I have a BIG BIG dilemma at the moment. I am going to finish my PhD soonish (good grief, I must, I am already a year late!!). So I need to decide what to do next around nowish. Because if I want to do a postdoc, especially an overseas postdoc, I need to organise it soon.
I am finishing a PhD in astronomy. I like what I do. I love numbers, I love data analysis, I like lecturing. And now is exactly the right time to be in astronomy in South Africa - astronomy is really booming. We have lots of big astronomy projects going on (SALT, MeerKAT, SKA), there are lots of opportunities in astronomy. The South African government, almost inexplicably, is enthusiastically backing astronomy projects.
So it almost seems like a "for such a time as this" thing.
So if I want to launch myself into a career as an astronomer, what I should probably do now is a postdoc overseas somewhere. Spend a year or two getting some international exposure, making some contacts, learning some skills, getting some experience. Then I could either carry on working overseas. Or come back home and bring my experience back, join the astronomy community here.
I really don't want to settle overseas. I suppose that could change, but for the moment I really really want to settle in South Africa. So doesn't the second option above just sound ideal? Go overseas, work in some interesting research group, bring the skills back home and join one of the astronomy teams here!
But here is the thing. Whenever I talk about doing a postdoc overseas, I cry. This is not an exaggeration, I really cry. Its by force of will that I surf the web looking for info on overseas postdocs. I just desperately desperately don't want to leave SA.
Its not about leaving family or friends, although I will be sad to leave family and friends. It is hard to understand even for myself exactly what it is about. But somehow the thought of leaving SA just makes my heart break.
I have travelled overseas before, to Australia for about a week and to the US for a month or two at a time a few times for work. I'm not afraid of being lonely. I like to travel. I like experiencing different parts of the world.
Maybe I'm just being a diva, I don't know. I went to a panel discussion about "The state of our constitutional democracy" this evening, which was pretty good. And as one of the panelists was ending off an answer to a question I thought about leaving SA and I got all tearful all over again.
I really don't know why I am being so weird about this. I could grit my teeth and survive two years somewhere far away for the sake of learning. And I'm pretty easy going, I'd probably be happy pretty much anywhere.
So why am I making such a fuss?
I don't know really. Sometimes I battle to figure out what is going on in my own heart. I think it may be because I am so conflicted on what I want to do with my life. There is this part of me that loves loves loves numbers, maths, thinking through complex things, mastering a problem, computer coding, data analysis.
But there is this other part of me that worries very very very much about the state of our schools. And Home Affairs. A part of me that things TEACH South Africa is the coolest project ever. And the Equal Education campaign - wonderful. And there is a part of me that feels very strongly that we need as a nation to unearth and study our own literature. And that we need more mobile libraries. And and and... :)
Gah, it sounds like I am saying "I want to make a difference in the world." How utterly cheesy. I suppose that is sort of what I am saying though.
If I live my life, do my science, get some great exposure overseas, do some cool research, come back home and get a nice post somewhere and write papers and maybe get a "Prof" before my name. Well, for what?
I want the story about my life to be about more than me, you know?
So I suppose I'm saying that the path of career advancement, it just feels a bit empty.
But I don't know where that leaves me really.
Because... I actually do like what I do. And I want to be good at what I do. And its not as if I have a burning passion to do anything else.
Then there is the other factor, which could be an entire other post on its own. What I do is really difficult. Intellectually difficult, and also difficult because the way to move forward in my field is really to put yourself out there. Meet people, make contacts. Science research is all about collaberation. It is completely telling, for example, that when my supervisor and I made an arrangement to meet at a workshop next week, we made it to meet at the workshop cocktail party. Being a sucessful scientist is all about speaking to the right people at cocktail parties.
I'm sure there are lots of fields like that, actually. But I'm just not sure that I myself am cut out for that sort of thing. It makes my stomach hurt just thinking about that sort of thing.
Oh dear!!
Advice??
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Something to think about
One of these is a paraphrase of a statement that I heard Dr Oz make on Oprah tonight:
Two fundamentally different statements! Want to guess which statement he made? Which one would you say is true?
.
People of far-Eastern descent are missing the enzyme in their liver that breaks down alcohol. This is why in their cultures they mostly drink drinks that have been boiled (like teas) rather than fermented (alcohol).
People of far-Eastern descent are missing the enzyme in their liver that breaks down alcohol. This is because in their cultures they mostly drink drinks that have been boiled (like teas) rather than fermented (alcohol).
Two fundamentally different statements! Want to guess which statement he made? Which one would you say is true?
.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
You get what you measure
"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. ... The gross national product does not [measure] the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.
It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
Spoken by Robert Kennedy in the US in 1968. True in SA in 2009.
Stolen from Roger's blog.
What an incredibly insightful quote! We measure RDP houses built, but not families in homes. We measure unemployment statistics, but not the ability of young people to enter the job market. Or the excitement of your first pay check. We measure pass rates, not the pride of parents watching their children excel. We measure crime stats, but not the feeling of safety in your home. Or relationships with our next door neighbours. We measure death rates, but not grandparents loving their grandchildren.
.
It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
Spoken by Robert Kennedy in the US in 1968. True in SA in 2009.
Stolen from Roger's blog.
What an incredibly insightful quote! We measure RDP houses built, but not families in homes. We measure unemployment statistics, but not the ability of young people to enter the job market. Or the excitement of your first pay check. We measure pass rates, not the pride of parents watching their children excel. We measure crime stats, but not the feeling of safety in your home. Or relationships with our next door neighbours. We measure death rates, but not grandparents loving their grandchildren.
.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Ben Trovato's application to the Canadian Review board
Because it made me smile:
"Application to William Davis, Grand Wizard of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada"
by Ben Trovato.
.
"Application to William Davis, Grand Wizard of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada"
by Ben Trovato.
.
Monday, September 07, 2009
1 school 1 library 1 librarian
Last night I went to a talk by Zackie Achmadt about access to education in the New South Africa. It was very good, I left really inspired! The work they are doing is so great. He has moved away from TAC, handing it over to the next generation of leaders. He is now involved in an organisation called Equal Education, which seems to be an activist organisation that fights for education in a similar way that TAC fought for HIV/AIDS related issues.
One of the Equal Education projects is called "1 school 1 library 1 librarian" - they are campaigning for school libraries. IOL reports that "There are functional libraries at only four of Khayelitsha's 53 public schools serving 57 000 pupils" (here).
I have mixed feelings about the need for school libraries myself. I don't think they are a bad thing, I just think that community libraries are perhaps a better use of resources. I suppose there is something to be said on either side. Myself, I never really used the school library. But I went to our local suburb library probably at least once a week for much of my childhood.
I remember graduating from having a children's library card to having an adult's library card. Children's cards only let you take books from the children's section, but adult cards cold take out any books. It felt like quite a big transition in my life!
I think the benefit of community libraries is that they can serve a wider group of people, so they can be bigger, they can have more specialised library staff, they can run fun reading events for kids, they can have a wider range of reading material, etc. I think putting specialised libraries in schools just limits access of those books to kids at one particular school, and duplicates the effort of running a library.
That said though, I grew up in a reading family with a librarian mother. So using the library has been the norm since as far back as I can remember. Perhaps for kids who grow up in families that don't use libraries, perhaps having a school library that they are encouraged to use will help form the habit of reading. Where maybe they would not have been exposed to larger community libraries.
But still, I favour community libraries. If they are running well, if they advertise. If they have good staff. They can even run projects in conjuction with local schools.
What do other people think?
What I really REALLY am in favour of though, is mobile libraries! Our local library was being rebuilt at one stage, so every Wednesday the mobile library used to come park in the parking lot of the shops a few block away from us. So on Wednesday afternoons we used to go get books from the bibliobus!
It was really just a minibus, with the walls lines with shelves of books. The books would rotate from a central library, so their used to be a different selection every week.
I think mobile libraries are brilliant because they give *everyone* access to books - they can rotate through different areas of a city, and also go to small towns and rural areas.
I googled to look for mobile libraries running in SA at the moment and I found some projects:
* The Mobile Library Education Project in Khayalitsha.
* A mobile library project in the Free State (followup info here).
* Mobile libraries in Limpopo.
* Donkey drawn mobile libraries?
* Even the ANC commends the use of mobile libraries!
* And I know I shouldn't laugh, but this is kindof funny: Please help us find our stolen mobile libraries.
