27 April 2015 - "KY!" - New Release!! - A novella about modern bullying

"KY!"

- New Release -

A novella about modern bullying!

G'day folks,

Well, I am finally releasing a book that won an award as a manuscript in the Australian National Literary Awards in 2006! This is my first novella. It is only 110 pages, but it packs a mighty punch. As you know, I've been an advocate and activist for kids worldwide. I've also been a social justice activist and human rights campaigner for decades. So, what's this novella about? It's about bullying, and the main character, Rida Khalid, is a Muslim girl who came to Australia with her parents and uncle as asylum seekers.

ORIGINS OF THIS STORY:

You might find this interesting. Having decided to write a story about bullying, I decided to use characters that were fairly topical at the time in Australia - mainly, Muslims, refugees and asylum seekers. Why not, eh?  I guess you are wondering how I discovered so many facts about bullying. Good question. When I was a kid, you were bullied physically or verbally. Nowadays, kids use those methods, but they also use emails, text-messaging, Facebook and any other form of technology or social media to bring you down.

One day I happened to be in our local library and noticed a teen girl's magazine that featured an article on bullying. I think it was Cleo Magazine. So, I borrowed it and read the article. A website was contained within the article, so I clicked on it and found hundreds of comments by teens who had been bullied, or were being bullied. It was a sad and sorry tale and, I'm convinced that for many of those teens, writing on this website was the first time they'd told anyone  about being bullied. You could feel their anxiety. It was palpable.

This is what I did. I cut and pasted about 80 comments from teens and printed them. Then, I drew a line down the middle of a large pad and wrote two headings: WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED and WHAT THEY DID ABOUT IT. I then proceeded to write the salient points under each of those headings. As you can imagine, many of the issues were common. 

So, folks, that is exactly how I developed a great knowledge about modern bullying.  I then set to work to write a story that encompassed every detail mentioned by the teens who had openly expressed their woes, fears, anguish and heartbreak on that website. 

WHY CHOOSE A GIRL AS THE MAIN CHARACTER?  

Another good question. This is not the first time I have chosen a female as the main protagonist. Nope, I have another series that contains three manuscripts so far, and fortunately, a publisher has shown some interest in them. But, don't get too excited. Also, Mister Rainbow, which will soon be released,  has a young girl and boy as the main protagonists. As a male, I love using girls and young women as my main characters. Why, because it's a challenge, and it keeps me on my toes as a writer. Not only but also, using girls as main characters will make your book appealing to girls, who are considered to be less reluctant readers than boys. Hopefully, a good business decision.

 WHY CHOOSE A MUSLIM GIRL AS THE MAIN CHARACTER?

When I wrote this, Muslims in Australia were often being demonised by a variety of people and groups. So were refugees and asylum seekers. Well, folks, nothing much has changed - sadly. So, as a human rights activist, I thought why not use a Muslim girl as my main character? When you read this book, you will agree with me - SHE'S A FABULOUS KID!

Julian Burnside, AO, QC, human rights activist, Australian barrister, refugee advocate, and author.

WHAT OTHER ISSUES DOES THIS BOOK COVER?

Being a teenager, fitting in, refugees, Muslims, Asians, Leukaemia, sport, competing, human rights, equality, books, loyalty, honesty, friendships, racism, bigotry, mateship and some great Australian writers and poets.

DEDICATION:

 This story is dedicated to those who

have been bullied; especially

to those who did something about it.

It is also dedicated to refugees and asylum seekers who,

by whatever means, made their way to Australia.

HERE IS THE BLURB:

Rida Khalid is a Muslim refugee from Iran. She is bullied by two girls at school for wearing a hijab (Muslim headscarf), reading books and wearing glasses, and seeks refuge in an old man’s garden after school. Rida meets an Asian girl at school, Ky, who also loves books, but Rida soon dumps her for a gawky girl, Carmen, who teaches her about fitting in. To be accepted, Rida removes her hijab at school, but she must wear her headscarf whilst competing in the inter-school sports. Her family will attend.

    Rida deliberately loses the first race because Carmen says, “Only nerds do well in sports”. The sports master berates Rida for losing the race and points to Ky who’s made an extraordinary effort to get out of hospital to watch her run. Ky is battling leukaemia. Rida wins the next two races and gives her winning ribbons to Ky for good luck.

    Rida enters the State Athletics Championships, but two athletics clubs lodge an objection to her hijab. Rida is shocked when a retired Queens Counsel (QC) represents her at the Equal Opportunity Commission. Who is he? Will Rida win the case? Will she run in the State Championships?  Will Ky beat leukaemia, and who owns the garden that Rida has used as a sanctuary?

    COMMENTS BY THE JUDGES:

These are the comments made by the judges, Randle Armstrong and Donna Murphy,  in the Australian National Literary Awards in 2006:

"KY! was well written and encompasses many issues relevant in today's society, including racism, bullying, Australian values, team-building through a common goal and illness; a worthy read for all young Australians."

Clancy's comment: Well, there you have it, folks. Many kids will identify with this book. And, many adults, especially parents, might learn some things that your kids are not telling you. Being aware is the name of the game. Youth suicide in this country is massive, and so often we learn after a teen has taken their own life that they were bullied. 

Naturally, I'd recommend this book to any age, but especially for teenagers and parents. As I said, it is not a long book. It's 110 pages, but trust me, it will grab you and make you flip the pages. Not only, there are a few gob smacking surprises in this story that you will not expect. Good ones! The final chapters will make the hairs dance on your arms. 

So, I've done the big sell. It's now up to you. This might be a great gift for your kids or grandkids. Head to my book shop at the top right hand corner of this page and buy a copy. It is not expensive, and might be the best investment you ever made. Oh, it's already got a five-star review on Amazon.

