Human rights and international obligations are inevitably subordinate to what matters most to politicians: votes. Here’s me in The Monthly on how to bridge the gap between politics and principle.
1 year agoThe Washington Post (omg) asked me to look a little deeper into my reading experiment last year. I also tried to explain why the hell I care about this and checked out the results of VIDA’s inaugural look at the numbers of women of colour in book reviews over at Medium.
WA’s proposed anti-protest laws casually abandon one of the bedrock principles of our legal system, write Sunili Govinnage and Nick Duff.
My latest piece on the importance of diversity in publishing (and pop culture in general).
I was lucky enough to chat to a great bunch of writers the other week during the Digital Writers Festival about “free speech” in the Asia-Pacific:
When it comes to freedom of speech, just how much is too much and how much is too little? Should we redefine freedom of expression or is it fine just the way it is? What is the role of censorship in an age where almost everyone is connected to each other and everyone has access — as well as the ability — to create content?
Cheers and thanks to André Dao, Eleanor Jackson and Ross Tapsell for the great discussion!
Shutting the door on a regional solution
For over two years I’ve been volunteering to provide legal aid to people who are trying to get Refugee Status Determination through the UNHCR in Indonesia. While they are waiting patiently in the “queue” (although really, there isn’t one), the Australian government has tried everything it can to remind them they are not welcome here. Yesterday’s announcement that the minuscule quota of resettlement places would be further cut to just 450 is yet another slap in the face to them.
Confidentiality obligations mean I am unable to tell you too much about the reasons why they found themselves waiting for someone to decide on their future. A lawyer’s word isn’t worth much (a volunteer lawyer’s perhaps less so!) but know this: they are women and men asking for help who made a decision that didn’t really involve a choice.
Mopings of an Immigrant Expat
I am just about to head back to Jakarta, where I now live, after spending two weeks visiting friends and family in Perth, where I grew up.
And I am counting down the hours to when I can get the hell out of here.
I have depression. I also love a lot of people with depression. I think my depression has helped me to be a relatively good friend to other people who have depression.
Luckily, not everyone has depression. But everyone probably knows and cares about someone who does. I can imagine that it’s hard to look after someone like me - I know those who’ve looked after me over the years struggled but they are wonderful and I will always love them and respect them for it.
This piece is basically an attempted how-to-guide that goes with this excellent Stephen Fry quote:
It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do.
The amazeballz Steph and Alex at Junkee worked very hard to get this in to shape, and I am very grateful to them for their excellentness.
Minority Support: Indigenous and Minority Writers Online
Luke Pearson (@lukelpearson), Celeste Liddle (@Utopiana) and I had a chat during the Digital Writers Festival about how the internet is helping minority writers build communities and support networks to foster their ideas, and what we need to do to get more diverse voices out there.
I wrote a piece at Comment is free at the start of the year about what I’ll be reading this year.
There was a bit of stir, which I’ve addressed here, and I’ve just posted my reviews of the first two books of the year: Americanah and Another Country.
I’ve started contributing to a group blog to discuss feminism from different perspectives. Here’s my first post.
It’s about “solidarity” in a reaction to all those who say “intersectionality” is divisive.
For me, it’s the exact opposite.
As a woman from a migrant background raised in the West, my understanding about oppression and ways to address it have been strengthened by learning from the work of Black American feminists, Indigenous feminists from Australia and overseas, queer feminists and trans* feminists, and many other perspectives (such as the approaches of disability activists like Stella Young).
I feel pretty damn lucky that a bunch of amazing women invited me to share my thoughts on this. There’s a lot more of this stuff to talk about so follow @intersectoz for more.