephan Keller and Simon Colosimo. Bolton's kicking was poor again, and could have cost Sydney a goal in the opening minutes, and he has been guilty all season of failing to release the ball early enough for a counter attack. Ivan Necevski may not be the long-term answer Sydney needs but I'd be surprised if he couldn't add more to the side than Bolton has so far.

One thing we can be grateful for is that this season is longer than the last, and with 23 rounds to play a likely 5-point deficit can still be overcome. Lavicka will have his work cut out if he's to get Sydney back to winning ways.

The war is over

2009-09-13T01:21:00.002+10:00

Or so it would seem. I opened the cupboard today and there was only one toaster there. Whether it was dad in a fit of rage, mum in a fit of cleaning, Hinds in a fit of not having a toaster at his new house or a light-fingered guest at my 21st (which, incidentally, was a load of fun) I'll never know. I'd like to wish old bluey luck in its future endeavours, and I'll be back soon with a new serial involving tractors and vacuum cleaners.

The toaster war - a quick update

2009-09-09T08:46:00.003+10:00

Long term readers of this blog will be aware of the war that has been raging in my kitchen over the last few weeks. Yesterday things took a turn for the worse when I arrived home to find the old stalwart, the blue toaster, languishing on the precipice that is the front doorstep.

Outraged, I took it inside and put the shiny new silver toaster on the doorstep in its place. Before long dad came home, equally outraged, brought his baby inside and we once again have two toasters on the kitchen bench.

The war continues.

The politics of shouting

2009-09-07T08:59:00.003+10:00

Last week a great night at the pub turned sour when a mate didn't return his shout. My brother an I sat for half an hour, feeling pretty parched as we waited unsuccessfully for our mate to get the beer. It's been worrying me ever since and today I was reminded of this great scene from a classic Australian movie, They're a Wierd Mob, which explains as well as anything the great Aussie concept of a shout.

They're a Wierd Mob is now over forty years old but is still a wonderfully relevant, funny and entertaining movie. I'd recommend it - and the novel that preceded it - to anyone.

The folly of four - an update

2009-08-30T20:13:00.002+10:00

Recently I blogged about how the A-League's four man benches inhibit the ability of coaches to make definitive changes to their teams in the later stages of matches. Last night, in the Brisbane-Central Coast match, we saw another example.

With fifteen minutes to go both sides had one substitution remaining, with Brisbane leading 1-0. Frank Farina would surely have liked to put on a defensive player to help protect his lead, while his mariners counterpart Lawrie McKinna would have enjoyed the services of an attacker such as Adrian Caceres, for whom their was no room on the bench.

Instead the coaches had to make use of players poorly suited to the situation. Farina was forced to use Reinaldo, an out-and-out striker, in place of the tiring Charlie Miller, while McKinna's only option was to use Andrew Clark as a direct for replacement for left-back Dean Heffernan.

No doubt both coaches would have enjoyed the opportunity to influence the proceedings rather than be constricted by their pre-match decisions. Likewise, Mariners fans would have preferred to see an attacking player, rather than Clark, surging down the left flank and Queensland fans would have enjoyed the extra security another defender would have provided.

The most meaningful contribution the two late substitutes brought was their first; Clark fouled Reinaldo just outside the Mariners' penalty box giving the home side a late and ultimately wasted chance. Caceres could have added more.

Possibly the most stupid blog post ever

2009-08-25T11:07:00.004+10:00

Last week my dad bought a toaster, and nothing has been the same since.

For we already had a perfectly good, working toaster. Dad didn't seem to know this and went and wasted $10 on a new toaster at Aldi. He expected the family to support him, thinking that they too thought the old toaster was broken. Little did he know.

Now dad will only use the shiny new usurping Aldi toaster. I will only use the old toaster, out of respect for its many years of service. Mum and my brother are stuck somewhere in the middle: mum is happy to use either toaster while my brother is enjoying the novelty of using both toasters at once and throwing out four, rather than two, overcooked pieces of bread.

We are faced with a variety of problems. We can't throw out either toaster, one because it's brand new and there's nothing wrong with it, and the other because, well, there's nothing wrong with it.

