Values will be realigned and in most cases, discipline will be in the agenda. Parenting is one heavy task so most immediately mature and become responsible on demand.

Education is one major focus for these young minds. As parents, we believe through proper education, our children will secure a bright future. But what is “proper education”?

Webster defines education as “the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process” while on Wiki it’s translated as “the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values”.

How we educate according to Webster is “to provide schooling or to train by formal instruction and supervised practice especially in skill, trade or profession. To develop mentally, morally and aesthetically specially by instruction” and it also states “to persuade or condition to feel, believe or act in a desired way”.

I agree with all these and believe that we studied History, Science, Arts, Music, Language, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Commerce, Numbers & Formulas as all these affect our society and the way we behave today. I also believe that education is methodical, spiritual and acquired through any accumulative experience that comes our way. Most of all, I believe that education starts at home.

If education is through a process, why do we behave differently? It’s because we have different perspective and understanding; we react based on our experiences and learn from them differently. And because of these we form our own opinions, values and beliefs which in turn we pass onto our children.

Some people think numerous degrees entitle them to be bullies. Some are bullies thinking they are superior than others. Some think they are superior because they have titles to go with their names. Some strive for titles because they see this as a way to gain respect. These people are “educated” differently I suppose.

In the field of science we have learned about physics, chemistry, geology and biology – how to use energy and force to our advantage, how the magic of atomic interactions materialize, how the world of animals, plants and living organisms behave and how all these contributed on how our environment is formed.

We can also compare ourselves to the kingdom animalia; similar to human society there’s hierarchy, classes, species and food chain. Yes, we have the snakes (deceivers), the leech (suckers), the butterflies (gentle spirit) and of course, the dominant/loud bullies.

What separates us from them is our ability to be great thinkers and leaders. But it is sad to admit that there are animals amongst us. Degrees may secure you a better job but it does not necessarily make one a better person. Titles or positions may earn more money or power but this does not give them the right to disrespect others. What’s scary is that some of these people are so-called educators, who have the capacity to influence others’ thinking, sometimes lack common sense.

I have seen and known kids (and adults) who attended private schools and yet a few won’t cover their mouths when they sneeze, jump queues, would dip their spoons into the dish instead of using the serving spoon, take things without permission and those who refuse to observe simple rules. How can you call them educated if they fail to demonstrate courtesy and social etiquette? We also have some “highly educated” people in our government and yet they lack the moral conscience to avoid the temptation of lies and corruption.

How can one educate if he or she abuses his/her power/position or he/she can’t even recognize what is right and wrong? How can one educate when one fails to accept theirs or other’s limitations, exercise logic, manifest integrity, observe respect, show common sense and/or share compassion?

How do we weed out or separate these elements? As hard as we want to, sometimes we can’t. We rely on our government, schools, churches, clubs and even media to nourish our minds but unfortunately humans have denied themselves of growing as a colony. If you study the ants or the bees, they respect, recognize and embrace their existence; the needs take precedence of the wants. They work hard with humility, together as one for the good of everybody. That does not exist in our society – we seek what we want and want more than we need.

The best education we can teach our kids is to be a good influence in their lives, to educate them of the consequences of choices and to teach the difference – the difference between anger and compassion, arrogance and respect, selfishness and genuine generosity, subjectivity and truth, superficial and beneficial, reasons and justice.

This world is designed for co-existence – until men decide to do respect the law of nature and humanity we are left with two choices: to be wary of our own backyard and stay close-minded or to explore the world equipped with love, trust, faith, hope and understanding.

I am not perfect, no one is. But I will DO my best to create an environment of change – reflect on my experiences, review my expectations, recognize and respect others, realign my values to what gives dignity to humanity and society and to what pleases God. It’s time to let go of what can chain us in the past and RE-learn forgiveness (not only to others but ourselves), re-enforce generosity, repair/restore, reassure, remind, renew and rejoice! Only when I choose to put aside ME will true learning begin.

