Eating Your National Animals

Just a short musing on eating your national animals or more specifically those animals that make an appearance on your coat of arms. This musing comes about as a result of a grocery shopping trip during the week.

One of the things that I have noticed since being back is the myriad of products available on supermarket shelves that once were the exclusive domain of specialty shops or health food stores. I am not sure that this is indicative of a more health conscious community or just a community that prefers to get all their shopping done in one spot and at the same time.

Anyway, I have noticed that my local Frankins and Woolworths supermarkets stock a wide range of kangaroo meat products from sausages to steaks. I have eaten kangaroo meat on many previous occasions. However, I was pretty certain that Dyah had not eaten kangaroo before, so I thought why not, and bought some sausages.

We ate them for lunch with some steamed veggies.

They were an excellent meal. The meat was gamey but then you would expect such when eating kangaroo meat. We have this running joke in our house at the moment about what things taste like. Will has some floaty toys that he enjoys munching on during his bath. His personal favourite is the turtle. Long story short, it has always been, and continues to be, amusing to me that when people eat some strange meat that the question is; what does it taste like? If the answer is that it tastes like chicken, then why not just eat chicken?

I have also eaten emu meat (and ostrich meat). This means I have eaten both of the animals on the coat of arms of Australia.

So, my question is this; Is there anything inherently wrong in eating the animals that take pride of place on your national coat of arms?

I could never eat the Indonesian national emblem as the Garuda remains a mythical animal as far as I can tell.

Ten Reasons Why You Are Not Rich

Someone asked me whether I considered myself rich the other day, I don't. I had never really thought about why. Although last year I was in Jogja and the people I was staying with knew this fella who was a paranormal and a bit of a legend when it came to reading palms.

I am always open to new things and so I had my palm read. This explained my lack of financial savviness and the reasons why I am not as rich as I should be. The essence of the reading with regards to money was; easy come, easy go. Come to think of it, that sounds pretty much the crux of it.

Nevertheless, as I was checking out financial news stuff and trying to get a better handle on the financial crises the globe finds itself in, I cam across these pearls of wisdom and thought I would share them as they are.

Hopefully, they enlighten you as they have enlightened me.

"... Here are 10 more possible reasons you aren't rich:

1. You care what your car looks like: A car is a means of transportation to get from one place to another, but many people don't view it that way. Instead, they consider it a reflection of themselves and spend money every two years or so to impress others instead of driving the car for its entire useful life and investing the money saved.

2. You feel entitlement: If you believe you deserve to live a certain lifestyle, have certain things and spend a certain amount before you have earned to live that way, you will have to borrow money. That large chunk of debt will keep you from building wealth.

3. You lack diversification: There is a reason one of the oldest pieces of financial advice is to not keep all your eggs in a single basket. Having a diversified investment portfolio makes it much less likely that wealth will suddenly disappear.

4. You started too late: The magic of compound interest works best over long periods of time. If you find you're always saying there will be time to save and invest in a couple more years, you'll wake up one day to find retirement is just around the corner and there is still nothing in your retirement account.

5. You don't do what you enjoy: While your job doesn't necessarily need to be your dream job, you need to enjoy it. If you choose a job you don't like just for the money, you'll likely spend all that extra cash trying to relieve the stress of doing work you hate.

6. You don't like to learn: You may have assumed that once you graduated from college, there was no need to study or learn. That attitude might be enough to get you your first job or keep you employed, but it will never make you rich. A willingness to learn to improve your career and finances are essential if you want to eventually become wealthy.

7. You buy things you don't use: Take a look around your house, in the closets, basement, attic and garage and see if there are a lot of things you haven't used in the past year. If there are, chances are that all those things you purchased were wasted money that could have been used to increase your net worth.

8. You don't understand value: You buy things for any number of reasons besides the value that the purchase brings to you. This is not limited to those who feel the need to buy the most expensive items, but can also apply to those who always purchase the cheapest goods. Rarely are either the best value, and it's only when you learn to purchase good value that you have money left over to invest for your future.

9. Your house is too big: When you buy a house that is bigger than you can afford or need, you end up spending extra money on longer debt payments, increased taxes, higher upkeep and more things to fill it. Some people will try to argue that the increased value of the house makes it a good investment, but the truth is that unless you are willing to downgrade your living standards, which most people are not, it will never be a liquid asset or money that you can ever use and enjoy.

10. You fail to take advantage of opportunities: There has probably been more than one occasion where you heard about someone who has made it big and thought to yourself, "I could have thought of that." There are plenty of opportunities if you have the will and determination to keep your eyes open."

Palin, A Stripped Moose, African-Americans, and Jews

If you fail to see the connection then you should feel comfortable with the fact that you are probably not the only one.

