US embassy deaths

it's all very well keeping a positive frame of mind, and making a conscious decision to be happy.  which has been working quite well for me thus far.  but then you listen to the news and somehow it seems unfair to be happy when so many people are struggling.

there's the continuing news of job losses, the research coming out about child poverty, the constant nasty beneficiary-bashing policies being put out by the government, school closures in canterbury.  and overseas, workers being killed in factory fires in pakistan, and embassy staff under threat & some killed as protest rages in various countries in response to some stupid film produced by some random idiot in america.

i'm not sure i even have the energy to respond to the latter.  the protests in themselves i don't have a problem.  someone produces something stupid and offensive, then fine, gather a group of people and protest about how stupid and offensive that thing was.  make your point, express yourself.  don't have a problem with burning flags either, mostly because i don't attach a whole lot of emotional symbolism or meaning to flags.  they're just a piece of cloth after all.

but hurting people, and specifically, people who have taken no part in the financing, production or distribution of the film concerned makes no sense whatsoever.  in fact, it seems that many of the people who did take part were conned & had no idea what they were actually participating in.  not that i'm saying that it's ok to hurt the people who did know what they were doing and who deliberately set out to hurt and inflame.  of course it's not.  there are plenty of ways to protest against them without causing them physical harm.

i know we're talking about environments where violence is already a huge part of the mix.  the arab spring started in many countries with peaceful protest, but has led to violence by the state, which in turn has caused rebellion and further violence.  it gets to a stage where violence becomes the only response, an emotional gut response to a "we hate you" message from abroad.

i can't say i'm impressed with hilary clinton's response, though mr obama's was somewhat better (& mr romney's reaction is purely appalling - please US voters, do not let this man be your president).  and i hated the coverage i saw on the tv news - which i know, i mostly try to avoid, and for good reason - which was all about these countries which the US has been so generous in helping turning around and doing this terrible stuff.  yes, it's terrible, but as to the latter, let us not forget the wholesale destruction of infrastructure, the death of civilians and the huge decrease in the standard of living that were the result of NATO bombing in libya (in which the US played a large part).  we can show sympathy towards those killed and currently living in fear and condemn violence, without the rewriting of history.

i can't even begin to understand the mentality of the people who made the film.  it was such a strong, clear "i hate you" message, and what they hoped to gain from it i'm not sure.  other than to hurt others and to inflame emotions.  as if there isn't already enough hatred and violence in the world.  what makes a person want to pile more on?  no, i really can't understand it.

still, i can do nothing by sitting around being miserable here in this country.  the answer is to keep on keeping on.  a positive bit of news was an article in the community newspaper - the hamilton press - about the diversity award given to the waikato interfaith council (online version here if you register - pg 14, 12/9/12 edition).  if anything, the events above clearly reinforce just how important interfaith work is, and how much it is needed to provide an alternative model to the ones we've seen above.

and finally, my sincere condolences to the families of those embassy staff who have died, and my sympathy to those who are currently living in fear of attack & to their friends and family anxiously waiting and hoping for their safety.  i know this is a difficult time for you and i'm sorry that you have to deal with this.

catching up

so i haven't been posting much here because i was posting at the hand mirror last week, here, here and here.  i've also been feeling much more relaxed since i resigned from the position that caused me so much angst.  suddenly i feel like i'm getting done the things i need to do, and that i'm actually on top of things rather than feeling guilty about all the things that should already have been done last week, or last month.  which means that other people now have those problems to deal with, but i'm finding not the slightest need to feel guilty about that.

with the relief has also come a determination to be thankful for the things i have and to enjoy life a lot more.  which doesn't mean i'm doing a lot of different things as such, but more that i'm being positive in my mind about the things i am doing.  it takes a little effort now and then, but mostly not.  it just generally means a happier me.