When one becomes a parent, the first instinct is to protect and provide for your children’s needs. Parents almost automatically start assessing their environment and thinking of ways on how to nurture these kids physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Values will be realigned and in most cases, discipline will be in the agenda. Parenting is one heavy task so most immediately mature and become responsible on demand.

Education is one major focus for these young minds. As parents, we believe through proper education, our children will secure a bright future. But what is “proper education”?

Webster defines education as “the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process” while on Wiki it’s translated as “the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values”.

How we educate according to Webster is “to provide schooling or to train by formal instruction and supervised practice especially in skill, trade or profession. To develop mentally, morally and aesthetically specially by instruction” and it also states “to persuade or condition to feel, believe or act in a desired way”.

I agree with all these and believe that we studied History, Science, Arts, Music, Language, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Commerce, Numbers & Formulas as all these affect our society and the way we behave today. I also believe that education is methodical, spiritual and acquired through any accumulative experience that comes our way. Most of all, I believe that education starts at home.

If education is through a process, why do we behave differently? It’s because we have different perspective and understanding; we react based on our experiences and learn from them differently. And because of these we form our own opinions, values and beliefs which in turn we pass onto our children.

Some people think numerous degrees entitle them to be bullies. Some are bullies thinking they are superior than others. Some think they are superior because they have titles to go with their names. Some strive for titles because they see this as a way to gain respect. These people are “educated” differently I suppose.

In the field of science we have learned about physics, chemistry, geology and biology – how to use energy and force to our advantage, how the magic of atomic interactions materialize, how the world of animals, plants and living organisms behave and how all these contributed on how our environment is formed.

We can also compare ourselves to the kingdom animalia; similar to human society there’s hierarchy, classes, species and food chain. Yes, we have the snakes (deceivers), the leech (suckers), the butterflies (gentle spirit) and of course, the dominant/loud bullies.

What separates us from them is our ability to be great thinkers and leaders. But it is sad to admit that there are animals amongst us. Degrees may secure you a better job but it does not necessarily make one a better person. Titles or positions may earn more money or power but this does not give them the right to disrespect others. What’s scary is that some of these people are so-called educators, who have the capacity to influence others’ thinking, sometimes lack common sense.

I have seen and known kids (and adults) who attended private schools and yet a few won’t cover their mouths when they sneeze, jump queues, would dip their spoons into the dish instead of using the serving spoon, take things without permission and those who refuse to observe simple rules. How can you call them educated if they fail to demonstrate courtesy and social etiquette? We also have some “highly educated” people in our government and yet they lack the moral conscience to avoid the temptation of lies and corruption.

How can one educate if he or she abuses his/her power/position or he/she can’t even recognize what is right and wrong? How can one educate when one fails to accept theirs or other’s limitations, exercise logic, manifest integrity, observe respect, show common sense and/or share compassion?

How do we weed out or separate these elements? As hard as we want to, sometimes we can’t. We rely on our government, schools, churches, clubs and even media to nourish our minds but unfortunately humans have denied themselves of growing as a colony. If you study the ants or the bees, they respect, recognize and embrace their existence; the needs take precedence of the wants. They work hard with humility, together as one for the good of everybody. That does not exist in our society – we seek what we want and want more than we need.

The best education we can teach our kids is to be a good influence in their lives, to educate them of the consequences of choices and to teach the difference – the difference between anger and compassion, arrogance and respect, selfishness and genuine generosity, subjectivity and truth, superficial and beneficial, reasons and justice.

This world is designed for co-existence – until men decide to do respect the law of nature and humanity we are left with two choices: to be wary of our own backyard and stay close-minded or to explore the world equipped with love, trust, faith, hope and understanding.

I am not perfect, no one is. But I will DO my best to create an environment of change – reflect on my experiences, review my expectations, recognize and respect others, realign my values to what gives dignity to humanity and society and to what pleases God. It’s time to let go of what can chain us in the past and RE-learn forgiveness (not only to others but ourselves), re-enforce generosity, repair/restore, reassure, remind, renew and rejoice! Only when I choose to put aside ME will true learning begin.