But here it is and straight from the mouth of Rep. Alcee Hastings (the Rep. standing for Representative and meaning he is a Congressman in the US) who is a Democrat and former Hillary Clinton supporter and now vocal Barack Obama supporter.

This is what was said:

“anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.”

This was a comment made to a group of African-American and Jewish Democrats and by all reports brought hoots of laughter and applause from all in attendance.

The idea that being able to shoot and strip a moose in any way reflects how one views race and religion relationships is about the same as Republicans claiming that Barack Obama's middle name says something about how he will deal with Muslims and Non-Muslims. Or that Obama's middle name in some way brings into question his Christian beliefs. It is bizarre and it is stupid!

Anyone who thinks that race and religion are not going to be important factors in this US Presidential race need to think again. Even with the US economy on the brink of free-fall into a recession (some might say the abyss of depression), the idea that race and religion keep coming to the fore says something about this historic moment for the US.

I am not an American. But, if I was I think there are more important things at stake in this presidential election other than whether Sarah Palin can strip a moose or the fact that Obama's middle name is Hussain.

Then again that's just me!

Time Heals All Wounds

I wonder does time heal all wounds or does time just lessen the pain into something tolerable?

This is a personal musing post.

I still miss my dogs, and the recent run in with the neighbour shooting my cat has heightened those feelings of loss. Smudges, the cat, has failed to reappear as yet. I walk back to the old house every night just to see if the little fella has made the trek back there. It is not too far back to the old place, about 700 meters or so.

I think about Chockie, Unyil, and Smudges everyday. It is strange but the dogs in particular had been like children for me. I will soon be a father to a son in a few short months.

The missus has a few photos of the dogs on her mobile and these caused a few tears last night and today.

Perhaps the healing is in the ability to focus on and remember the good times.

Cultural Issues...

This is a post for my better half. I have been encouraging her to start her own blog and write about whatever takes her fancy. Resistance is not always futile and to date there is no blog for the reason that, "I don't write well enough!" This of course is entirely and definitely not true! I think that the better half's English is better than mine (that is another post though)!

Back to the topic. Most of my loyal readers will know that the wife is pregnant, going on 7 months now, and very excited at the prospect of becoming a mother in the near future. This excitement is the theme of the rest of this post.

It seems that most questions and statements that the wife is on the receiving end of sound similar to the following:

"Bob must be really pleased and excited that you are pregnant", or

"The parents-in-law must be really excited at having a grandchild".

Now for my mind these seem to be fairly innocuous questions or statements. However, I guess if one reads between the lines then one might see some connotation that is likely to annoy and anger the recipient. These are questions and statements that I have heard often in my travels and in many ways have probably become immune to them as being, in a cultural sense, the way things are.

This is sort of like; how old are you? are you married? why / why not? how many kids do you have? why don't you have any kids? what religion are you? The questions are generally posed out of genuine interest but are not necessarily common to other cultures.

My better half is Indonesian so it was interesting to hear that this is something that grates for her.

The question that my better half has is why is the question never, "you must be really excited on the pregnancy?" Why is it that the underlying premise is that a woman's worth is in some way linked to her ability to reproduce for her husband's and her husband's family's benefit?

So, these are my questions.

Can a woman have a child just because she wants to and not to please her husband, partner, and the family?

Is a woman's worth dependent on her ability to breed? What about women who make a conscious decision not to have children?

There are probably other questions to be posed. I will wait on responses and see what transpires. I might pose additional questions based on those responses (if any one reads this piece and makes a comment).

I might add that I am excited at the pending fatherhood, I am excited at my wife being excited about her pending motherhood, and I would still love her pregnant or not!

The Indonesian Elections

I have been planning on writing a few things about the coming Indonesian elections and the most likely presidential candidates. It is a topic that is frequently discussed in the circles in which I roam and it is a topic that some people have been trying to encourage me to write about. As a matter of fact I was chatting to the Treespotter at 03.00 this morning on this very topic. He has posted an introductory piece here. My concern is whether I can pull off what will surely be a rant as some kind of op-ed piece? I am not sure that I can or that I will, but then again should I really care? After all it is my blog, they are my opinions, and I am what I am!

The proposal is to write a series of rants on prospective presidential candidates. The posts are not really designed to be authoritative in terms of referencing. They will though include things that I have heard around the traps and that are on record (some journalistic integrity).But, mainly the pieces will be personal opinion (rants) as I see the events of our times.

I do not have that many readers, but I am sure that I will undoubtedly offend some of you.

Happy Reading all the same!

Personal Musing....

I have had a really long day. I finally reached home in the early hours of the morn and had a few hours sleep. The addict that I am means that I am up before 9.00 and already making a blog entry. That for some might be sad!

This is a personal musing and as such should be read for what it is.

