[Vnbiz] Australia's First ever Aboriginal Championship Captain
Shane Wall
shane.wall at translingualexpress.com
Sun Feb 24 10:56:59 PST 2008
Hi Duyen,
Of course you are right, but Aboriginal people are already very proud
of Cathy Freeman, and so they should be. I remember reading an article
about her when she was an "up and coming" junior athlete. It was about
15+ years ago, but the essence of the story was that "she isn't the most
naturally talented runner, but she works the hardest to make the most of
her talents". In fact, she worked so hard that in less than 1 minute at
the Sydney Olympics, she etched her name forever into Australian folklore.
My point is that there are many, many more Aboriginal Australians who
have achieved ground-breaking successes, but will never be widely
recognized. Jade North is one of those people. I have had the privilege
to be the captain of a competitive sporting team a couple of times in my
life. It is a great honor and a humbling experience. FYI, in Australian
sporting culture, the Captain is traditionally selected by the other
players. It means that your peers, the people who play the game
alongside you, consider you to be their leader. It is a very flattering
but scary thing.
The most important points to remember are that Aboriginal Australians
make up less than 1% of Australia's total population and have many, many
difficult social issues to deal with in their daily lives. There is a
direct analogy with the ethnic minorities in Vietnam. In Australia, my
white predecessors took the land away from the Aboriginal people. In
Vietnam, the Kinh majority have taken the land away from the ethnic
minorities. Some people say as many as 600 Australian Aboriginal
languages or dialects have become extinct in the last 220 odd years as
English was forced upon everybody through the schooling system. The same
thing is happening in the central and northern highlands of Vietnam
right now!
I am not Vietnamese, so I will not venture to say if this policy is
right or wrong. However, I am Australian, so I can say that I believe
white Australian politicians over the decades of the last century sowed
the seeds of destruction that are causing so many problems for
Aboriginal Australians today. I fear that something similar is happening
in Vietnam right now, but it is up to the Vietnamese people to decide
what to do about it.
There is a quote that I vaguely remember about judging a country by
the way it takes care of it's poorest and most disenfranchised citizens.
I'm sure one our more learned colleagues will be able to provide the
exact quote.
Shane
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Shane Wall
Managing Director
Trans Lingual Express
188/16 Nguyen Thuong Hien St,
P.1, Q. Go Vap, HCMC,
Vietnam
Mail: shane.wall at translingualexpress.com
Web: www.translingualexpress.com
Ph: +84 (8) 588 1701
Mbl: +84 (090) 9484 753 (English)
Mbl: +84 (090) 7885 375 (Vietnamese)
Duyen Nguyen wrote:
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Hi anh Shane,
> Thankyou for your information.
> I think that Aborigines should also be proud of Kathy Freeman, too?
> She is a symbol of Sydney Olympic 2000?
> best regards
>
>
> On 2/24/08, *Shane Wall* <shane.wall at translingualexpress.com
> <mailto:shane.wall at translingualexpress.com>> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
> Hi CACC,
> It will not mean very much to most people around the world, but
> history was made in Australia today, Sunday 24 February 2008.
>
> The Newcastle Jets won their first ever Australian Soccer League
> Championship today, beating the Central Coast Mariners 1-0. A jubilant
> result for the working-class mining community of the regional NSW city
> of Newcastle, but an even greater triumph for Aboriginal Australians.
>
> Aboriginal Australians have displayed exceptional sporting
> talent and
> prowess for eons. All along, we white Australians have "ridden on
> their
> backs" to share their glory. World famous names like boxer Tony
> Mundine
> or Cathy Freeman the runner, to strictly Australian heroes like Sidney
> Jackson and Graham Pollack - both Australian Football legends, to
> names
> that straddle many areas, like Anthony Mundine (son of Tony) who
> made a
> name for himself in the game of Rugby League, has since gone on to
> become a World Champion boxer like his dad - and who many white
> Australians "love to hate" because of his perceived public
> personality.
>
> Ladies and Gentleman, add one more name to the great pantheon of
> Aboriginal sporting glory - Jade North.
>
> Who? Just the FIRST EVER Aboriginal Australian to be Captain of a
> Championship winning team. In any sport. Ever! That's who!
>
> I humbly suggest that Aboriginal Australia should be proud of this
> young man. I watched the game on TV here in Vietnam. It was a
> sometimes
> 'fiesty' affair. This young Aboriginal man led his fellow
> Greek-Australian, Italian-Australian, Anglo-Australian, etc. teammates
> to the ultimate glory in his sport. He may not have the
> headline-grabbing prodigious talent of others in his game, but he has
> something that most of us do not: born leadership qualities. It was
> totally obvious that he had the unquestioning loyalty and respect from
> his teammates.
>
> During the game this young man sometimes appeared authoritarian and
> sometimes was obviously conciliatory to his teammates. However,
> throughout the 90 minutes, there was never any doubt about who was the
> leader of Newcastle Jets on the pitch - Jade North!
>
> Although I am an Adelaide supporter, I congratulate Newcastle on
> their triumph and I applaud and acknowledge Jade North as another
> Aboriginal Sporting Icon. Congratulations Jade! Congratulations
> Aboriginal Australia!
>
> For my Vietnamese brothers and sisters, this is equivalent to an
> E'de
> person (or any other ethnic minority) being the captain of the
> Champion
> team in the Vietnam Football League. It is a BIG achievement that will
> largely be unrecognized by the majority population.
>
> Shane
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mr. Shane Wall
> Managing Director
>
> Trans Lingual Express
> 188/16 Nguyen Thuong Hien St,
> P.1, Q. Go Vap, HCMC,
> Vietnam
>
> Mail: shane.wall at translingualexpress.com
> <mailto:shane.wall at translingualexpress.com>
> Web: www.translingualexpress.com <http://www.translingualexpress.com>
>
> Ph: +84 (8) 588 1701
>
> Mbl: +84 (090) 9484 753 (English)
> Mbl: +84 (090) 7885 375 (Vietnamese)
>
>
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>
> --
> With best regards
>
> Nguyen Van Duyen
> Master of Environment Law (Sydney)
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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