MAY DAY POWERFUL PEOPLE PARADE

The May Day parade at noon in Fremantle today was huge and showed the strength of people power.

It is always noisy and very colourful when thousands of unionists march through our port city. I really like the tradition and significance of it.

Roel Loopers

Feel free to share the photos on social media! Click on them to enlarge

THE SOUND OF SILENCE ART EXHIBITION

Voice in Voices is a Ph.D graduation exhibition by Tami Xian in the Moores Contemporary Art Gallery in Fremantle’s Henry Street.

There are a lot of small red megaphones/loudhailers suspended from the ceiling, and is about the many voices that were silenced in China in recent years.

Roel Loopers

THE AGE OF DISCONNECTION

This is my slightly altered Roel’s Round weekly column in the Fremantle Herald this weekend. Please advertise in our Freo Cook! We need our one and only local community newspaper!

Here is my ‘rant’:

The recent terrible events in Sydney should be a wake up call for our entire nation, that our current status quo is no longer working. We have created a society of disconnect. Disconnect that is resulting in violence, hatred and murder.

It is somehow irrelevant if people kill because of terrorism or mental health issues, because all of them are perpetrated by people who are disconnected from society and their communities.

We are proud that Australia is a multicultural society, but at the same time there are still many who insist we are a Christian country. We have people who claim not to be racists, but who don’t like Aborigines, coloured people, Muslims, etc. For them there is something wrong with anyone who is different from the norm they set for themselves. Our lack of tolerance is as disappointing as it is worrying.

Nationalism and tribalism are running riot. We believe in an urban myth and claim to be the best country in the world, where everyone gets a fair go, because we are oh so tolerant. That is ignorant nonsense. There is a lot of religious, racial, political, gender, and social intolerance in our country, and there is an unacceptable and unexplainable high degree of domestic violence.

Tribalism starts early in life, when people join a sports team. That supposedly also means one has to hate every other team in the competition. If you are a Fremantle Dockers fan, you have to hate the West Coast Eagles, and all other clubs and their supporters. How more silly can it get? It is only sport, not war, FFS! It moves on to politics from there, so we hate all those on the other side(s) of politics and accuse them of being biased. Like in religion, my leader, my God, is better than yours, so we argue, fight, stop listening, and close our minds and hearts. That too creates isolation.

After thousands of years we still engage in religious wars. What is happening in Gaza is a war between Christians and Muslims. The initial murders and kidnapping at a music festival by Hamas terrorists, resulted in even more devastating violence by Israel. Those who condemn that and support Palestinians are dismissed as being antisemitic.

We hate, judge, dismiss and ignore. Those whom we consider not to be normal, whatever that means, are treated with contempt. Ask the homeless, vagrants, dark coloured, gays, lesbians and trans people, and those with mental health issues, how people look down on them. We do not connect well, or not at all, with those who are different, hence they feel rejected and very isolated. That creates resentment and anger, that sadly sometimes escalates in violence and murder.

The main media is obsessed with reporting negative stories, and whilst social media gives us a great opportunity to connect, it has created more divisiveness, because there is a mass spreading of disinformation, conspiracy and nastiness, together with live streaming of murder and violence, as did happen during the Bondi Junction stabbings. We are constantly confronted with misery, but rarely do we get positive stories reported in the media. That makes vulnerable people even more apprehensive about life.

The feeling of isolation and disconnect from the community also applies to young people and seniors. There is an huge sense of loneliness in our society, hence we hear of tiny children committing suicide, but many grown up men also no longer see a future.

We can not expect our governments to do it all for us. It is up to all of us, each and everyone of us, to reach out and connect to those who are different, or just bloody lonely. We need to learn to understand and accept our differences better. It should not matter at all in which one of the mythical Gods one wants to believe. What does matter is that we take responsibility for our own actions and attitude, and care about others. Connecting with everyone in our communities will result in a much safer and more coherent society, a society where we show respect and tolerance for others.

Roel Loopers

LIFE IS A SHORT WONDERFUL CHALLENGE

The sudden death of very likeable Fremantle Ports CEO Michael Parker at the age of only 52, and the death of my good mate Henty Farrar last year, who died within three months of having been diagnosed with a brain tumor, made me contemplate how important it is to get the balance of life right.

It is so difficult to resist the performance pressure we are all under from an early age. We are expected to excel at school, university, work, and with our partnerships. Nothing short of perfection is acceptable, and that often creates huge emotional stress. Many believe they have failed, because they are not great at everything, and they end up with depression.

We live in a time of mad and unsustainable consumerism and entitlement. We demand that our governments bail us out, because we allegedly have the right to a better lifestyle. We whinge about everything, and the main media and politicians in opposition are happy to play the game, and keep telling us that we deserve better and that our governments are failing us. That creates a social media environment of accusations, blame, conspiracy and nastiness.