We now often have two toasters on the bench. They take up space and making a coffee becomes an exercise in toaster shunting. They have taken over both the power points on the bench, meaning that in order to use the kettle or the blender someone must first reach over the toasters and remove one of their plugs. Fearful to alienate either dad or me, mum has been known to remove both plugs at once, creating further hassle for the next person to want a slice of toast.

When they're not on the bench, the toasters take up all the space in the cupboard. Someone wanting to juice an orange needs to pull out two toasters to get to the juicer. All the while they are swearing and cursing the toasters and family disharmony is multiplying exponentially. By the time they've put the toasters back in the cupboard it's already time for work and the oranges are left unjuiced. We have seventeen oranges on the bench.

Dad expected me to support his toaster because it was from Aldi and cost $10 and I like cheap things and Aldi. But I do not like unnecessary things, and this new toaster is definitely unnecessary.

This is a war that won't be won cheaply.

Time to give a communal hoot

2009-08-24T09:58:00.008+10:00

I was slightly bemused when this flyer appeared in my letterbox over the weekend:

My issue with it isn’t with the misfunctioning sentences, the factual inaccuracy (I’m sure trains hoot just as much, if not more, on other lines) or the assumption that I would be troubled by some minor noise which I in fact quite like. Rather, I’m concerned at the recent trend of residents putting themselves and their immediate neighbours ahead of the broader community.

In this case, the train line has been in operation since 1979, far longer than the vast majority of nearby residents have been living in the area. Over this time trains have become quieter (remember these?) and provisions to limit noise pollution have been introduced. No doubt these residents enjoy the convenience of having a train station on their doorstep, yet are unwilling to put up with the minor noise which some must tolerate in order for everyone to enjoy the benefits of public transport.

This issue also reminded me of the recent debate about “overgrown” trees which were blocking harbour views of residents on New Beach Rd, Darling Point. Trees are natural, they grow. They do not “overgrow”. Why should residents have any expectation that trees will remain at a certain height forever? Sometime down the track these trees will die and be cut down. Will the residents then demand that the trees be reinstated to their 1990 heights?

Some residents need to be reminded that they are a part of a wider community which more often than not gives far more than it takes.

Sharing is caring

2009-08-18T23:59:00.004+10:00

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've been taking some notice lately of the things that really annoy me. Tonight, at dinner with some friends, I was reminded of another: people who order individual meals at restaurants.

Sure, there are times, generally at "western" restaurants, where ordering individual meals makes sense. It's hard to pass a kebab around a crowded table, a steak is probably best enjoyed in full and any attempts to share a hamburger would likely end in disaster as all and sundry lunge for the beetroot. However, these examples aside, there are a litany of reasons why sharing meals should be the default option in most social situations. Here are the best:

Sharing meals is more friendly. You feel like you're sharing an experience with your friends, good or bad, which gives you something to bond over and connect through. It's a far nicer feeling to sitting with an individual plate of food all to yourself, especially if your meal isn't quite what you thought it would be. Passing food around is a nice thing to do and interacting with other humans is good.

Sharing meals gives you more variety. I can't believe that anyone would seriously choose to have one meal instead of three, yet that's what people do every time they go down the individual road. Why would anyone choose to have only yellow dahl if they could instead have the same yellow dahl with aloo gobhi and some biriyani?

Sharing meals makes rice easy. Have you ever been to Thai with a large group of friends and noticed the way everyone orders their own Pad See Ew or Pad Thai? The reason for this is that these dishes come with noodles, whereas other dishes require you to pay again for rice. Often restaurants serve rice by the plate, or some other measure big enough for a few people, which makes ordering an individual curry impractical.

Sharing meals is cheaper. This is the main reason I don't understand uni students who order individually. At most restaurants, four people can be well fed on three dishes, leaving you with enough coin for a drink, a dessert or the train home.

It seems obvious to me that people should share meals whenever they can. To me, ordering at a restaurant means thinking about the right spread of food to suit the number of people, not thinking about which one particular dish you really feel like today. That's why I can't understand why people sit down at a restaurant and ask each other, "What are you going to have?" There's no right answer, it's the wrong question.