Sikat II team members in ritual dip // Photo by Lorenzo Mendoza

It was past 2pm Saturday, October 22 when the Philippines’ Sikat II of the World Solar Challenge made its way into the Victoria Square ceremonial finish line.

A contingent of Filipino community members in Adelaide and other supporters trooped to welcome the solar paneled Sikat II and the accompanying team as they approached the entrance from King William Street. An Official Philippine flag was held up high by two of the welcomers. Others waved flaglets.

“We made it!”

It was a statement caught in a euphoric moment. Everyone – arrivals and greeters – cheered.

The essence of having done the feat would not have been complete without the team members having taken the World Solar Challenge Ceremonial Finish Dip in the pool of water around the fountain.

The fountain is called ‘Fountain of Three Rivers’ and is located at the center of Victoria Square.

Following the lead of earlier finishers, the team members hurriedly emptied out their pockets of their wallets, gizmos and personal paraphernalia then jumped into the water. They took the Philippine flag and raised it over one of the fountain statues that has already been adorned with markers from earlier teams.

The World Solar Challenge is a showcase of an ongoing development of advanced automotive technology that promoted alternatives to conventional vehicle engines.

Solar car tests today probe the ultimate boundaries of energy efficiency and provide insights into everyday vehicle technology.

The World Solar Challenge was started in 1982 by solar pioneer Hans Tholstrup whose quest for solar energy saw him drive a home-built solar Quiet Achiever across Australia from North to South.

The solar panels utilised to draw out the most efficient electric vehicles possible are no more than six square meters.

Photos by Lorenzo Mendoza

Every two years teams from institutes all over the world come together to Australia to test and promote the “ultimate synergy of nature, motion and innovation”.

Sikat II was an ‘evolved’ version of Sinag I – the previous Philippine solar paneled vehicle to be in Australia’s biennial World Solar Panel Challenge.

In both vehicles, the driver was cocooned in that narrow – suffocating space around which the solar panel spread out to a wide span. There were three designated drivers to alternate.

The race kicked off from Darwin the other Sunday October 16 for a 3,021 kilometer race over Australia’s desert terrain. It is a race across the heart of Australia, referred by one Solar Panel Challenge team blog writer as a “hellish land where the only thing scarcer than water is a decent internet connection.”

But while other teams considered the race over the arid centre of Adelaide ‘gruelling’, the Pinoy team arrived at the Victoria Square from their obligatory stop at the Torrens Parade Grounds 500 meters down King William Road from the Park in high spirits.

A fair bit of drama during the second day held back the lead teams when bush fires raged in Tennant Creek and the Stuart Highway had to be closed to traffic.

Through the race, there were control points where a mandatory stop was part of the race rules.

In all these stops, the team was cheered, met and supported by a contingent of Filipino residents of the area.

Ramon Agustines, team manager and Philippine Solar Car Challenge Society’s delegate who drove the lead car for Sikat II was most impressed.

He spoke of his outback experience as a most amazing experience.

“It was very heart-warming to find very thoughtful support and all-out hospitality from Filipinos in the Australian outback. They did not only come to cheer, they came with home cooked meals and other things to make our stay comfortable and they even offered the use of their homes for accommodation and comfort.”

On Day 3 (October 18), a major glitch set back the team’s position in the race. The batteries of Sikat II caught fire and this caused the surrounding area to be cleared. When the fire brigade arrived, the batteries were removed safely from the car without incident.

In an interview with Jeremy Banks who was the designated provider of technical support for Sikat II, he spoke of his high regard for the team’s indomitable spirit that refused to be cowed by unexpected troubles through out the journey.

“They are a team that fill up your heart!” he said.

On Sunday, October 23, the Philippine Consulate General in Adelaide organized and hosted a luncheon for the team and its entourage.

Philippine Department of Education Secretary Brother Armin Luistro who swung by Adelaide from Melbourne to welcome the team on their arrival joined the luncheon. Event Filipino observer and Sydney resident Danilo Quisumbing also came to meet up with the team.

This year’s Veolia World Solar Challenge saw vehicles rely on just 3 sqm of gallium cells.