* Finally, some general info on SA libraries.
The Bua article above says that "About 21 mobile libraries are currently visiting 380 schools in four provinces, Free State, Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal on a daily basis."
21 doesn't sound like a lot! Better than nothing though, I suppose. Perhaps the mobile libraries need a "5 schools 1 mobile library 1 librarian" project!
.
One of the Equal Education projects is called "1 school 1 library 1 librarian" - they are campaigning for school libraries. IOL reports that "There are functional libraries at only four of Khayelitsha's 53 public schools serving 57 000 pupils" (here).
I have mixed feelings about the need for school libraries myself. I don't think they are a bad thing, I just think that community libraries are perhaps a better use of resources. I suppose there is something to be said on either side. Myself, I never really used the school library. But I went to our local suburb library probably at least once a week for much of my childhood.
I remember graduating from having a children's library card to having an adult's library card. Children's cards only let you take books from the children's section, but adult cards cold take out any books. It felt like quite a big transition in my life!
I think the benefit of community libraries is that they can serve a wider group of people, so they can be bigger, they can have more specialised library staff, they can run fun reading events for kids, they can have a wider range of reading material, etc. I think putting specialised libraries in schools just limits access of those books to kids at one particular school, and duplicates the effort of running a library.
That said though, I grew up in a reading family with a librarian mother. So using the library has been the norm since as far back as I can remember. Perhaps for kids who grow up in families that don't use libraries, perhaps having a school library that they are encouraged to use will help form the habit of reading. Where maybe they would not have been exposed to larger community libraries.
But still, I favour community libraries. If they are running well, if they advertise. If they have good staff. They can even run projects in conjuction with local schools.
What do other people think?
What I really REALLY am in favour of though, is mobile libraries! Our local library was being rebuilt at one stage, so every Wednesday the mobile library used to come park in the parking lot of the shops a few block away from us. So on Wednesday afternoons we used to go get books from the bibliobus!
It was really just a minibus, with the walls lines with shelves of books. The books would rotate from a central library, so their used to be a different selection every week.
I think mobile libraries are brilliant because they give *everyone* access to books - they can rotate through different areas of a city, and also go to small towns and rural areas.
I googled to look for mobile libraries running in SA at the moment and I found some projects:
* The Mobile Library Education Project in Khayalitsha.
* A mobile library project in the Free State (followup info here).
* Mobile libraries in Limpopo.
* Donkey drawn mobile libraries?
* Even the ANC commends the use of mobile libraries!
* And I know I shouldn't laugh, but this is kindof funny: Please help us find our stolen mobile libraries.
* Finally, some general info on SA libraries.
The Bua article above says that "About 21 mobile libraries are currently visiting 380 schools in four provinces, Free State, Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal on a daily basis."
21 doesn't sound like a lot! Better than nothing though, I suppose. Perhaps the mobile libraries need a "5 schools 1 mobile library 1 librarian" project!
.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Home Affairs
Apologies, I know I haven't blogged in ages. Mainly because blogger.com has been giving me hassles. But also because I have been powering on with work - I have quite a serious amount of work to do at the moment!!
Now blogger.com seems to be working again, so I resolved to blog. But I keep starting posts and then losing focus.
There is just one thing I do want to comment on though. I stumbled across this article on iol. It is about a young guy who managed to get a job, he just needed to produce his ID book to start working. But Home Affairs messed him around, told him he couldn't get it for whatever reason. And he ended up committing suicide.
My flat mate said she saw Minister Dlamini-Zuma speaking about it on TV. The minister was broken about it, tearful.
And you know, I am sure that she is a caring lady. And of course, of course, she isn't personally responsible for this tragedy.
But to be honest (and a bit brutal) I think it is about time that these kinds of high up officials realise what their departments are doing. When things aren't working, when ID books are getting lost or sold, taking months and years to process, when work permits are withheld for no reason other than the belligerence of Home Affairs staff who want a few hundred bucks for the effort of giving you the correct forms. When these government departments are messing up, people's lives are being messed up. People rely on the services of these departments. When they are not working, it causes people real problems.
It is not a small problem. It is a huge problem that impacts on many people's lives.
A kid I know has spent close to four years (FOUR YEARS!!! FOUR YEARS!!!) trying to get his ID document sorted out. He must be about 20ish. Somehow his name and ID number have been duplicated by someone in Joburg. Does this mean that some Home Affairs official in Joburg sold his ID so someone? I have no idea. But what it does mean for him is that Home Affairs still won't give him an actual ID book. Which means that his NSFAS student loan keeps refusing to pay his fees. Which means his results get withheld. It means he nearly lots his pace in residence at the beginning of this year, and very nearly lost it again this term. I've been helping him shout at people about this for the past 7 months. To no avail. Still no ID book, still empty promises by Home Affairs.
Come back after two weeks, he is told. How many months or years do you keep that up?
So I say, yes, Mrs Minister, stand in front of the TV and cry. Go home and lie in your bed and cry. Not because this is your personal fault, of course not. But because there are people crying all over our country because of your department. There are people who queue over and over again, only to be told to go away. There are people who travel long distances to get to their nearest Home Affairs office, only to be met with unyielding bureaucracy, with closed doors, with inefficient systems and disinterested people. There are people who eventually resort to buying IDs, work permits, residency papers. Not because they are corrupt people, but because the only way to get things done is to grease people's palms. And if you have no money to buy them... well, sorry for you.
We know you just stepped into your job. We appreciate that you really seem committed to it. We really hope you do well. We really hope you manage to turn things around.
But for the moment, we want you to cry. Every day we want you to go into the office under the weight of the helplessness and hopelessness of thousands of South Africans who contend with your department. And then we want you to fix it.
And then we will rejoice with you.
* I just found a more detailed story about the Minster's response here. "She said the department was a "difficult" one, which had never had a proper culture of service." - indeed!
Now blogger.com seems to be working again, so I resolved to blog. But I keep starting posts and then losing focus.
There is just one thing I do want to comment on though. I stumbled across this article on iol. It is about a young guy who managed to get a job, he just needed to produce his ID book to start working. But Home Affairs messed him around, told him he couldn't get it for whatever reason. And he ended up committing suicide.
My flat mate said she saw Minister Dlamini-Zuma speaking about it on TV. The minister was broken about it, tearful.
And you know, I am sure that she is a caring lady. And of course, of course, she isn't personally responsible for this tragedy.
But to be honest (and a bit brutal) I think it is about time that these kinds of high up officials realise what their departments are doing. When things aren't working, when ID books are getting lost or sold, taking months and years to process, when work permits are withheld for no reason other than the belligerence of Home Affairs staff who want a few hundred bucks for the effort of giving you the correct forms. When these government departments are messing up, people's lives are being messed up. People rely on the services of these departments. When they are not working, it causes people real problems.
It is not a small problem. It is a huge problem that impacts on many people's lives.
A kid I know has spent close to four years (FOUR YEARS!!! FOUR YEARS!!!) trying to get his ID document sorted out. He must be about 20ish. Somehow his name and ID number have been duplicated by someone in Joburg. Does this mean that some Home Affairs official in Joburg sold his ID so someone? I have no idea. But what it does mean for him is that Home Affairs still won't give him an actual ID book. Which means that his NSFAS student loan keeps refusing to pay his fees. Which means his results get withheld. It means he nearly lots his pace in residence at the beginning of this year, and very nearly lost it again this term. I've been helping him shout at people about this for the past 7 months. To no avail. Still no ID book, still empty promises by Home Affairs.
Come back after two weeks, he is told. How many months or years do you keep that up?
So I say, yes, Mrs Minister, stand in front of the TV and cry. Go home and lie in your bed and cry. Not because this is your personal fault, of course not. But because there are people crying all over our country because of your department. There are people who queue over and over again, only to be told to go away. There are people who travel long distances to get to their nearest Home Affairs office, only to be met with unyielding bureaucracy, with closed doors, with inefficient systems and disinterested people. There are people who eventually resort to buying IDs, work permits, residency papers. Not because they are corrupt people, but because the only way to get things done is to grease people's palms. And if you have no money to buy them... well, sorry for you.
We know you just stepped into your job. We appreciate that you really seem committed to it. We really hope you do well. We really hope you manage to turn things around.
But for the moment, we want you to cry. Every day we want you to go into the office under the weight of the helplessness and hopelessness of thousands of South Africans who contend with your department. And then we want you to fix it.
