Please exercise extreme care when riding motor bikes in Asia - including Bali
May I plead with the 1.1 million Australians who holiday in Bali each year to take extreme care if riding motor bikes there. I have spent 45 years traveling to, and living in, Indonesia and often have used my own transport. Driving anywhere in Asia is NOT like Australia for several reasons. Only on last Thursday night a 26 year old Australian woman was killed after crashing her motor scooter in Canggu, north of the popular district of Seminyak. She was reportedly not wearing a secured helmet. Not only do many Australians …
JAKARTA ELECTION RESULT SENDS A CLEAR MESSAGE TO ETHNIC CHINESE AND CHRISTIANS WHO ASPIRE TO HIGH OFFICE IN INDONESIA: FORGET IT.
By Ross B. Taylor AM The results from last week's Governor elections in Jakarta show a strong win for former national education minister Anies Baswedan over the incumbent, ethnic Chinese Christian, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or 'Ahok' as he is commonly known. Despite polls showing over 60% of eligible voters in Indonesia's sprawling capital saying 'Ahok' had been a 'very competent and effective' governor, only 40% said they intended to vote for him; and this appears to have been proven an accur…
Sharks: Putting the issue in perspective.......
By Ross B. Taylor AM The shocking loss of a teenage girl whilst surfing near Esperance reinforces my view that we DO NOT HAVE A GENERAL SHARK PROBLEM IN THE PERTH METRO AREA DURING SUMMER. In the past 15 years along the entire Perth coastline we have seen only ONE fatal shark attack during summer (December to March inclusive) when 98% of our beach-going population swims. What we do have however, is a real problem with Great White sharks in autumn and spring as the whales migrate. I say this because once again hysteria wil…
Saudi King’s visit and Governor election give Indonesia's hardline Islam groups a big boost
By Ross B. Taylor It’s been a good two month’s for hardline Islam groups such a Indonesia’s Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Community Islamic Forum (FUI) in their quest to see Indonesia become an Islam State with Sharia Law being introduced beyond Aceh Province, to all parts of the sprawling archipelago. Last week we saw the highly competent Governor of Jakarta known as ‘Ahok’ thrown out of office as the (democratic) election revealed that whilst most Jakartan’s agreed that Ahok was a ‘good governor’, being a Chinese-Christ…
Childcare helping hand could be found in formal au-pair visa.
Making the transition from corporate life to a retiree is often challenging, and particularly for baby-boomer men who probably have had very little experience and responsibility for home and child care. For this 65 year-old, I was about to be given a rare look into the World of young parents – mostly mums – when a year before my retirement our daughter, Lisa presented us with our first grandchild. Sadly, Lisa’s partner ‘disappeared’ three days before the birth of Ember, and due to unfortunate circumstances, his family also lost co…
The Barnett State Government lets down those who are most vulnerable
".. “If every client went on fishing expedition (to ascertain i f their private records had been accessed illegally) there would be no staff left...”. - Ms Mary Hind; employee, 'Next Step' Drug & Alcohol Government Agency. By Ross B. Taylor As a baby-boomer who was raised in the Perth suburb of Scarborough, I can always remember my parents telling me about the true Aussie principle of ‘giving the underdog a fair go’. It’s a principle my wife Katherine and I have embraced and passed onto our kids. Yet…
Military ties suspension a gross overreaction, and another headache for President Jokowi
By Ross B. Taylor AM The decision by Indonesian 4-Star General Gatot Nurmantyo - who is a very senior officer in Indonesia - to suspend military ties with Australia over 'offensive' material issues is a gross overreaction; but not surprising. Nurmantyo has never liked or respected Australia. The 'offensive' material mainly related to 'West Papua' issues and also the creation of a 'word' Pancagila from the philosophical important Indonesian word " Pancasila "; th…
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