one of the things i've been doing over the last few weeks is catching up on sports stuff.  youtube is great for those of us who don't think we should have to pay for the privilege to watch quality sport, and thankfully we now have access to the olympics events on you tube.  so i've been catching up on the men's & women's 10m diving, the all-round men's & women's gymnastics, and various track events like the men's 4 x100; the men's & women's 100 & 200.  i'm still looking forward to watching some table tennis & badminton, as well as some of the long-distance running.

and of course i couldn't resist this 23 minute clip of roger federer winning wimbledon:

pity that he lost in the semi-finals at the US open, and hoping some clips of that should be up soon.  but yay serena williams for managing to take out the women's title.

on a more serious note, a couple of pieces worth reading:  this op-ed at al-jazeera about white supremacy in the US is really well written; and this is a must read post about zeena & zainab al-hilli, the young iraqi girls whose parents were shot recently in france, with zeena not being found until 7 hours later.

a lovely day

after my post of yesterday at the hand mirror, we've now had the last of the islam awareness week events.  and what a great day it was.  we had the mosque open day in the morning, and while it would have been nice to see more people there, i was still happy to meet and greet our visitors.

in the afternoon we went to the interfaith tree planting at Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park.  it's an amazing project of reclamation and restoration by the hamilton city council, and we would have had at least 100 people turn up to plant 500 trees.  there were people of all faiths: jewish, hindu, christian & muslim all working together to get the trees planted in the space of an hour or so.

i'm definitely not a gardener, and planting 2 trees was about as much as i could cope with.  they were pretty crooked, and i really hope they survive!  one was a kahikatea & i don't know what the other one was.  but it was an incredible event to be part of, and it just showed us what a wonderful place this planet could be if people worked on projects like this together instead of wasting time hating on each other.

in the evening i was invited to a wedding, where one half of the couple was of lebanese heritage and the other was of european heritage, born in nz.  the guests were a lovely mix of arab, african, south asian and european.  it was a segregated event, which meant the women took off their headscarves and abayas, & shone in their beautiful clothes.  the room was alive with colour, music, dance, laughter, and a freedom that comes from escaping the male gaze.  the men were no doubt having fun in their own part of the building, but we weren't interested, and for any one of them to enter at that time would indeed have been a violation.

the men did come in later, after we'd been giving enough warning to put our headscarves back on.  and then in lebanese tradition, they danced for the women.  and it struck me how nice it was for the women to get to be the gazers and the men to be the entertainers for once.  but it was sweetly done, and some of the wives later joined in with their husbands.  it was a much different experience from an indian muslim wedding, and a lovely end to a wonderful day.

celebrate good times, come on!

it's certainly been a week of celebrations.  sunday was eid, celebrating the end of a month of fasting, and i had a lovely day with friends and family.  everything just seemed to go right, and there was a lot of joy and laughter being shared.  i can't believe another ramadan is over already, though it did seem to last forever while it was going.  i guess it's because the shorter days means a lot of rushing around.

monday i went to auckland to celebrate the human rights commission diversity awards.  at the link, you'll find a word document giving details of the recipients.  there's a lot of good work being done by so many organisations, but the one that really resonated with me was migrante aotearoa nz, so i've included part of the background information below:

Migrate Aotearoa is an organisation of Filipino workers and their families with membership around the country. It was formed in 2009 in Auckland in response to cases of agents being unscrupulous in their dealings with migrant workers and reports of unfair labour practices. Migrante Aotearoa is part of Migrante International which has affiliates around the world. Migrante International was formed in 1996.

The group’s programmes are:

Organising and Education which is focussed on empowering Filipino migrants and their families by providing information about settling in New Zealand but also keeping our Filipino heritage alive.