Lend us a hand to fix student income crisis

2009-08-13T22:52:00.007+10:00

One of the hottest on-campus debates over the past few months has been that surrounding the federal government's proposed changes to Youth Allowance (click here for the official government factsheet), announced in this year's budget in May. Until now I've been fairly ignorant of the debate, believing that it wouldn't affect me, but tonight I was discussing the issue with a friend and found it very interesting.

It seems that the changes to Youth Allowance, as drastic as they may seem, only scratch at the surface of a much more important question: who should bear the burden of supporting students?

Currently, there appears to be no one answer to this question. The Youth Allowance policy is based on the assumption that university is a full-time occupation which leaves little, if any, time for paid work. Yet if the federal government really believes university to be a full-time pursuit why is Youth Allowance so minimal and so difficult to obtain? Why do "Australian students have the highest workforce participation rates of any comparable country" (according to this inquiry quoted on the excellent Heywire blog)?

The government is limited - or limits itself - by the amount of money allocated to student welfare, and is thus faced with a difficult choice: whether to make Youth Allowance more useful for less people, or less useful for more. The current changes will marginally increase the rates of Youth Allowance while reducing the number of students who qualify.

The existing rules, under which I qualified for Youth Allowance in 2007, are far from perfect. I see no reason why a student's decision to take a year off should dramatically increase their chances of obtaining income support, nor should their ability to find a higher-paying job (often through family connections or an expensive gap-year program). Yet the changes, ostensibly aimed at fixing these problems, could worsen them with students now needing to work for eighteen months between school and university to become eligible.

These changes will merely redirect funds, advantaging some and disadvantaging others. To solve the current problems with student finance the government needs to decide and define the extent to which it will support students in their studies. It needs to explain which students it will support and why, and how the unfortunate ones who miss out are expected to make ends meet. It needs to determine whether university is to be a full-time pursuit or, as it has become for many, a part-time process of accumulation spread over many years.

This area is made trickier by the fact that students often have few or no assets, leaving the government to guess or assess how much money they may be receiving from their families. How should the government aim to establish which students are in need of income support? Should the government view all students as independent and test them on their means, even if it means nearly all students become eligible for some rate of Youth Allowance?

If Youth Allowance has proved that means testing tertiary students is an unreliable way of allocating welfare, and perhaps it has, a new system should look to provide assistance to more students rather than less. One option for achieving this could be through a system of student loans similar to the current HECS system.

I'm not sure that any university student, even the poorest, needs to be given money by the government. If these students are going on to earn a comfortable living then it could be reasonably expected that they pay back their welfare payments later in life, in the same way that most university students begin to pay off their HECS after they graduate. If the government allowed all students to take out optional long-term loans at a minimal rate of interest they would be able to help out far more students at a greater short-term cost but at a similar, or lower, long-term cost.

The UK employs a similar system of government-funded loans, as explained by the Student Loans Company website:

For the majority of students, a loan will comprise of the tuition fee loan plus a maintenance loan, and this will be paid directly at the start of each academic term. Everyone on an eligible course qualifies for 75% of the maximum loan, regardless of income, and the rest is income-assessed. These loans accrue interest at the rate of inflation, which means that the amount repaid has the same value as the amount borrowed.

The repayment of loans is repaid through the tax system, and only begins after the student has left higher education and is earning over £15,000.

There must be arguments against such a system, but I would like to see it discussed in the Australian context and for the government to explore whether widespread student loans might be a way to extend the reach of the helping hand of welfare.

Go you bad thing!

2009-08-12T16:55:00.005+10:00

Why is it that whenever I read an article such as this, about two armed and dangerous men on the run after a £40m heist, I find myself siding with the criminals?

I don't know whether it's our convict past, our national dislike of authority or some other influence, but whenever there's an armed holdup, a gaolbreak or any other non-extremely-violent crime I feel like I want the baddies to get away with it. And I know I'm not the only Australian who frequently finds himself feeling the same way.