I have no doubt that there are a lot of people who are battling with the cost of living crisis, but I am doubtful that it is as dramatic as the media want us to believe. As someone who lives on the government pension, that is $ 1,300 a fortnight, I am managing well and refrain from exuberance and over spending. My food shopping is deliberate, so I often buy what is on special. I only go out once a week for a few drinks and share a meal with a mate, and I no longer travel. But I am far away from any hardship. I have a secure, albeit small, income, and secure tenure of the small inner city apartment I live in, and I no longer drive a car. They are small sacrifices I am happy to accept, as long as it enables me to continue to live in Fremantle, the city I love.

The world is full of people who have a sense of entitlement. They believe it should be their right to earn more every year, and that governments should do more for them, without raising taxes or council rates. They believe they have a right to a bigger car, bigger TV, bigger fridge, bigger holidays, etc. The me, me, me society is ruthless in its selfishness. Why care about climate change and rising sea levels, when I want to build a house close to the coast. I have a right to uninterrupted views when I build and no one should be allowed to take them from me.

We go through a long period of our lives getting the balance all wrong, believing life is all about achievement, making a career and earning a lot of money. We forget to take time out to play, relax, and contemplate what life is all about. We forget that life is not indefinite, but only that relatively short period where we make the ends between birth and death meet. Life does not come with guarantees. Shit happens. We are here today, but might be gone tomorrow, so why are we so negative about most things and have so little tolerance?

We’ll all die, and some of us sadly die far too young. And every time that happens should be a wake up call for us all, that life is so much more than career and possessions, and that we should be grateful every day for good friends, good health, and our families. We need to relearn to milk the day, to see and appreciate the beauty in life. We should not allow the negativity of the main and social media, and that of opposition politicians, confuse us into believing all the rubbish that is thrown at us.

As someone who survived two deep and long depressions, I have learned to constantly look for the small beauties that life offers us. It can be something as simple for this photographer as noticing a reflection in a window, a car bonnet, a rainwater puddle, or the lovely smile of someone who takes my coffee order, or a stranger telling me how much they like this blog.

I am immensely grateful that I live in Freo, where most people care and are willing to share. Life is so much better than what the media wants us to believe. Life is good, because most people in the world are good. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Roel Loopers

WA GOVERNMENT DELAYS START OF FREMANTLE POLICE COMPLEX

The announcement this morning by the WA Government, that they are indefinitely delaying the construction of the new Fremantle Police Complex, is an outrage! “Commencement of construction of the Fremantle Police Complex will regrettably be delayed, due to a shortage of workers in the building industry.”

The location of the building, next to Fremantle Oval, and within the Fremantle Prison world heritage precinct, was strongly criticised by the Fremantle community and council, but the Cook government went ahead with it anyway, quickly clearing the Cappuccino Strip carpark site before Christmas.

Apart from building a massive fence around the site, no construction activity has taken place the first three months of this year. To now hear that there is no date set for the start of construction is a slap in the face of the Freo community.

The project was supposed to be part of the WA Covid Recovery Plan, but the apparent lack of urgency makes that a farce.

At least work will start this month on the new Fremantle Traffic Bridge.

Roel Loopers

WHY IS FREO CITY UNDER PERFORMING?

It’s on tonight! Performing arts in Fremantle is the hot topic for this evening’s Politics in the Pub.

Why does Fremantle not have a purpose built performing arts centre? Why are theatre groups struggling? Why is Victoria Hall for sale and why is the Townhall still not being restored to all its glory?

Why did Spare Parts Puppet Theatre have to leave their Pioneer Park building, and why is the State Government not investing a lot more in Fremantle?

There are very many questions, and there is a lot of frustration and disappointment, so come listen, ask questions, voice your opinion!

It’s on at 7pm at The Local Hotel in South Fremantle.

Roel Loopers

WHY TRUTH TELLING IS IMPORTANT

I was asked by a Freoview reader whose truth would be told at the City of Fremantle’s Truth Telling events, the first one is this Sunday at 10am on Bathers Beach.

There is always more than one truth, and fact is that the early history of Australia was written by British settlers, with no input from our country’s first nations people, hence the history recorded was one-sided and not necessarily always truthful. So it is good and fair to also hear the other side of the story, and how the invasion of their country negatively impacted our Aboriginal people. That is what truth telling is about.

Truth Telling is not about blame, or making us Wadjelas(non Aboriginal people) feel guilty. We can not be blamed for mistakes of the past, but we should make every effort to do better. Truth telling might help many of us lose our ignorance about Aboriginal culture, and the racism and hardships of the past and present.

When it comes to dealing with Aboriginal people there are so many white elephants in the room that we need a bigger planet to accommodate them all. There is hypocrisy on both sides and the blame games never stops.

