The Transit Lounge

Let Grover explain.

By John Jegasothy

It was just few months after our family arrived in Australia on humanitarian entrance from Sri Lanka. I went to the bank in Strathfield for a transaction. I had to go pass a man who was blocking the way to join the queue (real queue!).  I politely said “excuse me” and walked passed him. He started abusing me saying that I did not use the word ‘please’ and went on with his verbal abuse.  I was embarrassed and humiliated in front of the people.  What did I do wrong?  In my language and culture if you say ‘excuse me’ or ‘sit down’ in a polite and kind way with a correct grammatical ending, that is enough.  We do not have to say ‘please.’  I was confused but it was long after experiencing a few more rude behaviours and abrupt response from ‘others’ who were not like me, I realized it was racism in some form or another. I started to realize that it was more than ‘polite language’ but something to do with my skin colour.

by Bronwyn Thompson

“Just briefly, Mary. We’re not trying to convert, you know?” The ladies all howl with delight at Maha’s instruction. We all love Mary: her warm smile is always the first thing any of us notice when she enters the hall each week, but we’ve also noticed she has a tendency toward effusive and at times lengthy descriptions! Mary is from Egypt, and of the Coptic Orthodox faith. “Ok, ok, I’ll be brief!” she smiles. She begins her talk on the history and beliefs of her faith, translating into English what she is reading from a document written in Arabic. She goes on to introduce the dish she has cooked for us to share. It’s a pasta dish, taken from her culture, but this time prepared with the omission of some ingredients. She explains that this is because we’re part way through the season of Lent, and Mary’s daughter has chosen to fast. In the Coptic Orthodox tradition, this means eating each day only after noon, and avoiding some foods altogether.

Reviewed by Tom Ganderton

I’ve always thought of Alzheimer’s as a scary word. While I’ve never personally been touched by the disease, it represents tragedy, a loss of control, loss of memory and ultimately a loss of life.

In Australia, it’s more common that you may think. In 2008, 227 300 cases of dementia, including Alzheimer’s, were confirmed. This number is expected to rise to 731 000 by 2050 unless a cure is found.

It also carries a significant social stigma.

Most people prefer to pass of symptoms embarrassingly as a ‘senior moment’ and put the very idea that they might be suffering from this degenerative disease behind them.

Alison Atkinson-Phillips

The inaccurately named Parliament of the World’s Religions held in Melbourne recently was not a parliament in the sense of a decision-making body, or even in terms of having actual representatives from all the world’s religions — although organisers claimed to have 220 religions and spiritual traditions represented.

In most sessions, there was a domination of local (Australian) and North American voices, perhaps reflecting the fact that the Parliament’s headquarters is in Chicago, where the first Parliament was held over 100 years ago, and the first modern Parliament held in 1984.