Veolia World Solar Challenge is run under the established regulations of the International Solarcar Federation.
To date, cost-wise, it may not yet be public-friendly in practicality and functionality.

There was an extra spring in my steps as I made my way to work as it was the day before I leave for a much-awaited holiday. I cheerily greeted “good morning all” as I found my way to my desk. Little did I know that I would have an unwelcomed visit by Mr Murphy.

My first attempt to log on to start work failed; and up to the third time I got the message: “The system cannot log you on. Central Domain is not available”. Adrian, the guy in the next workstation suggested unplugging and plugging on cables to the computer. While we placed a call to the IT department, Craig, from the other end of the floor came over to do the same.

Ten minutes later, Warren from IT came along. After a few minutes trying to convince the computer to work, he declared: “Sorry, the motherboard is dead”. I thought how inconsiderate of that pc not to wait one more day before it decided to go to cyberspace heaven!

Ann got the spare office laptop for Warren to connect to the network. It turned out that the laptop has not been used for awhile. He said that there were 31 updates which had to be uploaded before I could use the laptop!

By now, I could feel my blood pressure rising. May be I should have taken something stronger than a cuppa tea while waiting for the laptop to be ready. I tried to control my nerves while finishing the status report which I needed to give my Audit Manager.

I had to do a last minute errand at lunch time so I left the laptop on, purposely not shutting it down so as not to annoy it. After the errand and lunch on the run, I eagerly went back to the unfinished report. However, the laptop was frozen!!! It took some time to convince it to work again.

The meeting with my Audit Manager was set at 4.45 p.m. Five minutes before then, I sent the status report to the printer. I rushed over to collect my print job. What print job! The printer was flashing the message: “Paper jam!” I had to get the admin ladies to clear the jam and after a few more minutes, I got my report printed.

By the time I went over to Len’s office, I was running five minutes late. I felt elated as I started talking through what I have covered in the audit. Five minutes into our discussion, the office was plunged into darkness! There was a fire alarm wailing and we tried to continue going through the report under an emergency bulb! But no good, we were told we had to leave. It was scary but I felt assured as a Pinay colleague, Jackie and our Director, Bill stayed to wait for me. We had to walk down fifteen floors!!!

What a day!! It certainly featured Murphy’s law: “What can go wrong, will go wrong”! Oh Mr Murphy, the crash course on your teaching was certainly not appreciated. I couldn’t say it was nice meeting you. I sure hope we don’t cross paths while I am on my holidays!

There was an extra spring in my steps as I made my way to work as it was the day before I leave for a much-awaited holiday. I cheerily greeted “good morning all” as I found my way to my desk. Little did I know that I would have an unwelcomed visit by Mr Murphy.

My first attempt to log on to start work failed; and up to the third time I got the message: “The system cannot log you on. Central Domain is not available”. Adrian, the guy in the next workstation suggested unplugging and plugging on cables to the computer. While we placed a call to the IT department, Craig, from the other end of the floor came over to do the same.

Ten minutes later, Warren from IT came along. After a few minutes trying to convince the computer to work, he declared: “Sorry, the motherboard is dead”. I thought how inconsiderate of that pc not to wait one more day before it decided to go to cyberspace heaven!

Ann got the spare office laptop for Warren to connect to the network. It turned out that the laptop has not been used for awhile. He said that there were 31 updates which had to be uploaded before I could use the laptop!

By now, I could feel my blood pressure rising. May be I should have taken something stronger than a cuppa tea while waiting for the laptop to be ready. I tried to control my nerves while finishing the status report which I needed to give my Audit Manager.

I had to do a last minute errand at lunch time so I left the laptop on, purposely not shutting it down so as not to annoy it. After the errand and lunch on the run, I eagerly went back to the unfinished report. However, the laptop was frozen!!! It took some time to convince it to work again.

The meeting with my Audit Manager was set at 4.45 p.m. Five minutes before then, I sent the status report to the printer. I rushed over to collect my print job. What print job! The printer was flashing the message: “Paper jam!” I had to get the admin ladies to clear the jam and after a few more minutes, I got my report printed.

