New Study Period...

The holidays passed like a breeze! Today was the first day back to uni for us. Everyone at our uni is still coming to grips with the change of terminology from Semester 2 to Study Period 5. Why on earth did they have to change something that was so simple?! Two semesters in a year labelled 1 and 2. Now it's 2 Study Periods a year labelled 2 and 5 for most students. Someone up there in the bureaucracy is really getting paid too much to come up with this rubbish.

Didn't do very well in uni today. Was dozing off for each lecture. I've found that nowadays I have very low stamina when it comes to lectures and meetings. I tend to start nodding off midway through. Not too good for my reputation since most of my lecturers know me! Most of the remainder of my holidays were sadly spent in office. Had quite a bit of work to catch up on. I promised myself that I would clean up my room and office during the holidays but in the end, didn't get around to doing it. Both are a total mess and I don't feel comfortable living in a heap of trash but well, really can't find the time and strength to just sit down and do some spring cleaning.

It happens to be my brother's birthday today. Happy birthday! My dad's birthday was last week. The guys in my family have our birthdays one week apart by some strange coincidence (or not). Gets stale by the time it reaches my birthday because at home we end up virtually going out 3 weeks in a row for a birthday dinner.

The clock is ticking ever nearer to the Senate sitting. VSU is just on the horizon but everyone seems to be quiet recently. The calm before the storm perhaps? Our Association sent out VSU information packs to every Senator on my behalf. I have so far received three letters of reply; two from Labor Senators and one from a Liberal. Those of you in the political loop would be able to easily guess the contents. Let me give you a hint: one pro and 2 anti. Just a matter of guessing which one is which. Haha!

Well, uni starts at 9am tomorrow so I should get to bed now. Not before making one final post to the REAL NLC though!

Eastern reflections...

I realised I didn't say anything about my holiday in Sydney after the NLC Annual Conference. Well, after leaving Newcastle on Saturday the 9th of July by train we accommodated ourselves in Maze backpackers on Pitt St. I don't really like staying in backpackers (for the very reason of shared toilets) but it was the cheapest available option. We reached in the evening and after settling down, made our way to Darling Harbour for a winter performance of sorts. It was my first time in Sydney and already I could feel the nightlife which is a far cry away from quiet little Adelaide. Anyways, the performance was sort of like an opera on a floating stage on the harbour which ended in a nice fireworks display. We then enjoyed some dinner and later took a trip to their casino - Star City (the name is too similar to our Adelaide Casino - Skycity). I've made it a point recently that I should collect the membership cards from each casino I visit (it seems that a lot of others do this as well). Upon obtaining the card, we were told that we had a choice of free $10 credit to be used at either the tables or the machines. Since I'm not one for gambling, I just chose the machines which seemed a simpler way to do things. Well I played a 10 cents machine and made a gain of $4. Little but something nonetheless. One of my friends managed to win $20 playing a "wheel of fortune"-like game.

Sunday brought about my obligatory trip for Sunday Mass. A friend of mine kindly Googled Catholic Cathedral in Sydney for me and I took a walk down to the popular St. Mary's Cathedral. It is supposed to be a rather beautiful Cathedral. I however felt it was too contemporary for my liking. I still prefer the older cathedrals and their designs. There was a tomb of sorts below the Cathedral but it was only going to open much later. I had to brave through the rain and found myself at Pitt St. Mall after running for shelter. Since it was nearby, I took the opportunity to look for the Max Brenner's that was supposed to be in the David Jones facing Elizabeth St. After some time looking around I finally managed to satiate my cravings with a Babka. I honestly don't understand how something so delightful can be kept away from Adelaide. Anyways, I took the opportunity to explore the area a little more and found the Queen Victoria Building. It is a heritage building that houses a shopping complex of sorts. Next: Paddy's Markets. It kind of reminded me of the Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne but it was supposedly cheaper. I couldn't find anything I needed so we didn't spend much time there. We then headed off to Darling Harbour once again but this time took a ferry to the Circular Quay. We had a walk around and took many (too many in fact) pictures of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. The Rocks was next and it was just another market that sold souvenirs and other knick-knacks. I wanted to go all the way to the Opera House after that but had to return to the backpackers to meet up with the rest of my friends who just came from Newcastle. We took a cab to Cleveland St. to eat at a Japanese restaurant which was supposedly quite popular but ended up in Maya's (Indian) as it was too full. Interestingly this Maya's was split into two. We were in the vegetarian restaurant. The non-vegetarian one was just across the street. After some entrees we went across the street to have our meal. The Indian guys in our group wanted to head back to the previous restaurant for dessert but we gave up as we just couldn't stomach it anymore. Heading back to the city, our NSW guest of honour brought us to a dessert shop in Capitol Square named Passionflower. The desserts were nothing short of mouth-watering. I can't even begin to describe how good it all tasted. My kidneys felt numb after taking in all that sugar. Karaoke was next at an extremely affordable price of $10 per head for 2 hours. After wandering around looking for a bus stop and then a car, I turned in for the night.

