Could Bali’s Nyepi be Australia’s Good Friday?
West Australian’s love Bali with its beaches, cafes, night clubs, adventure parks and of course, Bintang beer. But once a year our paradise island comes to a crashing, or should I say silent, halt as this predominately Hindu island celebrates Nyepi, a day of ‘stillness’ and ‘self-reflection’. And for those currently in, or heading to, Bali this weekend remember that Nyepi-2015 will be celebrated on Saturday of this week. A ‘Day of Silence’ might be fine for the Balinese, but for us Aussies it also means all cafes and pubs in Bali wil…
Fuzzy heads prevail as execution fiasco continues
“Australia offers to pay Indonesia for the Bali Nine duo to serve a life sentence” This headline stunned not only many Australians but also added fuel-to-the- fire of anti-Australian sentiment that now prevails throughout Indonesia. Are we seriously saying to Indonesia that we will cover their costs of keeping Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan in jail for the next forty or fifty years if Indonesia will spare their lives? Are we seriously suggesting to President Joko that we feel the only reason why he has rejected their clemency pleas …
Abbott polarizes pro-death penalty debate in Indonesia
By Ross B. Taylor AM In 1984 the then Labor Government abolished the death penalty in WA. It was a brave and visionary decision given public opinion, based on research conducted by the Roy Morgan Group, showed around 60% of the population either in favour or undecided about retaining executions for serious crimes. Thirty years later, all Australian states have abolished the death penalty and that it should never play a part of a modern democracy. Ironically, estimates suggest that there is still some 36% of the populat…
Bali boycott may put Oz-Indo relations on knife edge
The statement late last week by foreign minister Julie Bishop that should Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran face the firing squad in Indonesia within the next few days - and that is now highly likely - Australians should boycott Bali as a tourist destination, is understandable. In reality however, Ms Bishop's threat is simply not sensible, nor is it going to happen. Pragmatically, let's look at why such a boycott call is not a good idea: Firstly, based on a poll conducted two years ago, almost 52% of Australians going to Bal…
Tony Abbott's Knighthood to Prince Philip:..... Why Ellen’s service to our community should matter!
Ross B. Taylor AM I was at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women two days ago to visit our daughter Lisa and our gorgeous first granddaughter, Ember Katherine. KEMH is a wonderful old maternity hospital with incredibly dedicated staff and doctors. The hospital cafe is, so I learned, operated to raise reasearch money for babies and mums’ who have been disadvantaged or facing major challenges in their life. As I waited for Lisa’s coffee I couldn’t help notice the lady behind the counter. Her name was Ellen and her badge also s…
Indonesia back-flips on Visa-free Bali holidays for Aussies
Ross B. Taylor AM The Indonesian Government’s plan to waive the visa requirement for Australian visitors to Bali and other parts of Indonesia has been dropped amid concerns surrounding repeated turbulence over Jakarta-Canberra diplomatic ties. Jakarta has decided to only proceed with the visa-free policies for Chinese, Russian, South Korean and Japanese tourists, Co-ordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Indroyono Soesilo said on Thursday. “We have confirmed the visa-free policy for Japanese citizens. Russia and South Korea…
Tragedy that define's political leadership
Ross B. Taylor One of the ironical aspects of any major tragedy is how such an event will so often define - for better or worse - a political leader's role and standing within their community and the world-at-large. For John Howard it was Tampa. More recently for our foreign minister, Julie Bishop, it was MH17 and the subsequent handling of the dispute with Russia. And so it will be, with Indonesia's new president Joko Widodo who, barely three months into his presidency, has been faced with the loss of over 162 people …
Social