Their Campaigns are focussed on building awareness and concern about the plight of poor and marginalised Filipinos asserting their welfare and promoting their holistic development. In 2010, they gathered in Christchurch to speak out against proposed employment law changes. Migrante also opposed the changes including 90 day trial extended to all employees in new jobs; limiting access to union representatives; and weakening rights if dismissed or disadvantaged.

of course i can't forget to mention that the waikato interfaith council (wifco) received an award for the work done by it's members over the last year.  i was lucky enough to be part of the group present to accept the award.  wifco has some great events coming up in the next couple of months, which you can check out at the link above.  the next event coming us is an interfaith treeplanting, happening on 1 september as part of the islam awareness week activities.  if you live in or around hamilton, i'd really encourage you to come.  details are at the website.

the final celebration this week was the 10th anniversary celebration tonight.  i can't believe it's been 10 years already.  it's certainly not been an easy 10 years - it's a lot of work, tension, and time.  but we've not only survived the 10 years, we've thrived.  that vision that was in our minds when we started this journey has really come to life - a centre that provides support for ethnic minority women, that provides a range of programmes and most importantly, provides services for victims of domestic violence.  i can only hope that we continue to stay strong and be there for the women of our communities, and their families.

in light of the issue of domestic violence, and brought to my mind because of this post by LJ at the handmirror, i'm posting a rather sad song by toni child, which i love:

black & british

how great it was to watch a black british person by the name of mohamed farah win the 5000m at the olympics this morning.  for several reasons.  first, because it was a great peformance.  but second, because in that moment, he was completely accepted as british by the whole of the british-supporting crowd.  it was a moment where he got to belong.

mr farah was not born in britain - he is somali by birth.  he is the kind of person that the anti-immigration crowd complains about.  one of those "mooslems" that are let into the country to steal jobs and ruin the uniquely british way of life.  a potential terrorist even?  but i haven't seen any noise from that lot today.  i haven't seen any implication that this particular gold medal (or the one he won for the 2000 metres) are any less british gold medals that any of the others.  in this moment of victory, he is completely embraced as british, without any hint of the foreign.

i have no idea if mr farah identifies as muslim or if faith plays a large part in his life.  but one thing i've found when googling the correct spelling of his first name is that it isn't that easy to find.  he is known across all the papers, and on his wikipedia page as "mo".  i only managed to find the "mohamed" in a footnote on wikepedia.  on the face of it, it seems quite erasing of his muslim heritage.

what would be interesting is how this came about.  it is quite possibly a firm decision by mr farah, made for any number of reasons.  it could be that by erasing his identity made his own life easier, made acceptance that much less difficult.  it could be that his cultural and/or religious identity just doesn't matter to him, and he prefers the snappy one syllable moniker.  it could be that "mo" sounds that much more anglicised, and helped him fit.  or it could be that it's a name that has been foisted on him by the media, in much the same way as "brangelina" or "posh & becks". of course i can only speculate, and i certainly am not going to be judging him for his choices.

maybe there is some conclusion to be drawn here about sports & sporting events being able to overcome things like racism & bigotry.  but then, given the recent behaviour of certain sports fans in europe, and the testimony of various players of colour about how they are treated on a sports field, that certainly isn't universally true.  no, i think it's more about appreciating this one particular moment when a somali british person is embraced and celebrated by all his compatriots, and wishing this was how it is in all contexts.

muslim women at the olympics

i've just watched the first saudi women run at the olympics, in the 800 metres.  in the previous heat, there was a palestinian woman.  both women with their heads covered and fully clothed.  they both came last, by a very long margin.  but they were there, they took part, they were different, and it was ok.  more than ok - the saudi woman really did get more cheers and support as she came in than the women who qualified for the next round.  it brought tears to my eyes.

it's not that i don't see the flaws in the olympics.  the fact that the most medals are won by the countries that have the most money to spend on sports.  the fact that so many sports are inaccessible to so many different types of people - see this story about american gymnist gabby douglas & the struggle she faced (warning about the almost obligatory crotch shot in any story about young women gymnists).  there are issues about vast sums of money spent on stadiums and venues - money that could used for relief of poverty.  issues about corporates taking over the olympics, and the accessibility of being able to view all the sports - i would have loved to watch all the tennis, but i refuse to subscribe to pay tv, so i wasn't able to watch much of it.  video of various events should absolutely be available on-line, especially given that so much public funding is put in to support athletes to attend.