Monday began with the popular Dim Sum breakfast at a Chinese restaurant in Market City. It was probably one of the best Dim Sum sessions I had in Australia. They had everything including taufu fa (don't know about the spelling). We sort of split up after that as everyone (excluding myself) were leaving later in the afternoon. My little group headed off to Pitt St. Mall for some final shopping and a certain somebody forced me to bring everyone to Max Brenner's. After walking around the city a little more we headed back to the backpackers where we were kindly treated to some Krispy Kreme donuts by those who went there and bought boxes back. Once everyone left I took a short rest in my new single room and later headed off to Darling Harbour. I got myself an IMAX movie ticket for the 3D film Haunted Castle and took a trip to the Aquarium while waiting for the show to start. It wasn't much different from other Aquariums I have been to but the underwater tunnel with ocean creatures was simply fabulous at night. It was like walking around in a twilight wonderland with huge sharks and stingrays swimming around and resting on the tunnels. The 3D movie wasn't as scary as I expected. I didn't have much choice. Most of the other movies were nature films and I figured I might as well watch the Discovery Channel for all that. The movie I watched merely showed off superb visual effects but failed in any form of storyline or content. I met some fools from the NLC Conference on my way back but it was just a "hi and bye" sort of meeting.

Tuesday was a good opportunity for me to do some things that I couldn't do with the others around. I started off early to Circular Quay to catch myself a cruise along the Sydney Harbour. I had a choice for a lunchtime cruise but I did not feel the necessity of eating onboard. Besides, the Coffee cruise which I took lasted longer. It wasn't exceptional but I was given a chance to see places like Watson's Bay, an island prison sort of thingie and Kirribilli House. After the cruise I dashed off to Bondi Beach. It seems there were some railworks going on and as such I had to be diverted from the train to a bus about a stop before Bondi Junction. The beach didn't look spectacular. It was cloudy and cold yet there were still many surfers around. Granted the scenery was acceptable but I just do not see why Bondi Beach is so popular. Probably merely because of the waves. I had a chance to eat some fish and chips and later on some gelato. After that it was back to the city for me. I went to Darling Harbour yet again to book a Blue Mountains tour. Next stop: the popular boutique beer bar that was featured in the Voyeur magazine on my Virgin Blue flight. Redoak Beer Bar had won a record number of awards at some International Beer Awards of some sort. There were a wide variety of beers available and I chose to go for the signature beer named Framboise Froment. It was a pink coloured brew supposedly infused with raspberries with a bit of bubbly. It had an interesting taste but didn't really swipe me off my feet. I wanted to try more but couldn't fit it in so I decided to come back the next day if I had the time. I took a walk through the Queen Victoria Building again and was fortunate enough to be on the top floor when the clock struck the hour. There are 2 huge (and I do mean huge!) clocks hanging from the ceiling of the QVB. They look like they are antiques and have probably been there for a very long time. Each clock had a seperate mechanical play which told a story of England in the past. How unique!