And then we will rejoice with you.
* I just found a more detailed story about the Minster's response here. "She said the department was a "difficult" one, which had never had a proper culture of service." - indeed!
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
A question on blank spoiled votes
Question for the floor:
I heard today that there were a surprisingly high number of blank spoiled votes in the April election in the GHT region.
Was this because:
a) These were people who did not want to vote (for whatever reason) but felt they needed to be seen to vote, because of real or perceived intimidation.
b) These were people who had supported the ANC in the past and perhaps still support the ANC, and who believe in the importance of voting, but felt they could not vote for the ANC in this particular election (for whatever reason). But out of loyalty to the ANC they also could not vote for another party.
c) These were people who believe in the importance of voting but felt that their views and concerns were not represented by any of the parties on the ballot.
d) Other reasons (please expand!)
I'm curious because at the talk where I heard this fact, people proposed a couple of reasons for the blank votes. And I had my own thoughts. And I'd be interested to hear what other people think...
I heard today that there were a surprisingly high number of blank spoiled votes in the April election in the GHT region.
Was this because:
a) These were people who did not want to vote (for whatever reason) but felt they needed to be seen to vote, because of real or perceived intimidation.
b) These were people who had supported the ANC in the past and perhaps still support the ANC, and who believe in the importance of voting, but felt they could not vote for the ANC in this particular election (for whatever reason). But out of loyalty to the ANC they also could not vote for another party.
c) These were people who believe in the importance of voting but felt that their views and concerns were not represented by any of the parties on the ballot.
d) Other reasons (please expand!)
I'm curious because at the talk where I heard this fact, people proposed a couple of reasons for the blank votes. And I had my own thoughts. And I'd be interested to hear what other people think...
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Whats happening to our server?
My brother John is a geek. He finished his Computer Science Masters earlier in the year, on artificial intelligence and it's application to internet worms (or some such thing). Now he works in Jobug spending half his life writing perl scripts and the other half driving to and from his job. He blogs about his semigration** to Joburg here.
The other day he sent me a transcript of an internet conversation he had with a friend. South African current affairs in geek speak...
(11:40:06) Alex: maybe if we had competent governement... oh wait, thats a pipe dream
(11:40:22) John: Dude, a lot of the current government is competent.
(11:40:26) John: Some parts aren't great.
(11:40:38) John: But quite a lot of it is, at least, substantially improved.
(11:40:49) Alex: well.. i guessd their not entirely incompitent.. but i think they should be the best
(11:41:05) John: Think about this for a second:
(11:41:10) John: If you were running a server.
(11:41:17) John: And it permanently ran at 10% load.
(11:41:30) John: And that's all you'd ever had, so you'd never been able to test it.
(11:41:40) John: And suddenly it hits 98% load.
(11:41:43) John: What is the server going to do?
(11:41:51) John: What's gonna happen?
(11:41:56) Alex: very likely fall over
(11:42:00) John: No.
(11:42:07) John: The term you're looking for is "undefined behaviour"
(11:42:11) John: It might handle it.
(11:42:12) Alex: ah
(11:42:14) John: It might fall over.
(11:42:15) John: Now.
(11:42:39) John: Our government, 15 years ago, catered for 10% of the populace. Then, in the course of about two years, began to cater for more like 98%.
(11:42:51) John: You wonder why home affairs queues are so long?
(11:43:00) Alex: yeh true
** John tells me that semigrating is moving withing your own country, but to an area that is so different that it feels like you have moved to a new country. Semigrating, like emigrating, only semi-emigrating... The jump from East London to Joburg is apparently big enough to feel like you have moved to a whole new country - semigrating!
The other day he sent me a transcript of an internet conversation he had with a friend. South African current affairs in geek speak...
(11:40:06) Alex: maybe if we had competent governement... oh wait, thats a pipe dream
(11:40:22) John: Dude, a lot of the current government is competent.
(11:40:26) John: Some parts aren't great.
(11:40:38) John: But quite a lot of it is, at least, substantially improved.
(11:40:49) Alex: well.. i guessd their not entirely incompitent.. but i think they should be the best
(11:41:05) John: Think about this for a second:
(11:41:10) John: If you were running a server.
(11:41:17) John: And it permanently ran at 10% load.
(11:41:30) John: And that's all you'd ever had, so you'd never been able to test it.
(11:41:40) John: And suddenly it hits 98% load.
(11:41:43) John: What is the server going to do?
(11:41:51) John: What's gonna happen?
(11:41:56) Alex: very likely fall over
(11:42:00) John: No.
(11:42:07) John: The term you're looking for is "undefined behaviour"
(11:42:11) John: It might handle it.
(11:42:12) Alex: ah
(11:42:14) John: It might fall over.
(11:42:15) John: Now.
(11:42:39) John: Our government, 15 years ago, catered for 10% of the populace. Then, in the course of about two years, began to cater for more like 98%.
(11:42:51) John: You wonder why home affairs queues are so long?
(11:43:00) Alex: yeh true
** John tells me that semigrating is moving withing your own country, but to an area that is so different that it feels like you have moved to a new country. Semigrating, like emigrating, only semi-emigrating... The jump from East London to Joburg is apparently big enough to feel like you have moved to a whole new country - semigrating!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Some thoughts
I haven't blogged for a while so this will just be a random Aquilogy style list of my thoughts:
* I am becoming more and more pro mob justice by the day. A guy I know was shot a couple of weeks ago for his CELL PHONE. For his cell phone!!! And the guy who shot him is from a family of thugs who have been in and out of jail, killed people, raped people. The justice system is just useless. Apparently when some ladies went to speak to the police about getting this guy, they said their hands were pretty much tied. And the community should do what they need to do. Gah.
You know, he wasn't a guy I knew well but I really admired him. It makes me sad, then angry, then sad all over again. Then angrier.
* Whats going on with all of these service delivery strikes? Someone care to enlighten me?
Are people burning things down because of sewage system etc issues? Problems with their municipalities not delivering? Or is it anger at seeing corruption in local government? The failing justice system? Crime? Lack of opportunities? Joblessness? Is it opportunistic agitating prior to local elections next year? Is it criminal, or instigated by criminal elements? Is it people at their wits end after grappling with useless local government for so long and just getting nowhere? Or is it people who have become more and more angry, feeling trapped in poverty? Why is it happening all now?? Are people disappointed that after all the ho-ha about electing Jacob man of the people Zuma into power, nothing much has actually changed?
* My continuos ponderance is this: What is Blade Nzimande up to nowadays? I would totally like to work for that man, just for curiosity's sake.
* Aaaand... nationalisation??
* Finally... my friends saw Vavi at the airport the other day but didn't have the guts to speak to them. Brushes with fame!
* Oh wait, one last thing... I was standing in the queue at KFC the other day and the guy in front of me hovered around and finally greeted me with something like "aight?" - now really, I am not cool enough to know what an appropriate response to that is. Anyone care to enlighten me?
I figure "aight" is "alright?" which is pretty much "how are you?" so I responded with "fine thanks, and you? Hehe, I'm such a dork, really!
**
* I am becoming more and more pro mob justice by the day. A guy I know was shot a couple of weeks ago for his CELL PHONE. For his cell phone!!! And the guy who shot him is from a family of thugs who have been in and out of jail, killed people, raped people. The justice system is just useless. Apparently when some ladies went to speak to the police about getting this guy, they said their hands were pretty much tied. And the community should do what they need to do. Gah.
You know, he wasn't a guy I knew well but I really admired him. It makes me sad, then angry, then sad all over again. Then angrier.
* Whats going on with all of these service delivery strikes? Someone care to enlighten me?
Are people burning things down because of sewage system etc issues? Problems with their municipalities not delivering? Or is it anger at seeing corruption in local government? The failing justice system? Crime? Lack of opportunities? Joblessness? Is it opportunistic agitating prior to local elections next year? Is it criminal, or instigated by criminal elements? Is it people at their wits end after grappling with useless local government for so long and just getting nowhere? Or is it people who have become more and more angry, feeling trapped in poverty? Why is it happening all now?? Are people disappointed that after all the ho-ha about electing Jacob man of the people Zuma into power, nothing much has actually changed?
* My continuos ponderance is this: What is Blade Nzimande up to nowadays? I would totally like to work for that man, just for curiosity's sake.