but despite all of these problems, it still meant something to see these muslim women, on a public stage as it were, just being part of the event.  it provides a narrative about us that is something different to the oppressed victims that permeates so much of the portrayal of muslim women.  but more than that, it's so inspirational and motivational for muslim women around the world - inspiring us to achieve but on our own terms.

my favourite athlete so far at the olympics is the russian gymnist aliya mustafina, who won the bronze medal for the individual all-round competition, a gold for the uneven bars and another bronze today for her floor routine.  i don't have a particular reason for this.  also impressive was seeing oscar pistorius compete, doing for people with disabilities what the young saudi woman has done for muslim women.

i've also been impressed by the good nature of the competition - the hand shaking & hugs, the support competitors have shown each other.  it looks pretty genuine, and isn't something i recall in previous olympics.  but i think it's really healthy.

oak creek

i've been caught up in the activities of ramadan, amongst other things, and blogging has been way down on the list.  with the days being so short in winter, everything is a big rush in the evenings, and then we're off to the mosque for extra prayers.  i have to say that i have rarely felt such a high level of serenity that when praying at the mosque this ramadan.  at peace with myself and the world, it's a kind of fulfilment that i can't imagine obtaining in any other way.

however, my serenity has been rather shattered today with news of the shooting at a sikh gurdwara in america.  the second mass shooting in a month, and this one seems to be a hate crime.  while a killing at any venue is a horrific and tragic event, shooting people at there place of worship at a time that is of particular significance to them? well that just seems to me to need a special degree of callousness.

the names of the dead, which have been posted on twitter, are Bhai Seeta Singh, Bhai Parkash Singh, Bhai Rangeet Singh, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Subegh Singh, Parmjeet Kaur Toor.  these are people belonging to families, with many & varied connections.  i can't begin to imagine the grief felt by this whole community.  i'd also like to acknowledge the police officer who was injured during the incident.

there's been much said at various places about the possibility that this sikh community was mistaken for muslims.  yes, that's possible, but it's not relevant to anything.  it would have been a terrible tragedy had it happened to a muslim community, or to any community.  there is no group of people who somehow are "more deserving" of a tragedy like this.  to set up groups targeted by hate crime against each other, in some kind of competition, is pretty nasty.

if anything, the fact that the sikh community has been targetted since 9/11 shows that all communities need better protection from hate-filled rhetoric.  this particular community has previous complained about harassment (link also from twitter), and i hope that some journalist in that community starts asking questions about what concrete steps were taken by law enforcement authorities to ensure the safety and security of this community.

here is a particularly touching piece written by a sikh american.  i strongly recommend you read the whole piece, but i thought this point was particularly well made:

Obviously, the Sikh community realized very quickly that fall that it wouldn't do to simply say, "Don't hate me, I'm not a Muslim." And by and large people have avoided that particular phrasing and rhetoric. The Sikh advocacy organizations that were organized shortly after 9/11, chief among them the Sikh Coalition, were very emphatic on the point that they were opposed to hate crimes directed against any group based on religious hostility.


the twitter hashtag which has some useful information is #templeshooting.  my condolences to the sikh community of oak creek.

a long week

another blogging break, but i have reasons.

i turned 46 on monday, which doesn't bother me.  i've been feeling 46 for the last 6 months, for some unknown reason, so when it actually happened, i felt no change at all in my mind.  which is factually correct in a sense - on your birthday, you're actually only another day older rather than another year older, and that's what i felt.

i was hoping that i wouldn't mind the signs i've aging.  i wrote last year about my grey hairs and how i feel about them.  that hasn't changed.  and i don't mind wrinkles on my face.  but somehow i do mind that my fingers are getting all wrinkly.  i couldn't possibly explain why.  i don't have conventionally attractive hands with long tapering fingers.  i have very plainly ordinary hands, and yet i don't like my fingers being all wrinkly.  i'm sure i'll get over it soon.

a friend of mine thought it would be hilarious to gift me "fifty shades of grey" for my birthday.  which it was - we both laughed for ages.  i guess you had to be there.  i'll write what i think about the book another time.