I woke up early Wednesday morning to get ready for my Blue Mountains tour. I was supposed to go with a small tour group called "Great Sights" but ended up going along with Grey Line as there probably wasn't enough people for the cheaper tour. Looks like I got more value for my money then! Anyways, the first stop was a country general store of sorts called the Bilpin Fruit Bowl. We stopped for some snacks and it seems that the apple pie was a highlight. I didn't take anything as I wasn't hungry. We then proceeded to a lookout point that gave us a view of the Blue Mountains. The scenery was simply fantastic. We then headed off to a place called Scenic World. It featured a mountain/forest valley with a boardwalk. To access the valley you could either take a Railway or Flyway. I decided to descend via the Railway and ascend back via the Flyway. The Railway wasn't a train per se. It was more like a small carrier on tracks that descended into the valley. It was supposedly the steepest railway in the world and at one point we were at a 52 (?) degree angle. It wasn't a rollercoaster though. There was a good chance from my landing spot to view the rock formation called the "Three Sisters". There are a few aboriginal legends about it but it just looks like 3 stones jutting out to me. There were 3 paths along the boardwalk that could be taken. Each had varying lengths and completion times. Looking at my watch, I decided to take a quick stroll down the longest path. There were mainly trees and a few things of interest along the way but it was merely a boarded hiking trail. I did enjoy it though as I kind of like walking in nature. I managed to reach the end point early enough to head down the middle path to a miner's hut. I then went back to the end point and took the Flyway back. Our final stop was a wildlife park. It was just like walking through a zoo to see the different native Australian animals including the kangaroo, koala, emu and tasmanian devil. It was quite fun but nothing I hadn't done before. On the way back we drove past the site of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. I hopped off the bus at Darling Harbour to purchase some delicious chocolate fudge as a souvenir back to Adelaide. Since I had some extra time on my hands I headed back to Redoak and this time tried the Belgian Chocolate Stout. It started of with a bitter chocolate aroma and then settled into a smooth stout. It tasted really good (and no, it did not taste strongly of chocolate and was not sweet) and put stouts on my list of favoured brews. Another Chinatown dinner ended a night spent packing.

I decided to wake up early on my last day in Sydney so that I could have a Max Brenner's breakfast and then spend a little time shopping. Problem is, I woke up a little too early. The shops weren't open yet! As such I took a walk around Pitt St. Mall and then the city. While I was walking through the Queen Victoria Building towards Myers, I noticed a shop in the foodcourt selling crepes. I had heard some good things about Sydney crepes and ordered a chocolate with banana crepe. It tasted alright but basically blew my appetite for Max Brenner's. What a shame. Anyways, once the shops were open I just browsed through but couldn't find anything to buy. I finished with the shops and had nasi lemak for lunch in a Malaysian restaurant called "Laksa House" in QVB as it was recommended by a colleague. It was alright though it still can't beat what you can get from home. While walking back I stopped by at two CD shops. The last one sold all CD for only $10! They were originals so I don't get how they can sell it for so cheap. I looked for and found the Rod Stewart greatest hits double CD that I always wanted to get. What a bargain! Well I got back and took my bags out of the bag room to wait for the airport shuttle. I waited until half an hour but the shuttle didn't come. As a result, the backpackers gave me $25 for a cab to the airport (the cab eventually only cost about $20). I had a smooth flight back to good old Adelaide!

Sydney is a really happening place to be in. It's probably the only city in Australia that actually has nightlife. The food in Chinatown is great as well. I can walk around late at night and yet there will still be shops open. This is in stark contrast with Adelaide where the city basically sleeps early. Despite the energy in Sydney, I still feel more comfortable and at home in Adelaide. Yes, it is quiet and boring. Yet, it is peaceful and easy-going. It's hard to imagine where I would want to live if I decided to stay here after I graduate. Well, I still haven't been to Perth, Tasmania, Darwin and Canberra yet so I'll keep my options open!

The REAL NLC...

My personal holidays are over and it's time to get back to work. But there's the unfinished business of the goings-on in the NLC which I said I would write about. Here goes...

The NLC Annual Conference is supposed to be a forum for international students all over Australia to meet, discuss and debate issues that affect international students all while making new friends and forming networks. Sadly, this conference disintegrated as soon as it started. The bane of any organisation is politics. More specifically: factional politics. Granted, politics will always exist in an organisation with structure. Politics in itself is not the venom. It is the people who play with the politics that determine how dangerous/damaging politics can be. It's like playing with fire. In the hands of a skilled user the fire can be an extremely useful tool. Once the fire takes control and the user loses it; that's when everyone gets burnt. Politics must never cloud the basic reason/objective/goal of the organisation.

