KASAMA September 2008

KASAMA means friend, companion, comrade...
KASAMA September 2008
Volume 22 Number 3

Shinju Matsuri 2008

Broome’s Festival of the Pearl

22nd to 31st August.

Filipinos' contributions honoured in Broome's 39th Shinju Matsuri Festival

EMERGING CONSCIOUSNESS: ACKNOWLEDGING THE PAST AND EMBRACING THE FUTURE
by Deborah Ruiz Wall and Dee Hunt

THE PEOPLE, THE TIDES, THE STORIES, this year’s Shinju Matsuri (Festival of the Pearl) theme, aptly captured pre–Federation Australian history when many indentured workers from overseas worked in the booming pearling industry in Broome, Thursday Island and Darwin. This year Shinju Matsuri celebrated the contribution of the Filipino people to the wealth and culture of Broome.

Looking Back, Going Forward

Yejiro Yamasaki in 1903 purchased the land where the Sun Pictures building in Broome’s Chinatown still stands. He built an Asian Emporium selling picture postcards, foodstuffs, clothing and household goods imported from Japan. The Yamasakis were avid theatre enthusiasts and part of the building housed a traditional Japanese playhouse. Some time around late 1910 the Yamasakis left Broome for Singapore.

New laws to protect overseas workers?

24 SEPTEMBER 2008

Australian Senator Chris Evans, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, today introduced a Bill in the Senate that sets out a new framework “to better protect temporary overseas workers in Australia”

AGAINST THEIR WILL
by Kathleen Maltzahn

CURRENT LAWS THAT FOCUS ON PUNISHING SEXUAL TRAFFICKERS MISUNDERSTAND THE INDUSTRY AND FAIL TO PROTECT WOMEN

In a society that is still struggling to understand the mechanics of psychological and other violence against women, many people find it hard to match their idea of what sex trafficking looks like with the experiences of women actually living in such situations. Very few victims of trafficking are forcibly restrained by their traffickers.

The Solemn Lantern Maker
by Merlinda Bobis

Book Review by Pip Griffin.

A star has five lights. Noland thinks it so it must be true. Angels live in stars, with fire in their chests. So when they breathe, the sky twinkles.

Growing Up Asian in Australia

Edited by Alice Pung

Asian–Australians have often been written about by outsiders, as outsiders. In this collection, compiled by award–winning author Alice Pung, they tell their own stories with verve, courage and a large dose of humour. These are not predictable tales of food, festivals and traditional dress. The food is here in all its steaming glory – but listen more closely to the dinner–table chatter and you might be surprised by what you hear.

The Year of Philippine Australian Writing

This year marks a significant chapter in Australian literature: the first ever anthology of Filipino–Australian writings is published.

The book is ‘Salu–Salo: In Conversation with Filipinos — An Anthology of Philippine–Australian Writings’, edited by Jose Wendell Capili and John Cheeseman, published by Casula Powerhouse and Blacktown Arts Centre, Sydney.

AFAD’s Statement on the Commemoration of the
36th Anniversary of the Declaration of Martial Law

ASIAN FEDERATION AGAINST INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES (AFAD)

SEPTEMBER 21, 2008

As we commemorate the 36th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, we honor our beloved heroes and martyrs including the desaparecidos whose sacrifices will always be etched in our hearts and minds as we savor the fruits of their sacrifices and labor. We are also painfully brought back to the cruel period of history when the Philippines, where AFAD is based, was under the dictatorial regime of then Ferdinand E. Marcos.

What Muslim Mindanao Really Means to Arroyo
By Nathan Gilbert Quimpo

Focus On The Global South - Philippines Program:

Last month, Focus On the Philippines (FOP) commented on the MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) and the Mindanao question. Since then, the MOA-AD has been scrapped and the negotiations descended into an indefinite impasse spiked with armed hostilities escalating in Muslim Mindanao. In its September issue FOP has put together a virtual forum to keep the discussions going. Reflections from Sol Santos, Rufa Cagoco-Guiao, Nathan Quimpo, Octa Dinampo, Mon Casiple, and Herbert Docena offer handles for all of us who are trying to make sense of this recent MOA episode and the larger dilemmas that remain unresolved.

Stolen Wages - Worth Fighting For

The Queensland Council of Unions recently conducted regional consultation meetings in Brisbane, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Yarrabah and Cairns.

These meetings were exceptionally well attended by workers (claimants), community members and community leaders. Every meeting agreed that the recent government decision to quarantine $21.1 million into the Indigenous Queenslanders Fund was a disgrace and gave their full support to the ongoing campaign to have all monies, promised by Beattie in 2002, distributed to affected workers.