* Aaaand... nationalisation??
* Finally... my friends saw Vavi at the airport the other day but didn't have the guts to speak to them. Brushes with fame!
* Oh wait, one last thing... I was standing in the queue at KFC the other day and the guy in front of me hovered around and finally greeted me with something like "aight?" - now really, I am not cool enough to know what an appropriate response to that is. Anyone care to enlighten me?
I figure "aight" is "alright?" which is pretty much "how are you?" so I responded with "fine thanks, and you? Hehe, I'm such a dork, really!
**
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Quick Reviews: Ndumiso Ngcobo
Some of my best friends are white (Ndumiso Ngcobo)
Inexplicably, my mother gave this book to me for Christmas a year or two ago. And what a great surprise it was! It is incredibly funny, I recommend it to anyone. Full of anecdotes and reflections on life and race in contemporary South Africa. Fantastic. After reading his book I became a Ndumiso Ngcobo fan and started following his blog, which I think is one of the funniest things on the internet.
It is coz I'm black? (Ndumiso Ngcobo)
This is Ngcobo's second book, it only arrived on shelves a few months ago. I bought it enthusiastically and read it on a long bus trip to Cape Town. I'm sad to say that I was diasppointed. His first book was incredilbly funny and insightful and a little bit crass. And the funnyness totally made up for the crassness. His second book is very crass, reasonably funny, and rather try-hard. Unfortunately the funnyness just doesnt make up for the crassness this time. Not to my eyes anyway. Try-hard is a term I coined from my brothers high school days and means just what it sounds like it means. You felt like he was told to write another funny book and was trying very hard to write another funny book. Which ended up trying to be funny more than it actually was funny. Which is a pity, because he really does have a natural flair for being hysterical (his blog and first book testify to that.) I later read on his blog that "The racist publishers have reared their ugly heads again and dangled money in his face to pen yet another collection of hallucinations entitled 'Is It Coz 'm Black'." So there you go! Not his best unfortunately. Hoping for better next time. I've hear that second book pressure is intense, so maybe he will be on form again for his third.
Inexplicably, my mother gave this book to me for Christmas a year or two ago. And what a great surprise it was! It is incredibly funny, I recommend it to anyone. Full of anecdotes and reflections on life and race in contemporary South Africa. Fantastic. After reading his book I became a Ndumiso Ngcobo fan and started following his blog, which I think is one of the funniest things on the internet.
It is coz I'm black? (Ndumiso Ngcobo)
This is Ngcobo's second book, it only arrived on shelves a few months ago. I bought it enthusiastically and read it on a long bus trip to Cape Town. I'm sad to say that I was diasppointed. His first book was incredilbly funny and insightful and a little bit crass. And the funnyness totally made up for the crassness. His second book is very crass, reasonably funny, and rather try-hard. Unfortunately the funnyness just doesnt make up for the crassness this time. Not to my eyes anyway. Try-hard is a term I coined from my brothers high school days and means just what it sounds like it means. You felt like he was told to write another funny book and was trying very hard to write another funny book. Which ended up trying to be funny more than it actually was funny. Which is a pity, because he really does have a natural flair for being hysterical (his blog and first book testify to that.) I later read on his blog that "The racist publishers have reared their ugly heads again and dangled money in his face to pen yet another collection of hallucinations entitled 'Is It Coz 'm Black'." So there you go! Not his best unfortunately. Hoping for better next time. I've hear that second book pressure is intense, so maybe he will be on form again for his third.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Why I support the Doctor's Strike
I support the Doctor's strike.
Today I chatted to a friend who is a doctor, and now I support it all the more.
So let me explain why, drawing from my conversation with my friend. She is not on strike herself actually, she says she has too much work to go on strike. At her hospital all of the sections have been organised to run on a skeleton staff, and the rest of the doctors are striking.
Why I Support the Doctor's Strike
Firstly, it needs to be pointed out, the strike is not only about salary increases. The strike is also about conditions in hospitals. Watching the striking doctors on TV, I saw one carrying a placard reading something along the lines of: "fighting for a better health care system." That's is what this is about.
Problems with our health care system? Many. Equipment shortages, medicine shortages. Management. Administration. And as my friend says, "there are roaches, rats, cats!"
But one of the biggest problems: staff shortages (just a quick search leads to examples here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here). Because of the staff shortages, doctors are having to work longer hours. Twenty-four, thirty, thirty-six hour shifts are not uncommon, my friend tells me. Working till you are so exhausted you literally are collapsing, unable to work. That is a dangerous state for a doctor to work in.
And staff shortages lead to young inexperienced doctors and interns having to cope with work that is way beyond them. One of the articles above says that "interns are manning the emergency ward part of the time" (here). Out of their depth, and patients suffer.
Staff shortages lead to long queues, sick people who may have travelled hours and hours sitting for hours and hours more in waiting rooms. Some eventually being turned away and having to come back later. Especially in places like East London, people travelling from the far reaches of the rural Eastern Cape to get to the hospital. Very sick people. Then there are just not people to help them.
And as doctors get more and more tired, frustrated, more and more demotivated, unable to work in a crumbling system, burned out, they leave. A friend of mine who wants to work in a public hospital, and did work in a public hospital for several years, eventually went to private practice because he just couldn't take the frustration anymore. Another friend of mine emigrated. Not because he wanted to leave South Africa, but he just couldn't take it anymore.
As one of the articles above puts it: "It's about the push factor now, rather than the pull factor when it comes to emigration. Medical personnel aren't going overseas for better money any more. Many are accepting similar salaries for lesser positions just to get out of this madness and practise ethical, responsible medicine" (here).
The friend I spoke to today told me that of her graduating class, 33-50% admit to having to be on anti-depressants, they just couldn't take the heartache that came along with their jobs. She herself had to go onto anti-depressants, after working in rural KZN. She was in charge of a paediatrics ward, and months of caring for dying babies broke her heart.
And ironically, in the face of these huge staff shortages, when doctors leave their posts are frozen. So no one can be hired to replace them. Instead, more HR staff are being hired. Which would perhaps make sense if the HR/admin staff were fixing the system. But they aren't. My friend tells me that at her hospital complex every time a doctor leaves the doctor's position is frozen and the money is allocated to a HR position, which is then opened.
My friend worked in Baragwanath Hospital in Joburg for a while. There were 120 positions for interns there, she said. Only 60 positions were filled. Because nobody wants to work there - conditions are just too horrible. In her own words: "Its... its basically like hell on earth."
We are in the middle of a global recession, yes. But this problem with doctors salaries is a problem of the employer's (the government) own making. Doctors were promised a wage increase last year which wasn't followed through with. It wasn't even budgeted for - indicating that the state had no intention of making good on it's promise.
Doctor's have not been getting routine yearly increases for years and years. As for the increases the government have proposed now, because of the strike, they do increase doctor's basic salaries. But they take away overtime pay and they take away scare skills benefits. Which means the increase they are offering only amounts to about 2%.
Our public health service has many challenges. All of which need to be addressed. One of the primary problems is these chronic staff shortages. We need to treat our doctors properly if we are going to keep them. Part of treating them properly is paying them properly. It also means government must stick to their word and honour wage increases that they have promised.
I am not a believer in big government. I am not a believer in a carer state that dolls out free health care and education and social grants. I am not a believer in the state as a solution to all our problems: the government must fix this, the government must fix that, the government must provide. And I know that this is the worst possible time for doctors be asking for more money.
But as my friend says, the stick bends and bends and bends, but eventually it will break. And now it is breaking.
Our public health health system is in a major major crisis. And it needs to be fixed. It needs to be fixed yesterday actually, but today will have to do.
ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte has said, "that while the party empathised with the striking doctors, public health care and patients suffered as a result of the strike" (here). The ANC and COSATU have also accused the doctor's strike of killing patients (here).
The public have suffered for a week or two as a result of this strike, yes. But the public have suffered for years and years as a result of the ever decaying state of the public health care system. Which is not the fault of doctors. It is the fault of their employers, the state. And the public suffering will continue, and will become more extreme, if the system isn't fixed.
Today I chatted to a friend who is a doctor, and now I support it all the more.
So let me explain why, drawing from my conversation with my friend. She is not on strike herself actually, she says she has too much work to go on strike. At her hospital all of the sections have been organised to run on a skeleton staff, and the rest of the doctors are striking.