Which brings me to the question that every student representative should ask himself/herself. Why should students be involved in student representation? While there may be many other supplementary reasons, the main one should be to advocate for, and be the voice of, other international students who are either not interested in or not capable enough to do what one is supposed to do in student representation. Student representation is not an easy task. It requires skill and passion which not everyone has. It is extremely unfortunate that many student representatives do not understand this simple and basic core that defines what the NLC is about.

Alright, I've done my share of preaching. Now to the main issue. The NLC is plagued by factional politics mainly initiated by a NSW-Queensland partnership. Why should they work together? These two states hold the most number of votes giving them the most power when it comes to voting on matters. But it's not only because of the number of votes that caused them to go astray. It's the desire of the leaders of both these states to obtain power. They make sure that no Constitutional change goes through that could damage their chances of obtaining that power. They make sure arrangements are made to ensure they are in a more advantageous position. Worst of all, ALL these delegates vote based on what their leader tells them. It's so much like the NUS. The leader says "vote this up" and all the voting cards go up. He says "vote this down" and all the votes go against. If the leader doesn't say anything, all the delegates look around in utter confusion searching for direction. Shameful! Can't these people think for themselves? Don't they understand the responsibilities that are attached to the votes that they hold? Surely not! If they did they wouldn't act like puppets. None of them voice out their opinion. None of them debate an issue. When the leader doesn't like something, all of them just vote as they are told without offering any amendment or suggestion. Is this what student representation has turned to? International students agreeing or disagreeing to issues based upon what their "leaders" think. How does their leader gain control of them so easily? It's as if they don't have a mind of their own or have sold their soul for something in return. Any logical and rationally thinking person would be able to see through the circus that these two states have turned the NLC into.

Victoria was another highlight of this conference. The once proud and mighty state that could stand up and debate issues was in complete shambles. Their leader was involved in other proceedings and as a result, all the delegates were like headless chickens running around. It was clear that they never caucused. They never discussed the issues outside of conference floor. Instead, they took up conference time by suspending standing orders to discuss their issues amongst themselves. What more; they asked for clarification on certain issues but when people went to explain, they were pushed aside. Talk about not knowing what you want! They even used one of their suspensions to take photos! You'd think that people came to a conference to push for and debate upon issues that would potentially affect them. Instead these people were more interested in having fun and enjoying themselves. Yes, it's good to have fun. But not at the expense of the serious issues we are dealing with! Victoria has always been a proud state. That is perfectly fine. This year however, their pride had no substance whatsoever and the only thing that maintained their pride was their success in obtaining 3 National Office Bearer positions (via a deal with the two states mentioned above).

SA, WA and Tasmania have always had a good relationship. This was once again evident in this conference as we worked together in both forming policies and debating issues. In fact, we were the states that made sure something was actually done in the conference! Some may argue that I am being bias. But if that were the case, take a look at the minutes and say that to me again. If we acted like NSW, Queensland or Victoria, nothing would have happened in this conference. PK and I put up a significant number of constitutional amendments. The ones PK put up were agreed on in principal by the National Executive. However, NSW and Queensland changed their minds and told him that most of his amendments would not go up. What could we do? They had the numbers. Regardless, it was necessary to debate the amendments and ask for amendments as well as comments and suggestions for improvement. This is because all that was discussed would be put in the minutes for future reference. It went alright in the beginning. There were debates and discussion (though mainly between SA and WA with the lazy Victorians just saying they need clarification ALL THE TIME). Then, the trouble started. NSW and Queensland moved that a bunch of PK's amendments be accepted en bloc. What would happen in this instance is that if the motion was accepted, all of them would be accepted and if it were defeated, all of them would be defeated. NSW and Queensland made it clear they did not want those amendments to go up. This was an extremely arrogant move since with their votes it would definitely be defeated. It was akin to saying "shut the f*ck up, we're voting this down". They didn't even bother to explain why they wanted to vote it down or give alternative recommendations. All they did was sit down with a smug look on their face waiting to cast their vote. We had no choice but to do the worst possible move that could be taken in conference. Pulling quorum. The limit for quorum was very low since NSW and Queensland held a lot of proxies (they shamelessly bent every rule in the book to increase their votes) and as such, only a few of us needed to walk out to pull quorum. Why did we have to do it? For the basic reasons as I have highlighted above. There was no other way to stop their blatantly arrogant and insulting motion. This is not what the NLC is about. People aren't supposed to just shut another person up if they disagree. They are supposed to debate. But this motion was aimed at silencing that very debate. The outrageous thing is that in the end, we were made to look like the culprits! We were seen as the bad guys in this situation! Talk about hypocrisy. They claimed we were being undemocratic for walking out. Is it being democratic to use your numbers to silence those who come from smaller voting constituents? Ridiculous! It is beyond my understanding how so many are still oblivious to the reasons why this move simply had to be done. In the end the motion was withdrawn but not after more arguments.