also this week, i've had some minor surgery, which involved quite a number of stitches and also quite a number of injections of local anaesthetic.  the latter probably because i have such an issue dealing with physical pain.  i found the injections pretty painful, but the rest of it went ok.  i managed to be at work the next day, but it means that i've been pretty exhausted in the evenings, and certainly not in the mood to blog, or to do anything much else.


and then there are the various tragedies around the world.  mostly the horrific events in syria, and then the shooting at a movie theatre in america.  so much misery and sadness.  in terms of syria, i can't see a way out of this mess that will lead to a positive outcome.  given what's been happening in egypt and libya, there just seems to be so little cause for hope.  all i can do is pray that things will get better, and that the people of that country can live in safety and prosperity.

as for the cold-blooded mass-murder in american, i feel for the people who have had to live through it.  and then live through the victim-blaming.  again i note that the word terrorism isn't being used, even this is a deliberate act done to instil terror.  i've also seen little mention that one of those killed was an arab-american, although there has been plenty of coverage of jessica ghawi.  her brother's blog giving updates is really sad, even though he reports in a pretty factual way.  i really found moving his acknowledgement of the need to focus on those who died, and that all should get equal attention.

then there's the debate over gun-control, which is an almost impossible one to win in america.  and yet there are people who are continually raising the issue and spreading awareness.

and finally for today's mish-mash of a post, ramadan started on friday night, and i'd like to wish everyone ramadan mubarak.  already we are busy with invitations, and with the extra prayers.  its a time to remember those who suffer, those who have so much less than what i have been blessed with, and to be grateful and appreciative for all the wonderful things in my life.

mid-winter holiday

so i've been missing in action lately for a good reason.  i've just had a lovely 2 week holiday overseas which involved visits to melbourne & malaysia.  i feel incredibly lucky to be able to do such a thing, and i very much needed this mid-winter break.  the problem when i get back is dealing with the jetlag, and trying to build up enthusiasm for all the various things i'm involved with.  so i'm in that phase where i'm trying to settle back into my "normal" life.

i've also been extremely lucky in that the places i've stayed when i travel have been incredibly lovely and the hospitality very humbling.  to not have to worry at all about cooking, cleaning or any other domestic chores, as well a total break from works and meetings of any kind, was wonderful.

one of the best days of the trip was exploring melbourne city.  catching a train into the city centre, armed with a map and using the trams to get around to the museum and the queen victoria market.  then managing to get on to a shuttle bus for a drive around the docklands & being dropped off right in front of the art gallery, which was also stunning.  one thing we found was how amazingly helpful the city is to tourists.  all the free transport, and both the trams & shuttle bus having detailed commentary so that we could easily find our way around to the things we wanted to do.

we spent the evening wandering through chinatown & had dinner at a japanese restaurant.  it all felt so safe and so incredibly easy.  i can't say i've felt like that about any other city in the world, though istanbul would probably be my next favourite city that i've visited.

malaysia was wonderful, as always.  and as always, it's because we fit into the majority culture, and it's so relaxing to not have to worry about finding halal food or a place to pray.  it's also great to find clothes that are right for us.

the global recession seems to have passed malaysia by, with the shopping malls all packed & plenty of construction activity going on.  there's something to be said for a regulated economy, and a prime minister that had the guts to stand up to the world bank and IMF.  which isn't to say that there is no poverty or social problems, but on the whole, the country seems to be doing well.

i enjoyed the whole of my time in malaysia, but the highlights would be visiting the shah alam mosque, and visiting i-city.  they were both beautiful in their own way, but the latter was pretty spectacular - the photos at the link really don't do it justice.

i also spent a fair amount of time watching wimbledon, and was very happy with the results.  i am, of course, a long-time fan of mr federer so it was great to see him play well and take out the title.  but i also really enjoyed watching serena williams come back into form to win another title.  i love watching her, not just because of her game but because of who she is.  i love that she's a woman of colour succeeding in a sport where so few of them are seen, i love that she is considerably bigger than most of the other women players and yet super fit and super strong.  i would love to see more women like her playing top-level tennis.