Why I Support the Doctor's Strike
Firstly, it needs to be pointed out, the strike is not only about salary increases. The strike is also about conditions in hospitals. Watching the striking doctors on TV, I saw one carrying a placard reading something along the lines of: "fighting for a better health care system." That's is what this is about.
Problems with our health care system? Many. Equipment shortages, medicine shortages. Management. Administration. And as my friend says, "there are roaches, rats, cats!"
But one of the biggest problems: staff shortages (just a quick search leads to examples here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here). Because of the staff shortages, doctors are having to work longer hours. Twenty-four, thirty, thirty-six hour shifts are not uncommon, my friend tells me. Working till you are so exhausted you literally are collapsing, unable to work. That is a dangerous state for a doctor to work in.
And staff shortages lead to young inexperienced doctors and interns having to cope with work that is way beyond them. One of the articles above says that "interns are manning the emergency ward part of the time" (here). Out of their depth, and patients suffer.
Staff shortages lead to long queues, sick people who may have travelled hours and hours sitting for hours and hours more in waiting rooms. Some eventually being turned away and having to come back later. Especially in places like East London, people travelling from the far reaches of the rural Eastern Cape to get to the hospital. Very sick people. Then there are just not people to help them.
And as doctors get more and more tired, frustrated, more and more demotivated, unable to work in a crumbling system, burned out, they leave. A friend of mine who wants to work in a public hospital, and did work in a public hospital for several years, eventually went to private practice because he just couldn't take the frustration anymore. Another friend of mine emigrated. Not because he wanted to leave South Africa, but he just couldn't take it anymore.
As one of the articles above puts it: "It's about the push factor now, rather than the pull factor when it comes to emigration. Medical personnel aren't going overseas for better money any more. Many are accepting similar salaries for lesser positions just to get out of this madness and practise ethical, responsible medicine" (here).
The friend I spoke to today told me that of her graduating class, 33-50% admit to having to be on anti-depressants, they just couldn't take the heartache that came along with their jobs. She herself had to go onto anti-depressants, after working in rural KZN. She was in charge of a paediatrics ward, and months of caring for dying babies broke her heart.
And ironically, in the face of these huge staff shortages, when doctors leave their posts are frozen. So no one can be hired to replace them. Instead, more HR staff are being hired. Which would perhaps make sense if the HR/admin staff were fixing the system. But they aren't. My friend tells me that at her hospital complex every time a doctor leaves the doctor's position is frozen and the money is allocated to a HR position, which is then opened.
My friend worked in Baragwanath Hospital in Joburg for a while. There were 120 positions for interns there, she said. Only 60 positions were filled. Because nobody wants to work there - conditions are just too horrible. In her own words: "Its... its basically like hell on earth."
We are in the middle of a global recession, yes. But this problem with doctors salaries is a problem of the employer's (the government) own making. Doctors were promised a wage increase last year which wasn't followed through with. It wasn't even budgeted for - indicating that the state had no intention of making good on it's promise.
Doctor's have not been getting routine yearly increases for years and years. As for the increases the government have proposed now, because of the strike, they do increase doctor's basic salaries. But they take away overtime pay and they take away scare skills benefits. Which means the increase they are offering only amounts to about 2%.
Our public health service has many challenges. All of which need to be addressed. One of the primary problems is these chronic staff shortages. We need to treat our doctors properly if we are going to keep them. Part of treating them properly is paying them properly. It also means government must stick to their word and honour wage increases that they have promised.
I am not a believer in big government. I am not a believer in a carer state that dolls out free health care and education and social grants. I am not a believer in the state as a solution to all our problems: the government must fix this, the government must fix that, the government must provide. And I know that this is the worst possible time for doctors be asking for more money.
But as my friend says, the stick bends and bends and bends, but eventually it will break. And now it is breaking.
Our public health health system is in a major major crisis. And it needs to be fixed. It needs to be fixed yesterday actually, but today will have to do.
ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte has said, "that while the party empathised with the striking doctors, public health care and patients suffered as a result of the strike" (here). The ANC and COSATU have also accused the doctor's strike of killing patients (here).
The public have suffered for a week or two as a result of this strike, yes. But the public have suffered for years and years as a result of the ever decaying state of the public health care system. Which is not the fault of doctors. It is the fault of their employers, the state. And the public suffering will continue, and will become more extreme, if the system isn't fixed.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Legalising prostitution
South Africa is presently toying with the idea of legalising adult
prostitution. The discussion document is available on the South African Law Reform Commission website (SALRC), for those who are interested.
The discussion document presents four options for the law concerning prostitution:
But for me, the thought of legalising prostitution is completely alarming. For moral reasons, including the fact that prostitution is primarily the brazen exploitation of poor women. People sometimes try to sell this as being about freedom of choice for women, being able to choose how to use their bodies. I might take that seriously if prostitutes were middle class women who decided to have a go at prostitution because it allows them to make some extra money to spoil themselves with, and still be at home with their children during the day. But thats a ludicrous thought, isn't it? Because women don't WANT to be prostitutes. No little girl grows up wanting to be a prostitute (unless she has watched Pretty Women, and then she actually wants to be a prostitute so that Richard Gere will come and save her from prostitution.)
Prostitutes end up being prostitutes primarily because they don't see any other options for providing for themselves or their families.
A friend of mine grew up in what I suppose is a semi-red-light district in my home town. She says that she was befriended by the son of a nearby brothel owner. Looking back at it now, she says she suspects it was a strategic move on the part of the brother owner, trying to draw her in. Thankfully she moved out of that neibourhood when she was still quite young. Now she is doing a postgraduate degree at university, loving what she is doing, and is one of my heros. Is very involved in education, she works with learner representative councils in township schools. It wouldn't suprise me at all if she ends up being the next minister of education :)
But she could have ended up as a prostitute, had things turned out differently. Isn't that a horrible thought? But if we make prostitution legal, we are saying that it is a legitimate choice. Imagine career counselors in poor schools recommending girls become prostitutes? Imagine them recommending *your* little girl becomes a prostitute? "Well, academics isn't your strong point and you aren't really gifted with people either. You don't have obvious leadership qualities... you aren't gifted with your hands. You aren't sporty. Have you considered prostitution?"
No no no!!!
One argument for legalising prostitution is that because prostitution is illegal, prostitutes are vulnerable to abuse and brutality by policeman. But that is a red herring, to my mind. Corruption in the police force should definitely be dealt with, but that is an issue on its own.
And this issue of legalising prostitution before 2010 - are we inviting foreign men to take advantage of poor South African women?
My first preference would be for the second option above (partially illegal), followed by the first option of prostitution remaining fully illegal.
But the more I read about it, the more angry I get. That we are seriously considering decriminalising prostitution entirely. Even setting up government bodies to regulate prostitution - it is like something out of Terry Pratchett.
I could write more, but let me just leave you with some choice quotes from the discussion document.
The SALRC is inviting comments on the discussion document, closing 30 June. So I encourage you to send in comments. There is an interesting article entitled "Myths and Facts about Decriminalization of Prostitution" on the Family Policy Institute website (here) if you want more information.
Quotes from the Discussion Document:
"Research shows that irrespective of the legal option [options 1,2,3 or 4 above] followed, women and girls in prostitution have a mortality rate 40 times higher than the national average."
"The latter study also found that it is not a job that the prostitutes like doing, or would choose to do should their range of options have been wider."
"Many are school drop-outs from abusive families, often bearing children from
adolescent relationships. Many have kids and grandparents to take care of. They face real financial pressures. But given their backgrounds, their options are limited. They can work as check-out girls at supermarkets; hang up clothing at retail stores; work as domestics; do waitressing; dress hair; sit at home; etc. or they can sell sex."
"The female prostitute has been the social outcast, the male patron has been accepted or ignored. She is visible and denounced, her existence tainted by her activity. He is faceless, a mere ingredient in her offence rather than a criminal in his own right, who returns to respectability after the encounter. In terms of the sexual double standards prevalent in our society, he has often been regarded either as having given in to temptation, or as having done the sort of thing that men do."
"According to this research, men [believe that they] have the absolute right to have their sexual needs met whenever and wherever they want."
"Some responded that all women would have to function as prostitutes in order to stop the institution of prostitution."
"Prostitutes do not view prostitution as a long-term career choice and at some point most prostitutes wish to leave prostitution."