I am certain that I am done in Indonesia. I have been trying to convince myself that I want to stay by avoiding doing the things that I need to do. For example, filling in the forms to complete the better half's visa application. However, I have done that now. That is fill in the necessary forms.

The cold hard reality and the simple truth is that I want to raise "the Kid" in Australia and I want the wife to have that opportunity to live and grow in Australia, and I want to explore the opportunities that I have in the land of my birth.

My current bosses are ummming and ahhhing about what they think I am worth and what they think they might offer me as remuneration. This tells me a few things, but chief among them is that they do not really value my contribution to the company and if they cannot work out what they think I am worth then perhaps I am not worth that much after all.

More than anything I think that I need a change.

Race Politics -- Personal Musings

I have been having one of those mornings where I have not been able to sleep. In order to avoid doing work, I surf the Internet. I have been reading a little about race politics, playing the race card, and whether the US is a post-race nation. This got me thinking, probably no surprise to those that know me best, about how this debate would play out in Indonesia.

The Indonesian Constitution of 1945 would seem to support an argument that any Indonesian citizen born in this country, Indonesia, has a right to become its president. The Indonesian term is "orang asli" which loosely would translation to original person, and herein lies the problem. Does the term refer exclusively to indigenous Indonesians or does it also include the important and vibrant communities that trace their respective ancestries through to China, India, and the lands of the Middle East? Even more interestingly is does it include Indonesians who trace their ancestries to European roots who were born and raised in Indonesia from birth?

There has traditionally been a feeling that the highest office in the land was only opened to pribumi or indigenous Indonesians. My problem with this is that Indonesia is a socio-political construct and as such who is indigenous in this sense? Some have even gone as far as to say that one must be Javanese to gain the highest office. Unfortunately, for those that believe this, Soeharto chose one B.J. Habibie to be his Vice President. When Soeharto stepped down and Habibie became President these arguments were no longer valid. Habibie was was not Javanese.

The point of posting is not to write a 50-page tome on the merits or lack thereof of race-based politics. I can publish that research in a journal if it is good enough! Rather my intent here is in light of recent violence between religious followers and between ethnicities within Indonesia, perhaps an evaluation of race relations and politics is warranted.

I feel that Indonesia must sooner or later stand up and stare down those who flame the tensions simmering within Indonesian communities. This stand has to be one for tolerance, acceptance, and unity.

Many will argue that Indonesia is about being diverse but unified (or as some claim fragmented but one) yet this is hardly played out in real life. There must be a time where Indonesians identify not as pribumi and non-pribumi, or as Arab Indonesians, or Indian Indonesians, or Chinese Indonesians, but rather as "Indonesians". Maybe there is a need to return to a more literal understanding of the ideology of Pancasila (Five Principles).

After more than 60 years of independence Indonesia is still squabbling about race, about religion, and about tolerance! The founding fathers and mothers of this nation are undoubtedly rolling in their graves!

Insecurity...Personal Musings

I have been wondering over the last few days about all manner of things as there are some big decisions to made over the next couple of weeks, particularly about the future direction of my life and by default the future of my better half and the kid (who will not be on the scene until late November but nonetheless affected by the decisions made now).

My position has not really changed over the last couple of weeks and I just do not see myself in Indonesia past the end of the year. The "big" meeting of the other week seemed to go well. I was asked to supply a bullet point outline of where I see things going over the next couple of years, which I did, but have heard nothing in return about that. So, I am not sure that this is a good thing or a bad thing.

I have been looking around and asking questions of people, as one does when you are making life changing decisions, about what I am worth and how hard is the hard ball I should play on this. It would seem that I am worth a lot more than I am currently working at. However, all these things are subjective and in the end you are only worth as much as someone is prepared to pay you. It is with this in mind that I do not think that I will be able to wiggle my true value in my current circumstances. So, much so that I must admit that I have not even broached the subject of what value I feel I am worth.

As is the way in Indonesia (and most other places as well) this is a negotiation and one that I am not particularly keen to start. Therefore, we are doing this merry little dance of going round and round in circles as I wait for them to make an offer so that I can gauge what they think I am worth and they in turn are waiting for me to see what I think I am worth. Ultimately, nothing happens.

The work stuff aside...the insecurity relates to things that are way into the future! Like am I going to be a good father. Others are more current and relate to things like am I being a good husband in terms of staying in Indonesia and working for so much less than I could be earning in Australia. Am I being a good husband and providing the life that my wife deserves? These questions enhance the feeling of needing to make a change in order that I feel that I am doing the things that I want to be doing and doing them right.

Sometimes I just feel that I am too selfish and only look at the little picture. So, in this time of serious re-evaluation I continue to lean towards going back to whence I came and perhaps answering some of the insecurities that I hold.