Growing up with the legend of Ned Kelly, amongst others, must play a part, along with the stories of great escapees like Ronnie Biggs, Gregory David Roberts, the bloke who starved himself to fit through the bars of his cell and the bloke who just bent his bars open. But I wonder if it's a trait unique to Australians or if other countries share the same mentality.

While on the topic of escapes, I'll share with you a story a friend of mine sometimes tells about a guy she knew who one day decided, seemingly out of nowhere, to rob a bank in Mona Vale. Having no access to a gun, he walked into the bank with his hand in a paper bag, claimed to have a weapon, demanded some money and walked out minutes later with the day's takings. He then stepped outside and boarded a bus into the city, which completely baffled police who could find no trace of a getaway vehicle, and left the money in a locker at central station, thereby effecting -or so he thought - the perfect escape. Sadly, the locker opened after twenty-four hours and when he returned three weeks later to collect his takings he was met by a friendly policeman who had found the bag of cash. The End.

Deep divisions beneath Singapore's rich facade

2009-08-11T18:38:00.010+10:00

During my time in Singapore I was most amazed not by the cleanliness, the development, the population density or the multiculturalism but by the clear dichotomy that divides the local and foreign workforces. I might delve further into this in future posts, but for now I'll stick to the area where this divide is most visible: transport.

Singapore's transport network is one of advanced, sophisticated, integrated and well-planned in the world. The middle-class can travel cheaply, quickly and easily by bus, MRT (metro train), LRT (light rail) or taxi.

From this blog.

However not everyone can afford to travel in such style. The majority of the 870 000 (according to this article) foreign workers employed in the construction sector are transported to and between jobs in the backs of trucks like this:

From Amorphity's Flickr.

This picture will be familiar to most who have spent more than a few days in Singapore, so common are these trucks on the main roads at all times of day. Many will have wondered how these workers can be transported (the passive tense applies here; one truck I saw advertised "goods/worker transport") in such a way in a country where seat belts are mandatory even on school buses.

I'll write more on this when I get time, but for now I'll leave you with those images and let you wonder, as I have wondered, how they could co-exist in a highly developed and relatively rich country.

The folly of four

2009-08-08T23:08:00.004+10:00

This year the FFA have managed to rectify a fair few of the mistakes they made in the first four A-League seasons: mandatory away strips, the pre-season cup and one-design kits are now all the stuff of memory. Yet despite this we still have the ludicrous limitation of four-man benches, something I've never understood.

The English Premier League last season expanded its benches from five to seven, bringing it into line with most European leagues, international matches and continental competitions. At the time the only real objections were from smaller clubs who worried that their relative lack of depth would become an even greater disadvantage. In the A-League, where all teams are limited to squads of the same number and value, there should be no such issue.

Most leagues around the world, including the Australian state leagues and the A-League's own finals series, allow teams to name at least five substitutes, as did the NSL and A-League preseason cup. The only leagues I can think of which may offer precedent for the A-League's four subs are the other Australian "football" leagues, the AFL and NRL, which both employ four-man interchange benches with unlimited changes allowed in AFL and 10 in NRL. Their formats are entirely different and irrelevant to football's.

Another reason I've heard mentioned is cost, however the maximum cost of transporting an extra player to each game would be no more than $10 000, small change for clubs with annual budgets of around $3-5m. In any case most clubs already take an extra player, as well as a healthy compliment of support staff, on each trip, so the cost of travel can't be an issue for them.

While I'm not sure of the reasons for retaining four man benches, there are many arguments in favour of a change.

The biggest issue I have with the current system is that it makes it hard for players to return to form or ease their way back from injury. In naming their substitutes A-League coaches are forced to look for utility players who can cover many positions, meaning less adaptable players can miss out. A player such as Stuart Musialik, currently out of form, misses out on a bench place as he is not likely to make a sudden impact on a game, nor is he able to play a variety of positions. In today's Sydney vs Nth Queensland match Sydney's midfield began to be overrun in the second half and Musialik could have been given an opportunity to run himself into some form. Instead Viteslav Lavicka had to call on Steve Corica, an impact player more suited to a four-man bench but less suited to the demands of the moment.