And a quote that made me very sad:
"Nearly 40% of all black prostitutes interviewed had migrated to the major cities from the Eastern Cape."
prostitution. The discussion document is available on the South African Law Reform Commission website (SALRC), for those who are interested.
The discussion document presents four options for the law concerning prostitution:
- Prostitution is completely illegal (as it is presently)
- Prostitution is partially illegal (where it will be a criminal act for men to use prostitutes and running brothels will be criminal, pimping women will be criminal, but the prostitutes themselves will not be criminals)
- Prostitution is completely legal
- Prostitution will be regulated by government
But for me, the thought of legalising prostitution is completely alarming. For moral reasons, including the fact that prostitution is primarily the brazen exploitation of poor women. People sometimes try to sell this as being about freedom of choice for women, being able to choose how to use their bodies. I might take that seriously if prostitutes were middle class women who decided to have a go at prostitution because it allows them to make some extra money to spoil themselves with, and still be at home with their children during the day. But thats a ludicrous thought, isn't it? Because women don't WANT to be prostitutes. No little girl grows up wanting to be a prostitute (unless she has watched Pretty Women, and then she actually wants to be a prostitute so that Richard Gere will come and save her from prostitution.)
Prostitutes end up being prostitutes primarily because they don't see any other options for providing for themselves or their families.
A friend of mine grew up in what I suppose is a semi-red-light district in my home town. She says that she was befriended by the son of a nearby brothel owner. Looking back at it now, she says she suspects it was a strategic move on the part of the brother owner, trying to draw her in. Thankfully she moved out of that neibourhood when she was still quite young. Now she is doing a postgraduate degree at university, loving what she is doing, and is one of my heros. Is very involved in education, she works with learner representative councils in township schools. It wouldn't suprise me at all if she ends up being the next minister of education :)
But she could have ended up as a prostitute, had things turned out differently. Isn't that a horrible thought? But if we make prostitution legal, we are saying that it is a legitimate choice. Imagine career counselors in poor schools recommending girls become prostitutes? Imagine them recommending *your* little girl becomes a prostitute? "Well, academics isn't your strong point and you aren't really gifted with people either. You don't have obvious leadership qualities... you aren't gifted with your hands. You aren't sporty. Have you considered prostitution?"
No no no!!!
One argument for legalising prostitution is that because prostitution is illegal, prostitutes are vulnerable to abuse and brutality by policeman. But that is a red herring, to my mind. Corruption in the police force should definitely be dealt with, but that is an issue on its own.
And this issue of legalising prostitution before 2010 - are we inviting foreign men to take advantage of poor South African women?
My first preference would be for the second option above (partially illegal), followed by the first option of prostitution remaining fully illegal.
But the more I read about it, the more angry I get. That we are seriously considering decriminalising prostitution entirely. Even setting up government bodies to regulate prostitution - it is like something out of Terry Pratchett.
I could write more, but let me just leave you with some choice quotes from the discussion document.
The SALRC is inviting comments on the discussion document, closing 30 June. So I encourage you to send in comments. There is an interesting article entitled "Myths and Facts about Decriminalization of Prostitution" on the Family Policy Institute website (here) if you want more information.
Quotes from the Discussion Document:
"Research shows that irrespective of the legal option [options 1,2,3 or 4 above] followed, women and girls in prostitution have a mortality rate 40 times higher than the national average."
"The latter study also found that it is not a job that the prostitutes like doing, or would choose to do should their range of options have been wider."
"Many are school drop-outs from abusive families, often bearing children from
adolescent relationships. Many have kids and grandparents to take care of. They face real financial pressures. But given their backgrounds, their options are limited. They can work as check-out girls at supermarkets; hang up clothing at retail stores; work as domestics; do waitressing; dress hair; sit at home; etc. or they can sell sex."
"The female prostitute has been the social outcast, the male patron has been accepted or ignored. She is visible and denounced, her existence tainted by her activity. He is faceless, a mere ingredient in her offence rather than a criminal in his own right, who returns to respectability after the encounter. In terms of the sexual double standards prevalent in our society, he has often been regarded either as having given in to temptation, or as having done the sort of thing that men do."
"According to this research, men [believe that they] have the absolute right to have their sexual needs met whenever and wherever they want."
"Some responded that all women would have to function as prostitutes in order to stop the institution of prostitution."
"Prostitutes do not view prostitution as a long-term career choice and at some point most prostitutes wish to leave prostitution."
And a quote that made me very sad:
"Nearly 40% of all black prostitutes interviewed had migrated to the major cities from the Eastern Cape."
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Hope - a question
A question for anyone who reads this:
I'm pretty optimistic about the future of our country, I think we've done pretty well recently. So I'm hopeful about the future. And I like being a South African. Sure we have problems, but on this earth there will always be problems. And I rather like being alive in the problem-fixing stage :)
So bottom line: I am hopeful.
But from reading friend's facebook notes and listening to people speak about SA, it seems that there are also lots of people who have almost lost hope entirely. People who are angry and afraid and feel they have no stake in the future of the country.
Which I sortof battle to get. I know Joburg is a scary world to live in, so sometimes people from there are perpetually freaked out. Which obviously takes its toll.
But outside of that?
Are you hopeful? Or not?
Any thoughts on the matter?
I'm pretty optimistic about the future of our country, I think we've done pretty well recently. So I'm hopeful about the future. And I like being a South African. Sure we have problems, but on this earth there will always be problems. And I rather like being alive in the problem-fixing stage :)
So bottom line: I am hopeful.
But from reading friend's facebook notes and listening to people speak about SA, it seems that there are also lots of people who have almost lost hope entirely. People who are angry and afraid and feel they have no stake in the future of the country.
Which I sortof battle to get. I know Joburg is a scary world to live in, so sometimes people from there are perpetually freaked out. Which obviously takes its toll.
But outside of that?
Are you hopeful? Or not?
Any thoughts on the matter?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Heathrow
I was in Heathrow airport in London for the first time last week. Severely sleep deprived and lugging about a back pack with a laptop, two external hard drives, all the electronic bits and pieces that go with a laptop and two external hard drives, various adaptor plugs, a change of clothes and some other bits of pieces.
I had about a nine hour wait in Heathrow, and I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I was nervous to sleep in a public place, especially with my laptop and other works stuff on me. It just felt too vulnerable.
Anyway, eventually I really just couldn't keep awake. And I saw so many people sprawled flat on airport chairs, suitcases next to them, fast asleep. So I just bundled all my stuff into my backpack and slept on it.
But the reason I am telling you about Heathrow is actually that I wanted to tell you a funny story that happened there...
Before I passed out on my backpack, I went to the bathroom.
And it was pretty gross.
Not unlike the kind of bathroom you'd find at a petrol station on a road trip. And actually, on the scaffy side of that even. Water all over the basins. Toilets without proper seats. Toilet paper gunk on the basins. Generally it all looked like it really needed to be cleaned.
And in my sleep deprived state I smiled to myself and thought "how shocking, this is supposed to be a first world country!! And I am scared of touching anything in the bathroom!!"
I was walking out of the bathroom thinking this, and as I walked I overheard a conversation between two ladies in front of me, with what sounded like Nigerian accents. They were also complaining about the state of the bathrooms.
One of the ladies obviously heard me mentally agreeing with her, because she turned to me and the three of us commiserated about the dirty British airport bathrooms!
:)
(The picture at the top is of the luggage trolleys at the Chicago airport - you have to pay $3 to use them! As if! Although I eventually crumbled and payed the money, after ages spent wandering looking for my bus)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Youth Day
It is exam time at my university at the moment. A couple of years ago the university started using new exam scheduling software, and exams were inadvertently scheduled for Youth Day. Which I didn't notice at all actually - I'm a postgrad, I don't write exams, so I don't bother looking at the timetable.
I first heard about it when SASCO started making noise about it. And the university were digging their heels in an refusing to do anything about it.
I don't get very angry often But on this occasion I did, and before I knew it I had sent an angry email to the Dean of Students. Which the Dean of Students then forwarded on to the Registrar. And I spent a few days being afraid I would be expelled. (Silly of me!)
Anyway, to to commemorate Youth Day 2009, here is the email:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear ...
When I first heard that exams were being written on Youth Day, I was shocked. Tven then I assumed it must have been a mistake in the timetable planning, but nonetheless I was shocked that there was no announcement that it would be changed, no apparent remorse on the part of the university. Just an announcement from the SRC that if people writing exams on that day had a problem with it, they should contact them.