Thanks for listening.

I'm ...

 

27 March 2014 - AUSTRALIA'S GUANTANAMO PROBLEM

AUSTRALIA'S GUANTANAMO PROBLEM

by

Ben Saul

Courtesy of The New York Times

G'day folks,

As you know, I'm involved in Human Rights issues. Have been for many years. Having said that, I guess most of you who do not live in this country, probably think that Australia would be a great observer of Human Rights. Mm ... read on.  This article was written by Ben Saul, Professor of International Law at the University of Sydney, and published in the New York Times yesterday, 25th of March.

On a remote, sunny island, some 52 people have been detained for up to nearly five years without trial on secret evidence, with no prospect of release. A series of suicide attempts since 2012 speaks to their profound suffering. One man attempted to hang himself with a bed sheet. Another tried to electrocute himself. Another drank bleach. Another cut himself and used his blood to leave a message on a wall. All remain in detention; the government dismisses them as attention-seekers.

The island is not Cuba, where the United States holds inmates at its prison at Guantánamo Bay, but Australia. Over a decade after 9/11, the long shadow on human rights cast by America’s “war on terror” has extended to one of the world’s most peaceful corners. 

The majority of these detainees, most of whom I represent, are deemed security risks by the Australian government and housed in facilities in Villawood, a Sydney suburb, and Maribyrnong, near Melbourne. An estimated 46 are ethnic-Tamil Sri Lankans, most of whom fled to Australia to escape Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war between Tamil separatists and Sinhalese-dominated government forces. Three are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, where recent clashes between Muslims and Buddhists have caused hundreds of deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. One is a Kuwaiti Bedouin; another is an Afghan of Hazari origin, an ethnic group long victimized by the Taliban.

Last August, the United Nations Human Rights Committee found that the detainees were being illegally held, without proof or judicial protection, in cruel, inhuman or degrading circumstances. 

A committee report identified some 150 violations of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Australia accepted in 1980. It set a Feb 18 deadline for the detainees’ release into Australia, on security conditions as appropriate, which Australia summarily ignored. This flouting of United Nations recommendations is unacceptable: Australia should immediately release the detainees and guarantee them due process under national law.

The United Nations report also criticized Australia’s practice of detaining children, including infants. In 2009, three children under the age of eight were held with their parents at the Villawood facility. The report found that detention had severely impaired the children’s psychological development. The family was finally released last year, after the Australian Security Intelligence Organization revised its assessment.

In making a case for detention, Australia’s immigration department relies on a security assessment of each prisoner, covering everything from espionage to terrorism and people-smuggling. The burden of proof is not high; detention can be upheld even if the A.S.I.O. deems it relatively unlikely that the person under assessment may commit harm. As the organization is not legally required to disclose evidence, little is known about why specific risk designations are upheld. Many detainees do not know the grounds on which they are being held. Because no court or tribunal can independently test the organization’s claims, it is impossible to know whether the detainees are truly dangerous.

The security organization asserts that the Villawood and Maribyrnong prisoners might commit politically motivated acts of violence. In the case of the Tamil detainees, it alleges prior relationships with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the rebel group that carried out attacks and suicide bombings during the Sri Lankan civil war. But few of the detainees fought in that war, and none is alleged to have harmed civilians or committed terrorist acts. Many were nominally associated with the Tigers because they lived in parts of Sri Lanka that fell under Tamil control. One was a civilian lawyer for the Tamils; another dug ditches to shelter civilians. Australia’s immigration department in 2010 and 2011 extraordinarily granted refugee status to all of the detainees; a designation explicitly denied anyone who has committed past acts of terrorism, or who is believed to pose a serious future risk. 

Few Australians, it would seem, are troubled by the plight of the detainees. Certainly no sizeable political constituency has expressed concern, perhaps because “boat people” are generally unpopular. But perhaps the larger problem is that, since reporting inside detention centers is restricted, the refugees have largely remained invisible. 

Sustained international pressure is therefore essential. Australia cares greatly about its reputation, particularly with democratic peers like Britain, the European Union, Canada, Japan and Indonesia. Even China, Australia’s largest economic partner — and a country whose own human rights record is hardly unblemished — could be a useful lever. During a bilateral human rights dialogue last month, China rebuked Australia’s treatment of the refugees; Australia is sure to come in for even harsher criticism when it appears in July 2015 before the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The International Criminal Court could also consider whether the indefinite detention at Villawood and Maribyrnong amounts to crimes against humanity. The United Nations tribunal report provides ominous evidence of it, and Australia has accepted the court’s jurisdiction. Australian officials might finally take notice if they think they could face prison.

 Motivation to accede to United Nations demands may come from yet another source: the United States. Australia regards Washington as its closest ally and has long followed America’s lead on the treatment of detainees. For years, the Bush administration contravened United States Supreme Court rulings on judicial oversight at Guantánamo, where inmates are held indefinitely under laws of war. And the Obama administration has dragged its feet on closing Guantánamo, despite clear evidence of human rights abuses. 

But this month, the American military announced the repatriation of an Algerian who had been held at Guantánamo without trial for 12 years. Last month, a United States federal appeals court ruled that the judiciary could hear complaints regarding conditions at the prison. If America is finally moving toward the more humane treatment of detainees, Australia should take note.

Clancy's comment: Many thanks to Professor Ben Saul, and to The New York Times. What a disgraceful state of affairs. And to think that all of this is occurring under the watch of our current Prime Minister, Tony Abbott MP, who is supposedly a devout Catholic. It is also under the direct guardianship of a Pentecostal - Scott Morrison MP, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Maybe someone should remind both of them that Mary and Joseph were also refugees.

Amen.

I'm ...

Think about this!