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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Schapelle Corby Story - Forget Helen, Just Destroy Troy!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Australians are by nature generous to a fault. They are among the greatest donors in the world, contributing to virtually every troubled and deprived spot in the world. And these are on top of their domestic charitable activities.

But what I have seen and heard these last few days, in relation to the Corby verdict, fill me with great disappointment knowing the true generosity of most Australians now have their good name besmirched by some mean-minded people. Those clowns have asked for their tsunami donations back!!! Obviously then, these mean-spirited people have effectively declared that the Acheh-ese have been found guilty of whatever crimes yet to be revealed.

Nothing is more disgraceful to Australia and the majority of Australians than to give and then demand it back, without any good reason, like the recipients misusing the aid or having done the donors any wrong.

The Indonesian authority had legally prosecuted an Australian apprehended for smuggling marijuana in accordance with the law of the country. The court passed a verdict of guilty. Australian law experts have confirmed the proceedings have been above board. If anything, the Australian law experts have stated that the Indonesian court decision has been more lenient than severe.

OK, if there are perceptions that the court judges had made an incorrect judgement, or there have been procedural errors in the proceedings, then the appeal process allows for those errors to be addressed. That's called due process. It's actually an Australian practice too!

Are these unreasoning and unreasonable Indon-bashing Aussies saying that, because Australians donated aid for the Indonesian victims of the tsunami, all Australians are now automatically above Indonesian law, regardless?

We see on TV the sad revelations from the Salvation Army officials that some donors now specifically require the Salvos to promise not to pass any money to Indonesia. We see a website urging people to boycott Bali, even though Schapelle Corby, through her mother, has taken the high moral grounds and correctly asked Australians not to do so. It seems some idiots claim to support Corby yet deliberately choose to ignore her wishes.

If these Indon-bashers think for one small moment that their aggressive (and I believe, childish) actions can influence the Indonesians an iota, they are in for a shock. And they shouldn’t be surprised if their strident campaigning, and in some cases, unlawful anti-Indon actions have instead turn the situation ugly for Corby.

In the past other Australians have undergone the Corby experience and even ended up with a worse outcome. Currently there are 46 Australians around the world, including several in Indonesia, held for drug smuggling. Yet, the Corby case is the only one that has set off such a campaign of anti-Indon hatred, redneck behaviour and the unusual and unAustralian mean-mindedness?

There may be two answers:
(1) Australians have always possessed an unfounded historical fear of Indonesia, which until the Corby case, had remained in a latent state. We know that such latent fear can emerge into hatred given certain circumstances.

(2) The Derryn Hinch theory explains the circumstances that have triggered such a hatred that ignores even the wishes of Schapelle Corby.

The attack on Troy is no longer about the rescue of Helen; Troy shall be razed and erased because Troy is the hated Troy.

1 comment:

  1. ouch. Giving something and then asking it back is really pathetic.

    ReplyDelete