In the first three seasons the rules meant that a player who found himself out of first-team favour had no opportunity to keep match fit. This has been rectified to some extent with the introduction of the National Youth League, however the NYL does not begin until the senior season is a third of the way through, leaving a gaping hole for the first eight or nine rounds. In addition, the Youth League has a restriction of 3-4 overage players (the rules are somewhat unclear and malleable) meaning a further 3-4 senior players each week will miss out on a game all together.

I can't help but think that the current rules are holding the A-League back. By restricting the coaches' choices late in the game they limit the standard of the league and act as an unnecessary barrier to a player struggling for form or fitness. I would like to know whether the issue of substitutes has come up in the post-season rule reviews and what the views of the A-League bosses are.

Version 5

2009-08-06T14:55:00.004+10:00

So the new A-League season is underway, with a 2-0 win to the Mariners in Melbourne. A competition that many predicted wouldn't last three years is into its fifth and looking more stable than ever, with two new teams and a host of things to look forward to. Here are my top five reasons why you should get into the A-League this season:

1. Expansion
Some people thought the league was becoming boring and stale, a product of its short, repetitive 8-team format. With the pre-season cup that ran until last year the same teams could play each other in up to eight competitive matches per season. This year, with the addition of two new teams - Gold Coast and North Queensland - there will be an extra game each week, a bit more variety and unpredictability and, especially in the case of Gold Coast, a bit more off-field entertainment as well.

2. Imports
While I'm not at all convinced that Robbie Fowler will be an on-field success this year there is no doubt that he is the highest profile player to grace the A-League so far. His presence should ensure North Queensland attract a decent following, at least in the beginning, and add a few thousand to attendances around the country. Elsewhere, the Jets' last minute marquee Fabio Vignaroli should provide some spark, as should Wellington's right winger Paul Ifill, signed at 29 after a solid career in the English Championship, Adelaide's Ghanaian striker Lloyd Owusu, Gold Coast United's Brazilian trio of Jefferson, Milson and Robson and much-hyped Ivorian refugee Adama Traore. Sydney's imports are less flashy than in years gone by but Stephan Keller, Karol Kisel and Byun Sung-Hwan are all capable of brilliant moments.

3. Returning Socceroos
This is the area that has the potential to set version 5 apart from its predecessors. World Cup certainty Jason Culina (Gold Coast) has been joined by a host of fringe socceroos: Mile Sterjovski, Chris Coyne and Jacob Burns at Perth, Shane Steffanuto and David Williams at North Queensland and Joel Porter at GCU are the best known. Competition for places at South Africa 2010 will ensure these players are not just here for a holiday, and should also bring the best out of home-based players such as Simon Colosimo (Sydney), Archie Thompson (Melbourne) and Craig Moore (Brisbane). The World Cup hopefuls could be the driving force behind a season of increased professionalism and entertainment.

4. Youth
With last year's introduction of the National Youth League (NYL) the FFA promised to increase the number of youngsters moving into A-League ranks, and over twenty players from last year's NYL have already been signed to senior teams for this season. The players to watch are those from the triumphant Sydney FC team: Matthew Jurman, Brendan Gan, Kofi Danning and Rhyan Grant have signed for Sydney's senior team while Sean Rooney has moved to Newcastle and is likely to be joined by Chris Triantis. Meanwhile a slightly older - and more mature - batch of youngsters will feature heavily north of the border: Michael Zullo, Tim Smits, Luke DeVere and Mitch Nichols could be ready to shine for Brisbane, as could Tahj Minniecon at the Gold Coast.

5. The World Cup
What better time to get in to the A-League than at the start of a season which will end in the best way possible; with a World Cup? Now is the time to get to know your local players, learn which ones to love and hate and which ones to cheer for in South Africa. A strong national team requires a strong A-League, so if you love watching the Socceroos win matches get out and help support the future of our game. You never know, you might just see some great moments along the way.

Lack of attractions not Agra's problem

2009-08-05T14:43:00.007+10:00

Today's Sydney Morning Herald was one of many papers to publish this Telegraph article about a series of proposed developments around the Taj Mahal. Under the Agra Tourism Authority's (ADA) blueprint several ropeways, a suspension bridge and an "Agra Eye" bigger than London's would be built around 800m from the Taj and would therefore fall outside its 500m "heritage zone".