By the time I went over to Len’s office, I was running five minutes late. I felt elated as I started talking through what I have covered in the audit. Five minutes into our discussion, the office was plunged into darkness! There was a fire alarm wailing and we tried to continue going through the report under an emergency bulb! But no good, we were told we had to leave. It was scary but I felt assured as a Pinay colleague, Jackie and our Director, Bill stayed to wait for me. We had to walk down fifteen floors!!!

What a day!! It certainly featured Murphy’s law: “What can go wrong, will go wrong”! Oh Mr Murphy, the crash course on your teaching was certainly not appreciated. I couldn’t say it was nice meeting you. I sure hope we don’t cross paths while I am on my holidays!

The Filipino Australian's first homepage

The Filipino Australian opened on June 8, 2005 (formal launch date, June 12, 2005), and after six years, we are happy to report that we are on track to what we have set as our objectives. These are,

> To report, and comment where required, on the day’s events

> To join the community in celebrating Philippine culture and heritage, and the accomplishments of our kababayans

> To provide a talking point and a forum where views and ideas can be shared and exchanged.

Over the six years The Filipino Australian has been online, it has undergone a number of changes ~ in design, layout and reporting platform. It has added sections. And deleted some to reflect changing readers’ and market preferences. But our main task has remained focused on “promoting the Filipino Australian community to a dominant position in multicultural Australia.”

Six years ago, we wrote “the task is not easy. But it can be done. With assets that we, Filipino Australians, already possess — world-class skills and expertise, creativity, resourcefulness, and industry— all that we need is to work together, trust each other and help enhance each other’s potentials. Let the Filipino spirit fly, let it compete effectively, and let it flourish in the wider and global community.”

Today, we still hold the same beliefs, philosophy and core values.

Thanks for your support, we continue to enjoy the regular readership of our thousands of kababayans and friends not only from Australia but also from other countries. Thanks for your loyalty, our corporate sponsors including government agencies continue to partner with us as we pursue our goal in promoting the Filipino Australian community to the wider community.

Mabuhay!

Construction works at Roe Highway / Great Eastern Highway, Midland WA // TFA Photo

Skilled migration forums across Western Australia will be staged to provide employers with information on the skilled migration programs available to address their labour needs, a Department of Immigration and Citizenship media release announced.

The forums will be conducted by the WA Department of Training and Workforce Development.

At the forums, employers can get an overview of workforce planning by DTWD to address future skill needs in the state including sponsorship of overseas workers through the 457 visa program, permanent skilled migration options, employing overseas workers, and sourcing semi-skilled overseas workers through labour agreements and regional migration agreements.

The DIAC release also said that “the Australian Government announced as part of the Budget an increase in the skilled migration program and a range of new initiatives to help meet demand for skilled migrants.”

“The skill stream has increased by 12,000 places on 2010-11 program planning levels, to 125,850 places and policy initiatives are being implemented to assist Australian employers, businesses and regional areas to better address their skill needs.”

Skilled migration is a key strategy that WA has adopted to meet the state’s critical levels of skill shortages.

Filipino professionals are some of the beneficiaries of the demand for skilled workers. In early 2010, about 10,000 Filipinos were reported to be staying in Australia under the 457 visa scheme.

The Philippines occupies third place after UK and India in Australia’s 457 visa workforce.

CeBIT booth G48 for Philippine IT-BPO industry

If wall visuals on a trade expo booth are measures of the size of the exhibitor’s business, then G48 is an exception. In fact, it looks very modest in appearance compared to nearby booths.

Yet, the G48 booth represents a sector in Philippine business that has ploughed in billions of dollars from overseas and helped prop up the country’s economy.

The booth is occupied by representatives of some 15 Philippines companies engaged in IT and Business Process Outsourcing services who are exhibitors at the 2011 CeBIT Information and Communications Technology trade exhibits which opened yesterday at the Darling Harbour Convention & Exhibition Centre.