The whole organisation of the conference was plain wrong. It seemed that only a few people were carrying the weight of all the others. Our fearless leader (he doesnt' know fear. He doesn't know anything else either...) was clearly always looking at PK when he didn't know what to do. PK was doing all the running around plugging the gaps in the wall. Organised Groups (OG) were created to teach delegates and allow them to mix around and exchange ideas. It went rather well last year. This year it virtually didn't happen. There were only 2 and both of them were introductory sessions. Another thing is the absolute stupidity of delegates claiming that they do not understand a constitutional amendment and complaining they weren't told earlier about it. In actual fact, the amendments were sent more than 21 days in advance as per requirements. It is the basic duty of each delegate to respect the effort made in compiling those amendments by reading them and asking the mover/seconder if they do not understand. This did not happen. All they did was sit down and whinge that they did not understand. For crying out loud get off your @$$es and do something about it!

The elections were a farce as well. Delegates weren't even given the decency of being able to vote on who they felt was the best candidate for the position. Instead, they voted factionally. NSW-Queensland-Victoria clearly made a deal to share the NOB positions amongst themselves. Such a pity that the best candidates, the ones who have contributed the most, the ones who understand the real reason for the existance of the NLC were locked out from holding those positions. Then again, they hadn't decided on who to put up as candidates until the very last minute. By then it was too late. A lesson learnt nonetheless...

Grievance committee was a disgrace. This year they were put up against an extremely serious and sensitive case which required urgent attention. However, they dealt with it in an extremely inefficient, corrupt and insensitive manner. It is obvious that both sides need to give their side of the story. This committee didn't even want to look at pieces of evidence that were available! I cannot believe how most of them can sleep at night knowing fair well that their actions were a clear infringement of natural justice. The thought of the injustice dealt upon someone I know makes me want to just knock sense into the heads of those members who cannot be defined more correctly than just plain f*ckwits.

SA-WA-Tasmania may have been locked out of the organisation. However, we still control NLC: the faction. Ironic isn't it? The smallest states seem to be the ones that care about what goes on in the organisation and holds the major power to affect it. Our NUS votes hold the key to the NLC's funding. The new National Convenor realises that. He's tied by the balls. According to those who attended the transition he was walking with cautious steps. We may have been shut out of the organisation. But that has actually put us in an even better position than before. Now we are the ones calling the shots. No longer are we the ones that need to watch our steps to make sure we don't frustrate the other states. The tables have turned. What seemed like the end of the world was actually the turning point that allows us to learn something from a position we have never been placed into before. The fun has only just begun! It's time for people to understand the power and significance of the REAL NLC...

Filler...

I've got a lot to say about what happened in the past week and more. The conference started weak but went into a full-on battlefield after the first few days. So much happened over such a short period of time. Well, at least a few I know would probably be interested in reading what I have to say about it. Unfortunately I'm on holiday in Sydney until Thursday and I don't have the time, mood nor money (internet cafes charge by the hour) to go in depth. Take this post as a mere filler for me to elaborate upon when I get back. For the time being I'll be having a good R&R to prepare for the stress ahead. Watch this space...

Break...

Managed to get some free time after lunch to pop into the computer lab of Newcastle Uni. The campus is huge but our accommodation is in a hotel in the city. Things have been hectic with little time even for a nap. We get around 2 or 3 hours of sleep at night as expected. Things haven't gotten interesting yet but the real fun is going to start real soon. Well, I have to head off. The next session is about to begin.