The plan has been rightly criticised by residents, conservationists and the often-maligned Agricultural Survey of India, who worry about the visual pollution likely to be caused by the new attractions. These attractions would rely on views of the Taj for their success, meaning they would need to be equally visible from from the surrounds, if not the grounds, of the famous palace.

I feel this proposal, and many of the objections to it, are missing the point. There is no need in Agra for such a development, and there would be little benefit in it. In terms of attractions Agra is already overrepresented by the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort and Itmad-ud-daula and there is no lack of foreigners wanting to visit Agra. Instead the ADA should be focusing on the real issues currently keeping tourists away: safety, ease of travel, cleanliness and a fear - on the part of foreign tourists - of the unknown. Real or perceived, these are the issues which should be at the forefront of any Indian attempts to attract more tourists.

NUS: a review

2009-08-03T23:05:00.005+10:00

Having just spent five weeks at Asia's 5th-best university I thought I'd share with you my thoughts.

Facilities
The buildings are mostly new, stylish and functional, though the way our course utilised them left a lot to be desired. Instead of using the beautiful, compact, tiered conference room for our conference we used it for dinner, and used a flat-floored museum room for the conference. Other facilities are excellent, with pools, playing fields, basketball, tennis, squash and futsal courts all free for students. Free buses ply a 2-way loop around and through campus, with a bus every 3-4 minutes during the day. When the current construction is completed (half of NUS currently looks like a building site) it will be a very special campus indeed. 4 Stars.

Academic Staff and Teaching
Impossible to judge after one course, but the impression I got from it and from talking to other academics was that they may be a class above the administration and many of the students at the university. Academics seemed knowledgeable, approachable and were from very diverse backgrounds. I also got the impression that some were struggling with NUS' efforts to modernise their teaching and increase the focus on creative learning, either because they couldn't adapt or couldn't encourage their students to. The class I attended attempted student interaction through lame group projects but an Australian-style tute would have added much more. 3 1/2 Stars.

Administration
From the start, the organisation of our course was nothing if not disorganised. We recieved an average of around 2 emails a day from the people in charge of the course, which usually contained long, difficult and often inconsistent instructions for things we had to do. Field trips and classes were cancelled or moved with next to no warning. One Wednesday we were told at 5.45pm that our weekly dinner had been brought forward to...5.45pm. So fed up were we with the administration that most of the students left without paying their NUS fees or even finalising and collecting their student visas. 2 Stars.

Accomodation
Before I stayed at Prince George's Park I could not have imagined a student residence so poorly suited to its purpose. The rooms (all 2854 of them) are safe, secure and fairly clean, but the pros end there. The rules are archaic to an extreme: members of the opposite sex caught in a room together can be fined $100 each, unless they leave the door open. Men are banned from female floors at all times, and electronically controlled access to most areas means the only way to visit friends is for both people to go downstairs and meet in the lobby. Smoking and alcohol are completely banned, and fines apply (though luckily were never enforced in our case) for the most minor of offences. For a short course such as ours, where interaction is a large part of the experience, it was a real downer. 1 1/2 Stars.

Lifestyle
Not being there in term time, it was hard to get an accurate idea of what on-campus life at NUS is like. However there was enough to suggest that it might not be all bad: large groups of exchange students arrived just before we left and hit the town immediately, and a few of the students we met during the break liked to have a good time. I'm sure there are a fair few wet blankets, but with 3000 people in such a small area there's bound to be a bit going on. Clubs were expensive but good fun, and some great times were had once we found some hidden gems: beers by the river at Clarke Quay and Chinese food and drink at Dong Bei being the favourites. 4 stars.

Overall
I had a great five weeks, but I'm still not sure exactly Singapore has to offer beneath the surface. I'm going back next year and can't wait to find out. The atmosphere is laid back and lazy, which suited me perfectly, and it seemed like a place I could really enjoy. Overall rating for the five weeks? 4 Stars.