To me, this was shocking. I found it completely disrespectful, belittling our country's history. This is not just an issue of a few people who happen to be writing that day, its an issue for all of us. And a fundamental issue, to my mind, is that the university seems not to care at all.
Then the timetable changed, so we heard, because SASCO made their voice heard? And I was glad. And now I hear again that people are writing exams on Youth Day.
Now I understand that the reason exams were initially scheduled for that day was a mistake. I understand that now some of the students whose exams were scheduled for that day might prefer for them to be on that day, because if they are changed at this stage they will have awful timetables.
I understand this. I sympathize with the universities mistake - an easy oversight, new scheduling software, I heard? I sympathize with the students who now would prefer to write on Youth Day - better write then than suffer with a terrible timetable.
But I am horrified that it came to this. I am horrified at Rhodes silence, when the least we could expect is an apology. I am horrified that people had to make a fuss not to write exams on Youth Day. And I'm very disappointed
that Rhodes seems not to care.
To quote someone from the Rhodes forums:
"im dissappointed, infact ashamed, possibly angry
at the SRC and the student body as a whole We have really taken student
apathy to a whole new level....
Whether you write on that day or not that is not the point; the point is
atleast 1/4 of us our here because of the youth who died this day that we
are greatly disregarding"
I too am disappointed, in fact ashamed, possibly angry.
I know there is probably nothing that can be done to change things at this point, but I just wanted to express my disappointment in the university.
Regards,
...
I first heard about it when SASCO started making noise about it. And the university were digging their heels in an refusing to do anything about it.
I don't get very angry often But on this occasion I did, and before I knew it I had sent an angry email to the Dean of Students. Which the Dean of Students then forwarded on to the Registrar. And I spent a few days being afraid I would be expelled. (Silly of me!)
Anyway, to to commemorate Youth Day 2009, here is the email:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear ...
When I first heard that exams were being written on Youth Day, I was shocked. Tven then I assumed it must have been a mistake in the timetable planning, but nonetheless I was shocked that there was no announcement that it would be changed, no apparent remorse on the part of the university. Just an announcement from the SRC that if people writing exams on that day had a problem with it, they should contact them.
To me, this was shocking. I found it completely disrespectful, belittling our country's history. This is not just an issue of a few people who happen to be writing that day, its an issue for all of us. And a fundamental issue, to my mind, is that the university seems not to care at all.
Then the timetable changed, so we heard, because SASCO made their voice heard? And I was glad. And now I hear again that people are writing exams on Youth Day.
Now I understand that the reason exams were initially scheduled for that day was a mistake. I understand that now some of the students whose exams were scheduled for that day might prefer for them to be on that day, because if they are changed at this stage they will have awful timetables.
I understand this. I sympathize with the universities mistake - an easy oversight, new scheduling software, I heard? I sympathize with the students who now would prefer to write on Youth Day - better write then than suffer with a terrible timetable.
But I am horrified that it came to this. I am horrified at Rhodes silence, when the least we could expect is an apology. I am horrified that people had to make a fuss not to write exams on Youth Day. And I'm very disappointed
that Rhodes seems not to care.
To quote someone from the Rhodes forums:
"im dissappointed, infact ashamed, possibly angry
at the SRC and the student body as a whole We have really taken student
apathy to a whole new level....
Whether you write on that day or not that is not the point; the point is
atleast 1/4 of us our here because of the youth who died this day that we
are greatly disregarding"
I too am disappointed, in fact ashamed, possibly angry.
I know there is probably nothing that can be done to change things at this point, but I just wanted to express my disappointment in the university.
Regards,
...
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
After Tears
I love books, but they are expensive. So I only usually buy books when I am travelling long distance, bussing or flying. My hanging-around-in-the-airport treat to myself is a new book.
I've been going through an African and South African book phase for the past few of years. I bought How Can Man Die Better: The Life of Robert Sobukwe by Benjamin Pogrund in the Joburg airport CNA - that was a good read, I learned a lot (although I confess I never finished it! It just dragged a bit towards the end). The next time I was in JHB airport I decided to try some local fiction. But everything I found just looked so depressing. What did I end up getting? I don't remember... possibly nothing.
Since then I've remained on my quest for South African fiction. But what I really wanted is something light and fun. I'm up for biographies and tragedies and satire and what not. But I'm also curious about the stories we are writing...
So the last time I flew I scoured Exclusive Books in JHB International for some fun, current, South African fiction. They have a great South African and African books selection, by the way, if you are ever hanging about there.
What I eventually came away with was After Tears by Niq Mhlongo. The story about Bafana, a law student at UCT who failed his final year. He then returns home to his family in Soweto who have already nicknamed him "advo" (advocate) and are expecting him to make something great of himself. I thought it sounded like the makings of a great story. And the reviews on the back all praised the book and author, with accolades like "the writer of the kwaito generation"! So I thought I would take a dive into the "fast, hip and happening" (ref. dust jacket) and bought the book.
Well, I'd give it maybe a 2 out of 5. Or perhaps a 2/5 overall, with a 4/5 for characters.
I'd actually like to know what other people thought of the book, but I really wasn't very taken with it.
I think the book was going for the whole "this is the reality of township life" angle. Which could be a great thing, reading is a great way to get some insight into how people live. So seeing as that isn't my world, "this is the reality of township life" could have been great. And he did do a good job at painting that picture. With great characters especially. His characters were fantastic. Often with great dialogue.
But I thought there were two problems with the book:
The first problem is mine really: I am pretty prudish. So I found it quite shocking. I came away from the book resolving never to speak to any strange men ever again. I've noticed this in other current South African literature actually. It is actually the reason I won't read Fred Khumalo's books (and I really would rather like to). I suppose it is people trying to be gritty and real what not. But I'm sceptical about this. Good books aren't about impressing people with how crass you can be... they are about great stories and great characters and great insight and great humour. Or perhaps I just live in a bubble.
However, the second problem was actually the main one. If a book is good enough you can almost overlook it's crassness. But After Tears has almost no plot. I'm serious. Nothing ever seems to happen. Maybe there is some existential deepness going on there, but for me the reader, I just go bored. You can tell if I find a book really riveting: I read too fast because I want to see what happens next. But in this book, nothing happened. Well, a few things happened. But they all seemed a bit disjointed. Like a primary school essay: I did this. And then I did this other thing. And then she... and then he... and then and then and then.
He kept on introducing interesting characters, or interesting thing would happen that seemed like a plot starting. and then... nothing. His Zimbabwean friend wants to marry him to stay in the country... then nothing happened. Some old guy claims their family stole what was his house way back in the 70's... interesting? Very. But then nothing happened with it. Weird relationship with his mom's best friend... kinda gross? Yup. But interesting? For about two pages. Then nothing happened. Getting false degree papers then opening a business - that's interesting, right? Nothing happened. Uncle in jail for defending the family honour... interesting character! The beginning of a plot? Nope! No plot to be found!
Which was such a pity. Especially because some of his characters were so great - I wanted to see more of them. I wanted the ball to start rolling. For the story to start.
I read an interview with his were he said "I want my writing to provide my readers with everything they need to imagine the world around them... I want my characters in my novels to find many friends in many places around the planet, and give them the survival skills while facing challenges in this multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-creed and multi-lingual society of ours" (here).
That he certainly does!
His spotlight insights into different characters actually remined me a bit of the book Tsotsi (not the movie, the book, there is a lot more to the book!)
What photograph is to movie, this book is to books. And it is a really good photograph. Just not much good as a movie.
But I would be interested to hear what other people have to say. (Fred Khumalo seems to have loved it.)
I've been going through an African and South African book phase for the past few of years. I bought How Can Man Die Better: The Life of Robert Sobukwe by Benjamin Pogrund in the Joburg airport CNA - that was a good read, I learned a lot (although I confess I never finished it! It just dragged a bit towards the end). The next time I was in JHB airport I decided to try some local fiction. But everything I found just looked so depressing. What did I end up getting? I don't remember... possibly nothing.
Since then I've remained on my quest for South African fiction. But what I really wanted is something light and fun. I'm up for biographies and tragedies and satire and what not. But I'm also curious about the stories we are writing...
So the last time I flew I scoured Exclusive Books in JHB International for some fun, current, South African fiction. They have a great South African and African books selection, by the way, if you are ever hanging about there.