These companies represent a sector in Philippine economy which according to the companies’ coordinating body, Business Processing Association Philippines (BPA/P), has a reported 21 per cent share of the total offshore global BPO market with over 600 IT and BPO companies located in various parts of the Philippines and employ around 500,000 IT-BPO workers.

Pointwest director Quizon (center) with two other officers of BPA/P company exhibitors

“This is our second year to participate in CeBIT and we are looking at Australia as a new growth area for us,” said Pointwest Technologies Executive Director Renato Quizon. “Especially with a very strong Aussie dollar, it is only a matter of time that Australia will open itself to the outsourcing world.”

Pointwest Technologies is one of the 15 companies represented in booth G48.

From a sourcing perspective, the BPA/P has reported that the Philippines is ranked second after India as a business process offshoring market by destination.

Currently, services from the Philippines reach customers, employees, and management of countries such as the United States, India, China, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietname, Korea, UAE, United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany.

The Philippines has an edge over other outsourcing countries. It is one of the few countries that can boast that almost all its annual 500,000 college graduates can understand and speak the English language.

“After the CeBIT exhibition in Sydney, we will be travelling to New Zealand,” said Mr Quizon, adding that the Philippine Consulate in Sydney had helped them arrange meetings with business contacts in Australia for business matching.

Social networking site Facebook has reportedly more than 663 million users as at end of last month with the United States, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Turkey, India, Mexico, Philippines, France, Italy and Germany having the largest number of users.

The United States has 155,231,120 people with Facebook accounts, and the Philippines has 23,169,300 users.

Although Australia is not in the Top 10, on a per head basis it is positioned as number 8 with 5,409,900 Facebook users representing 24.9% of its 21 million population.

With this number of users in Facebook not to mention other social networking sites, one wonders how many of the users are aware of the privacy practices of their host sites? How many have even bothered to read through the sites’ privacy statements before signing up? How many are aware of their privacy rights? And if they are, what actions have they taken to protect their personal information?

Privacy issues have always been an issue in the internet. There are websites which with the use of tracking scripts may not be privacy compliant. There are also websites that do not publish their privacy policies, how they obtain users’ personal information and what they do with the users’ information.

Privacy policy post, March 30, 2009

Privacy policy post, March 30, 2009

Last year, Facebook was severely criticised for its privacy practices. Facebook was reported to have been not only sharing users’ personal data with advertisers, but sharing the information without the users’ knowledge or consent.

“The information included usernames and ID numbers that could be traced back to individual profiles. Large advertising companies including Google’s DoubleClick and Yahoo’s Right Media were identified as having received the information although they claim to have not made use of it.

“The information could be used to look up individual profiles, which, depending on the site and the information a user has made public, include such things as a person’s real name, age, hometown and occupation.”

It was not until the Wall Street Journal stepped in when Facebook stopped sharing the data, the report said.

The world is not wanting of privacy legislations. Australia for example has legislations governing privacy practices as well as anti-spamming. But over and above legislations, there is a need to educate internet users. In a couple of earlier blog posts, we noted the initiatives taken by the Australian Communications and Media Authority on the importance of public education in anti-spamming and we reported “best privacy practices.”

Recently, the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities has launched a range of programs and initiatives to promote awareness of privacy issues.

APPA is the principal forum for privacy authorities in the Asia Pacific Region “to form partnerships and exchange ideas about privacy regulation, new technologies and the management of privacy enquiries and complaints.” Its member-countries are Australia, British Columbia, Canada, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, and New Zealand.

One recent initiative taken by APPA was to designate this week, 1-7 May, Privacy Awareness Week.

“It’s sometimes easy to disclose more information about ourselves than we need to,” said Chairman Chris Chapman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, adding that ACMA fully supports APPA’s awareness initiative.

“Your personal information is yours alone and you are generally under no obligation to hand it over to anyone without knowing what they are going to do with it.”

To mark Privacy Awareness Week, the ACMA is providing a suite of resources for teachers, parents and teens on e-security, keeping personal information safe and identity theft. The ACMA also provides important privacy information about smartphones and why you should treat your mobile phone like you would your wallet.