i also actually enjoyed watching tamara paszek, who is austrian but of mixed ethnicity.  and it was great to see martina navratilova in the crowd - my most favourite female tennis player ever (it would have to be boris becker for male players).  the funniest moment had to be in the press conference rafael nadal gave on losing in the 2nd round, when he said "it's not a tragedy, it's just a tennis match".  i love it!  if only all sports people (and sports fans) could have that kind of healthy attitude towards their sporting endeavours.

brave

we went to see "brave" on sunday.  i had no idea what the film would be about, having somehow missed all the ads on tv.  i only found out it was an animated movie a few of hours before we went to see it.  but i'm still not too old to enjoy animated films (really enjoyed "the lorax" earlier this year).  this post will have spoilers, so if you haven't seen it yet, you might want to find something else to read about now.

there were a lot of things i really liked about the movie.  a female lead - yay!  with another strong central female character, being the mother of the female lead.  the film is centred around the relationship between these two female characters, which is brilliant.  and the theatre was packed full, so yay again, because it proves once again that films with strong female characters can make money.

i loved the way the film turned the traditional fairytale of princes competing to win the princess completely on its head.  i loved that the princess didn't allow herself to become a trophy or prize that is won.  i love that it didn't have the traditional happy-ever-after ending with some random dude turning up to "complete" our heroine.

i loved the portrayal of the mother-daughter relationship - it felt so natural, so much what many mothers & daughters experience.  that lack of understanding, the pull of the traditional against the modern, the talking past each other.  the mother fearing for her daughter's future in the full knowledge of the cultural context of her daughter's life.  the daughter not understanding her mother's wisdom and experience, yet having her own wisdom and seeing that traditions aren't always for the best.

i loved that the women were able to influence the men around them, and showed strong leadership qualities.  i thought the father-daughter relationship was sweet though not developed strongly.

the animation was great.  the colours and scenery were lovely to watch.

but there were things i didn't like.  the plot was just so cliche.  child forced to marry someone not of her choosing?  ugh.  just saw that in the marigold hotel movie.  and a million bollywood movies and plenty of hollywood movies as well.  it's just so boring as a plot line.

then there was the hen-pecked "yes dear" husband thing that came through a couple of times.  which i hate because it's only generally used to show how terrible domineering wives are, and how unmanly such husbands are.  there's no reason why husbands can't agree with the superior wisdom of their wives on a particular matter, without hanging their heads and muttering a defeated "yes dear".  not cool.

and our female lead - white, skinny, big round baby eyes.  again, way too cliche, too much in line with the standard model of beauty that is constantly in the media.  though i did find the red hair lovely, and i really appreciated that she wasn't constantly sexualised.  but seriously, a young woman who is an accomplished horse-rider (on a huge clydesdale like animal) and archer is likely to have some muscles on her arms, and a build that isn't quite consistent with what was portrayed.

i also found the fact that the father was plainly unattractive to be annoying as well.  it's like the whole beauty-and-the-geek thing: that all men are deserving of a beautiful woman, regardless of their level of attractiveness.  you rarely see the opposite - a less attractive/geeky woman with a super attractive man, with the undercurrent being that she is totally deserving to be with such a man.  in current popular culture, i really haven't seen it.

as for an accurate portrayal of scottish culture, this clearly wasn't one.  there's a very long post about scottish stereotyping here.  as for myself, i found it annoying that all the men were basically presented as violent boofheads.

so on the whole, i'd say not the best film ever.  but still, the positives outweighed the negatives, and the central theme of the film about the mother-daughter relationship was so well done that it's a movie worth seeing.  and i know my perspective is coloured by the fact that there are clearly not enough movies that centre around women - for analysis of oscars nominated films for 2010, this is really good:



which means that when one comes along, it's much easier to ignore the negatives, and it almost becomes an imperative to support the film so that more of them will get made.  but in the case of "brave", in relation to it's female characters, i think it's definitely a strong film, done well, and worth supporting.