Around the News Desk -- June 18
Intolerance, says the notice placed in several Australian newspapers, has no place in a civilised world. The message was posted after the better than expected results for Pauline "Salt'n'vinegar on that luv?" Hanson in Queensland elections. Asians are going nuts over Hanson's protectionist and anti-immigration policies.
Reading through some of the editorials in Asian newspapers, one would think that Hanson and her One Nation party were only slightly left of Atilla the Hun or the GOP. Australia hasn't escaped the Asian economic meltdown and Australian states like Queensland are feeling the pinch. So far at least they haven't followed in the footsteps of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia and begun deporting people - in their tens of thousands!!
Okay, I'll front up and admit that I do not particularly support the policies of the Fish'n'Chip Queen. But I love going a little against the grain and raining on the parades of people who always like to see the worst in others - without taking a good long look at themselves first. For example, if a Thai student studying in a Queensland university gets bored living in a dorm they can go out and buy themselves a house, apartment or even a hotel if they want to. No restrictions. But an Australian living in Thailand for 20 years or more, paying his or her taxes, inflated 'foreigner' rents, contributing to the society - cannot buy property. Protectionist? No, says Thailand, national security!
Tourism is a major Thai industry and perhaps that is why entry into the Kingdom for two or three week holidays is so problem free. This is a courtesy not extended to Thai nationals, however, for almost every overseas trip a Thai must apply for a visa before leaving Bangkok. And it isn't just Australia that imposes restrictive regulations on Thai tourists. This is grossly unfair. But for people who stay in Thailand longer than the average sunbather, they will soon come across rules and regulations that can sometimes make a foreigner feel like a second class citizen - feel discriminated against. Some of the restrictions on immigrants proposed by Hanson are tame in comparison. It's just that Australia has a reputation as a tolerant society that makes Hanson's proposals so controversial. And we all know how tolerant Australia really is - just ask any Aboriginal. Or a pal of mine, an ethnic Macedonian from Melbourne, he couldn't wait to get out and vows never to return!
Oh yes, I do have a very good friend who is an ethnic Macedonian - despite the fact that I am often accused of being a Serb apologist. When I was invited to attend an international forum of journalists in Belgrade a few years ago, he kindly spent a lot of time teaching me the basics of Serbo-Croat - how to order a beer, find the toilet, that sort of thing. Y'know, the essentials for a journalist overseas. He understands that while I am not pro-Serb, I hate to see unbridled bias in the print and broadcast media. He's also one of the few people who I would trust to babysit my kids.
Which segues nicely into the Moscow summit between Slobodan "anti-Christ" Milosevic and Boris "call me a Chechen" Yeltsin. When it comes to overreacting to ethnic uprisings and refusing to discuss minority independence, these two guys have a lot in common. But they did strike a deal - one that unfortunately falls far short of what Western dips and pols wanted to see. Milosevic has agreed to talks with Kosovo-Albanian leaders - nothing new in that. He's agreed to put greater autonomy on the table - nothing new in that either. He's refused to pull the Yugoslav Army out of Kosovo. This is the excuse the Kosovo Liberation Army will use to 'urge' their more tolerant and pragmatic countrymen to boycott the talks - just as they have done every time Belgrade sent a negotiating team to Pristina.
Q: Who is being instransigent here? And who is encouraging them?
A: Kosovo Albanians. NATO.
Something to think about. Yesterday, Wednesday 17th June, I saw a report by a BBC correspondent filed from the editorial offices of Pristina's biggest selling Albanian language newspaper. The journos sitting at their computer terminals were not writing complimentary editorials about Milosevic. Nor were they shy about voicing their criticism of Milosevic and his army's crackdown. But think about it. Pristina is the capital of Kosovo. A couple of months ago how many newspapers in Jakarta were writing the same sort of thing about Suharto?
For the sake of argument let us say Milosevic is guilty of crimes against humanity, but then so was Suharto - I doubt anyone would argue with that. But Suharto received IMF bailouts and Milosevic is already subject to sanctions and receives dire warnings from NATO. What does that tell us about Western political leaders? Think about it before you email me suggesting that NATO should drop Sarin on Belgrade.
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