To protect your personal information, here are APPA’s top tips for social networking:

1. Know the privacy policy and settings of the social networking sites you use

2. Think about the information you share and how it’s being used, eg, what might a future employer or partner think if they read it?

3. Remember, the internet lets your information be collected and shared easily. The harmless information you post could be added to the mix, creating a full profile about you. Who might see it?

4. Sharing information with just a few people doesn’t stop it reaching a wider audience; be aware who might pass things on

5. Before you post and tag pictures of someone else, ask for their consent – and request that they do the same to you

6. Set up ‘friend’ groups to control the access different people in your life have to your personal details

7. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know

8. Location based check-ins can be risky. Do you really want everyone to know that no-one’s home?

This article is also posted at SPAMWATCHERS.

Social networking site Facebook has reportedly more than 663 million users as at end of last month with the United States, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Turkey, India, Mexico, Philippines, France, Italy and Germany having the largest number of users.

The United States has 155,231,120 people with Facebook accounts, and the Philippines has 23,169,300 users.

Although Australia is not in the Top 10, on a per head basis it is positioned as number 8 with 5,409,900 Facebook users representing 24.9% of its 21 million population.

With this number of users in Facebook not to mention other social networking sites, one wonders how many of the users are aware of the privacy practices of their host sites? How many have even bothered to read through the sites’ privacy statements before signing up? How many are aware of their privacy rights? And if they are, what actions have they taken to protect their personal information?

Privacy issues have always been an issue in the internet. There are websites which with the use of tracking scripts may not be privacy compliant. There are also websites that do not publish their privacy policies, how they obtain users’ personal information and what they do with the users’ information.

Privacy policy post, March 30, 2009

Last year, Facebook was severely criticised for its privacy practices. Facebook was reported to have been not only sharing users’ personal data with advertisers, but sharing the information without the users’ knowledge or consent.

“The information included usernames and ID numbers that could be traced back to individual profiles. Large advertising companies including Google’s DoubleClick and Yahoo’s Right Media were identified as having received the information although they claim to have not made use of it.

“The information could be used to look up individual profiles, which, depending on the site and the information a user has made public, include such things as a person’s real name, age, hometown and occupation.”

It was not until the Wall Street Journal stepped in when Facebook stopped sharing the data, the report said.

The world is not wanting of privacy legislations. Australia for example has legislations governing privacy practices as well as anti-spamming. But over and above legislations, there is a need to educate internet users. In a couple of earlier blog posts, we noted the initiatives taken by the Australian Communications and Media Authority on the importance of public education in anti-spamming and we reported “best privacy practices.”

Recently, the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities has launched a range of programs and initiatives to promote awareness of privacy issues.

APPA is the principal forum for privacy authorities in the Asia Pacific Region “to form partnerships and exchange ideas about privacy regulation, new technologies and the management of privacy enquiries and complaints.” Its member-countries are Australia, British Columbia, Canada, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, and New Zealand.

One recent initiative taken by APPA was to designate this week, 1-7 May, Privacy Awareness Week.

“It’s sometimes easy to disclose more information about ourselves than we need to,” said Chairman Chris Chapman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, adding that ACMA fully supports APPA’s awareness initiative.

“Your personal information is yours alone and you are generally under no obligation to hand it over to anyone without knowing what they are going to do with it.”

To mark Privacy Awareness Week, the ACMA is providing a suite of resources for teachers, parents and teens on e-security, keeping personal information safe and identity theft. The ACMA also provides important privacy information about smartphones and why you should treat your mobile phone like you would your wallet.

To protect your personal information, here are APPA’s top tips for social networking:

1. Know the privacy policy and settings of the social networking sites you use

2. Think about the information you share and how it’s being used, eg, what might a future employer or partner think if they read it?

3. Remember, the internet lets your information be collected and shared easily. The harmless information you post could be added to the mix, creating a full profile about you. Who might see it?