What I eventually came away with was After Tears by Niq Mhlongo. The story about Bafana, a law student at UCT who failed his final year. He then returns home to his family in Soweto who have already nicknamed him "advo" (advocate) and are expecting him to make something great of himself. I thought it sounded like the makings of a great story. And the reviews on the back all praised the book and author, with accolades like "the writer of the kwaito generation"! So I thought I would take a dive into the "fast, hip and happening" (ref. dust jacket) and bought the book.
Well, I'd give it maybe a 2 out of 5. Or perhaps a 2/5 overall, with a 4/5 for characters.
I'd actually like to know what other people thought of the book, but I really wasn't very taken with it.
I think the book was going for the whole "this is the reality of township life" angle. Which could be a great thing, reading is a great way to get some insight into how people live. So seeing as that isn't my world, "this is the reality of township life" could have been great. And he did do a good job at painting that picture. With great characters especially. His characters were fantastic. Often with great dialogue.
But I thought there were two problems with the book:
The first problem is mine really: I am pretty prudish. So I found it quite shocking. I came away from the book resolving never to speak to any strange men ever again. I've noticed this in other current South African literature actually. It is actually the reason I won't read Fred Khumalo's books (and I really would rather like to). I suppose it is people trying to be gritty and real what not. But I'm sceptical about this. Good books aren't about impressing people with how crass you can be... they are about great stories and great characters and great insight and great humour. Or perhaps I just live in a bubble.
However, the second problem was actually the main one. If a book is good enough you can almost overlook it's crassness. But After Tears has almost no plot. I'm serious. Nothing ever seems to happen. Maybe there is some existential deepness going on there, but for me the reader, I just go bored. You can tell if I find a book really riveting: I read too fast because I want to see what happens next. But in this book, nothing happened. Well, a few things happened. But they all seemed a bit disjointed. Like a primary school essay: I did this. And then I did this other thing. And then she... and then he... and then and then and then.
He kept on introducing interesting characters, or interesting thing would happen that seemed like a plot starting. and then... nothing. His Zimbabwean friend wants to marry him to stay in the country... then nothing happened. Some old guy claims their family stole what was his house way back in the 70's... interesting? Very. But then nothing happened with it. Weird relationship with his mom's best friend... kinda gross? Yup. But interesting? For about two pages. Then nothing happened. Getting false degree papers then opening a business - that's interesting, right? Nothing happened. Uncle in jail for defending the family honour... interesting character! The beginning of a plot? Nope! No plot to be found!
Which was such a pity. Especially because some of his characters were so great - I wanted to see more of them. I wanted the ball to start rolling. For the story to start.
I read an interview with his were he said "I want my writing to provide my readers with everything they need to imagine the world around them... I want my characters in my novels to find many friends in many places around the planet, and give them the survival skills while facing challenges in this multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-creed and multi-lingual society of ours" (here).
That he certainly does!
His spotlight insights into different characters actually remined me a bit of the book Tsotsi (not the movie, the book, there is a lot more to the book!)
What photograph is to movie, this book is to books. And it is a really good photograph. Just not much good as a movie.
But I would be interested to hear what other people have to say. (Fred Khumalo seems to have loved it.)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Quote of the moment
New quote of the moment:
"So we want to know if there are any economic conditions under which Eskom will not request unreasonable increases in electricity prices?"
- Mr Thami Bolani, from the National Consumer Forum (article here).
Bravo Mr Bolani!!!
And on an entirely different note, I was reading the Ferial Haffajee and Helen Zille exchange over the whole 100% male Western Cape cabinet issue. And Zille made the most perfectly awful comment:
"As for “race”, the top 12 positions (including the Speaker and deputy Speaker) are equally divided -- six people of colour and six whites. This is not a result of quotas."
- Helen Zille.
Oh dear!! *cringes*
-
"So we want to know if there are any economic conditions under which Eskom will not request unreasonable increases in electricity prices?"
- Mr Thami Bolani, from the National Consumer Forum (article here).
Bravo Mr Bolani!!!
And on an entirely different note, I was reading the Ferial Haffajee and Helen Zille exchange over the whole 100% male Western Cape cabinet issue. And Zille made the most perfectly awful comment:
"As for “race”, the top 12 positions (including the Speaker and deputy Speaker) are equally divided -- six people of colour and six whites. This is not a result of quotas."
- Helen Zille.
Oh dear!! *cringes*
-
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
This week's idea
I am a bit Pinky and the Brain-ish in that I am usually hatching some plan or another, thinking up some grand idea. It is not usually to take over the world though. Sometimes it is a business idea, or something I think should be changed, or some problem I am trying to think of a solution to (like how to make home affairs work).
It is just what occupies my mind when I am doing things that don't require thought.
A classic example is a question a digsmate and I posed to each other a few years ago: If you were given oodles of money, maybe a hundred billion rand, and told to use it to fix the AIDS problem in South Africa... how would you spend it? What would you do? I thought about it a lot and we discussed it. And she eventually gave the best answer I have ever heard to a question like that. Her answer actually still informs my thinking on those sorts of issues today.
There is always something to keep ones mind busy. A few weeks ago it was the problem of young people leading purposefully reckless liefstyles because of the possibility of an AIDS grant. And people with AIDS not taking care of themselves so their CD4 counts drop low enough to get the grant. That is a scary thing, isn't it?!
Anyway, my idea for this week is on running a science enrichment class. I was helping a young man who is repeating matric. We were going over some science and maths. He didn't have a science teacher for matric - can you beat it! His teacher moved to work at the Department of Education, and the school never replaced him! Sheesh, useless.
We were chatting about Faraday's law and electromagnetism and what not. He is a smart kid, he catches things quickly, and he is an interested student... asks questions, is keen. A pleasure to help really.
Anyway, it got me thinking of this week's grand idea. Something I would really like to do is to start a science enrichment class. Maybe on Saturday mornings. For kids in Grade 11 or 12, who are pretty good at science and hoping to study science at university. But go to schools that aren't great.
It wouldn't be primarily school syllabus based, though we could do some things in line with the syllabus. We would just do all sorts of fun science things...
we could make electromagnets, muck around with electric circuits, we could have an astronomy evening, we could read some Richard Feynmann, we could do fun intro's to univsity work, go on outings to interesting sciency places, use excel to make pretty graphs, learn sume rudimentary computer programming, make mobius strips, that sort of thing.
Maybe for a group of five or so kids. When I am finished with this whole university thing myself, I think I will try and do it! :)
It is just what occupies my mind when I am doing things that don't require thought.
A classic example is a question a digsmate and I posed to each other a few years ago: If you were given oodles of money, maybe a hundred billion rand, and told to use it to fix the AIDS problem in South Africa... how would you spend it? What would you do? I thought about it a lot and we discussed it. And she eventually gave the best answer I have ever heard to a question like that. Her answer actually still informs my thinking on those sorts of issues today.
There is always something to keep ones mind busy. A few weeks ago it was the problem of young people leading purposefully reckless liefstyles because of the possibility of an AIDS grant. And people with AIDS not taking care of themselves so their CD4 counts drop low enough to get the grant. That is a scary thing, isn't it?!
Anyway, my idea for this week is on running a science enrichment class. I was helping a young man who is repeating matric. We were going over some science and maths. He didn't have a science teacher for matric - can you beat it! His teacher moved to work at the Department of Education, and the school never replaced him! Sheesh, useless.
We were chatting about Faraday's law and electromagnetism and what not. He is a smart kid, he catches things quickly, and he is an interested student... asks questions, is keen. A pleasure to help really.
Anyway, it got me thinking of this week's grand idea. Something I would really like to do is to start a science enrichment class. Maybe on Saturday mornings. For kids in Grade 11 or 12, who are pretty good at science and hoping to study science at university. But go to schools that aren't great.
It wouldn't be primarily school syllabus based, though we could do some things in line with the syllabus. We would just do all sorts of fun science things...
we could make electromagnets, muck around with electric circuits, we could have an astronomy evening, we could read some Richard Feynmann, we could do fun intro's to univsity work, go on outings to interesting sciency places, use excel to make pretty graphs, learn sume rudimentary computer programming, make mobius strips, that sort of thing.
Maybe for a group of five or so kids. When I am finished with this whole university thing myself, I think I will try and do it! :)
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