White people will tell us that Australia is not a racist country, but listen to anyone who is coloured and we hear very different stories. We have calls for Aboriginal self determination or sovereignty, when elders and leaders in remote communities do little to stop the alcohol and substance abuse, and the domestic violence and child abuse.

We have the owners of outback pubs and bottleshops making huge profits from selling far too much alcohol to Aboriginal people, with few adhering to the responsible service of alcohol. Why should they, when they can fill up taxis on pension days with thousands of dollars worth of cask wine and cartons of beer, that are driven to remote communities. But these same hypocritical pillars of society do not hesitate to blame their local shires, councils and police for the violence and vandalism on the streets of their towns. They have little respect for their customers, and call the bars where Aborigines drink the Animal Bar, but they are happy to keep filling up black drunks with more alcohol every day, because it’s good money.

Many indigenous babies are born with fetal alcohol syndrome, the poor little things are alcoholics at the start of their life, but who cares about this all, when Aboriginal people are just a small minority in Australia. We put our head in the sand and ignore the real issues.

Non Aboriginal people often claim that we already spent billions of dollars on our First Nations People, without seeing that most of that money goes to public servant fat cats in nice suits, who sit in big city offices, rehashing old policies and so-called solutions. It makes us all feel good, when in fact most politicians don’t really care, because Aboriginal people are only a very small percentage of voters, hence they are not important for election outcomes. It’s where white elephants change colour.

Australia’s history of the Stolen Generation, where Aboriginal children were randomly taken away from their parents, has stifled the way government departments deal with child abuse in the indigenous community. They are extremely reluctant to remove children from abusive families, because of Stolen Generation accusations. That is wrong.

For 42 years I have watched in dismay and despair that we have made very few significant improvements to the lifestyle of Australia’s First Nations People. Many are still living in squalor and can’t get their act together. The likelihood of Aboriginal children making it to high school, let alone into university, is statistically extremely low, and that too is not acceptable.

There are so many more things I could write, about the racism I have witnessed all over Australia, but I am heart-broken that we as a nation are just watching the slow suicide and demise of a wonderful people and their culture. That is devastating to me, and that is why the Fremantle Truth Telling events are so important. We need to listen and to learn, and find the mutual respect we all deserve and long for.

Roel Loopers

CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE

I love this photo of WA Premier Roger Cook and the children. It reminds us that our kids and future generations deserve a livable planet, so our governments need to consider them with absolute priority!

Roel Loopers

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY-WE’VE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO

It is International Women’s Day today, so a good day to contemplate how far we still have to go, and also how far we have come, when it comes to equality and equity between women and men.

The fist email I received today was a media release that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Perth is using its platform of Friday prayers today to shine a spotlight on the elevated status of women in Islam. That comes as a bit of a surprise to me, I admit.

I love women. I adore them. I was lucky enough to live in a family of four strong women. My mother Annie started working when she was twelve-years-old and never had an education, but she would not take shit from anyone. She raised her five children and worked bloody hard.

My two older sisters Marja and Bep basically raised me, as mum and dad were so busy with work, trying to make a living and provide for us. My younger sister Anita, the only one still alive, has always been a feisty one, standing up for herself.

Even in her late sixties Marja would tell young people on the trams in The Hague/Holland to get up and provide seats for her and other seniors, and would not take no for an answer.

Strong, independent women have always attracted me, so my long-term relationships were all with emancipated women, which has helped a long way in my education to respect women and consider them absolutely equal. So thank you to Brigitte, Lillian, Indira and Ulrike!

I remember the days in the late 1960s where feminism started with protests in Holland, and later in Germany. Where women opened bookshops and bars that were only for them and would not allow men in. I argued with them that true emancipation could only be achieved with the support of men, and I still believe that. It is a numbers game after all.

But ever so slowly, far too slow, we have been moving forward. There is still a huge gender pay gap between what women and men earn, and men are still more likely to become CEO in large companies, etc.

But we have also seen the great emergence of the Matildas national soccer team, that has attracted packed football stadiums around Australia. They are inspiring young girls, so that is another positive sign.

Domestic violence and the abuse and killing of women is still rampant and out of control in Australia, and we need to do much more to combat that. One in four university students claim to have been sexually harassed on campus, so that too is unacceptable.

Men and women need to work hard together on improving how we interact, and call out when we witness unacceptable behaviour toward women. We all need to stand up for women’s rights.

The most important word in the world for me is respect, and that has to be mutual. Most men are not misogynists, but there are quite a few still who need to become more aware about how they treat women and talk about them.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Roel Loopers

VANDALISM DIMINISHES THE MESSAGE

I absolutely agree with the message, but I totally disagree with the way it is presented. Property vandalism diminishes the importance of the message.

Roel Loopers