Sorry, I've bagsed this seat

2009-08-02T00:28:00.004+10:00

A few weeks ago someone put me on the spot by asking me what my "pet peeves" were. I couldn't think of any at the time, but I've been paying attention lately and I've noticed a few things that really get my goat up. One of the worst is people who put their bags on seats in public transport.

It's fine at the start of the trip when the train or bus is fairly empty and the seat would be vacant anyway. The problem is when the carriage starts to fill up, especially in peak hour, seats begin to get scarce, and people still don't move their bags. Often the perpetrator will try to pretend that they are asleep or so infatuated with their newspaper, iPhone or makeup that they couldn't be expected to notice what was going on.

It's selfish, and I hate seeing these people get their way because other commuters are too shy to ask. From now on I'm going to try sitting next to these people first, and let those who do the right thing have some more room to themselves.

Do you have a flag?

2009-08-01T23:54:00.000+10:00

I just can't stop watching this video. It's one of those times where fifty seconds of satire sums up so much.

But they all speak English, don't they?

2009-07-31T13:48:00.000+10:00

After sitting through a presentation on Indian languages at yesterdays Capstone Conference I came across this timely article by Aung Si, from ANU's newly launched South Asia Masala blog, which provides as good a background as any to the reality of India's linguistic situation.

In contrast to the rush of many in the west to acquire Mandarin language skills, the most common attitude towards Indian languages - even among people with strong business or personal interests in India - is that a working knowledge is unnecessary as "most Indians speak English anyway."

That attitude is symptomatic of the lack of understanding of and interest in the complexity of India. Visitors to major cities and tourist hubs could easily get the impression that English is widely spoken, and often spoken well. Even those who wish to dig deeper can quickly become lost in the linguistic labyrinth, as they learn that even Hindi, the most common language amongst both Indians and foreigners, is of little use in vast areas of the country. English becomes the easy way out, and the idea of learning an Indian language is quickly forgotten.

It is simplistic yet useful to contrast the policies of near-monolinguistic China with those of multilingual India, and their impact on the number of foreigners learning the languages. Mandarin, seen as mandatory for a proper understanding of China, is offered at a majority of Australian universities, while Hindi is offered at one. Hindi's position as one of a vast number of Indian languages disadvantages it compared to Mandarin, which is the only real option for students of China.

Over time, English and the Indian languages will meet somewhere in the middle, as has happened with Mandarin over the last decade. An huge increase in the number of Chinese learning English has coincided with a boom in foreigners learning Mandarin, with remarkable benefits for the economies involved.

(P.S. this post has become stuck in the wrong font, and nothing I do will change it. Any ideas?)

An Update

2009-07-29T04:21:00.001+10:00

For those of you who used to read or pretend to read my awesomely long travel emails, I think I should fill you in on what's been happening travelling-wise since I last sent one.

The last one I sent was from India, where I was doing the Hindi course in Jan-Feb. When I left India (after going to Amritsar and Varanasi, both of which were amazing) I lost my passport somewhere between the terminals at Kuala Lumpur airport and spent a few unplanned days running around between embassies etc. It was all quite fun, nothing too bad came of it and I got back just in time for uni.

In the middle of the semester I went to Fiji with the family for my cousin Sarah's wedding. I thought it was fascinating and some of my observations from there may find there way into some future blog posts.

At the end of the semester I went to Singapore for a Asia Now!, a 5 week residential program at the National University of Singapore. Again, my observations on Singapore, NUS and the terrible student housing we're living in, may follow if I end up regularly updating this blog.

I'm flying back to Sydney on Saturday and next semester I'll be studying at Sydney Uni, which should be a nice change after all the time I've spent away from home the last few years. I'm really looking forward to summer, beaches, boats, football season and, of course, catching up with all my mates.

Welcome

2009-04-15T15:36:00.000+10:00

Hi there, reader. Welcome to my blog.

My name is Ambrose, I am a student at the ANU in Canberra though I grew up in Sydney. I like writing, and some people enjoy reading my writing, so I thought I'd make up this little blog so I could ramble on about anything that crossed my mind to anyone who crossed my blog. I also have a massively inflated sense of self-worth.

Please enjoy!