4. Sharing information with just a few people doesn’t stop it reaching a wider audience; be aware who might pass things on

5. Before you post and tag pictures of someone else, ask for their consent – and request that they do the same to you

6. Set up ‘friend’ groups to control the access different people in your life have to your personal details

7. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know

8. Location based check-ins can be risky. Do you really want everyone to know that no-one’s home?

This article is also posted at SPAMWATCHERS.

The major difference between the Japanese and Taiwanese phases as compared to that of China’s is that the former were borne out of dire situations, Japan from the ravages of war and Taiwan over a long period of deprivation resulting from the lack of natural resources being a small “renegade nation” that was stymied by the constant takeover threat by China.

Perhaps much earlier China might have been in a similar situation. They have been saddled by non-productive politically inspired revolutions, a burgeoning population to feed, an almost non-existent infrastructure covering a vast tract of land and the realization of what seemed to have been a failed ideology after the USSR conversion to non communist modified capitalistic states.

Now they have already transcended that phase and the proliferation of cheap products are as a result of breakneck industrialization fuelled by cheap labour which had attracted the world’s leading manufacturers to bring their production requirements to China.

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More than a year ago, Filipino and Australian banana growers were at opposite sides fighting over the importation of Philippine bananas to Australia.

They are still fighting alright, this time against different foes but with the same face – market economics.

Both are losing.

Australian growers are losing because of a glut in the market which forces them to sell their produce at very low price. The current retail price of around $1.49 a kilo in Metro Sydney, according to reports, leaves hardly any profit to the growers. There are also reports that bananas are selling even cheaper in other areas.

The oversupply of bananas in Australia is due to warmer-than-usual weather in north Queensland which ripens the bananas too quickly.

Filipino banana growers on the other hand are engaged in a price war with Peruvian growers over supply of bananas to supermarkets in Seoul and other Korean cities.

Like their Australian counterparts, Filipino growers are losing.

“It’s the banana war between Peru and the Philippines and the Peruvians are getting the upperhand reportedly outselling Philippine bananas three to one,” reported the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), an information service of the Office of the Philippine President.

Peruvian bananas could sell cheaper because South Korea eliminated tariff on the the Latin American bananas, said the PIA.

Meantime, consumers, the winners of this current ‘war’, are enjoying their bananas. In Australia, it was not long ago when the fruit was selling at sky-high $16.99 a kilo! That was in 2006 when Cyclone Larry wiped out almost the entire banana crop in areas of north Queensland which accounts for over 90% of banana production in Australia.

Source: A Matter of Sharing

More than a year ago, Filipino and Australian banana growers were at opposite sides fighting over the importation of Philippine bananas to Australia.

They are still fighting alright, this time against different foes but with the same face – market economics.

Both are losing.

Australian growers are losing because of a glut in the market which forces them to sell their produce at very low price. The current retail price of around $1.49 a kilo in Metro Sydney, according to reports, leaves hardly any profit to the growers. There are also reports that bananas are selling even cheaper in other areas.

The oversupply of bananas in Australia is due to warmer-than-usual weather in north Queensland which ripens the bananas too quickly.

Filipino banana growers on the other hand are engaged in a price war with Peruvian growers over supply of bananas to supermarkets in Seoul and other Korean cities.

Like their Australian counterparts, Filipino growers are losing.

“It’s the banana war between Peru and the Philippines and the Peruvians are getting the upperhand reportedly outselling Philippine bananas three to one,” reported the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), an information service of the Office of the Philippine President.

Peruvian bananas could sell cheaper because South Korea eliminated tariff on the the Latin American bananas, said the PIA.

Meantime, consumers, the winners of this current ‘war’, are enjoying their bananas. In Australia, it was not long ago when the fruit was selling at sky-high $16.99 a kilo! That was in 2006 when Cyclone Larry wiped out almost the entire banana crop in areas of north Queensland which accounts for over 90% of banana production in Australia.

Source: A Matter of Sharing

Preparing for future challenges... // Photo: (c) State of New South Wales through the Department of Education and Training

Australian students remain among the top academic performers worldwide, a major international student assessment revealed.

The student assessment conducted in 2009 is a survey among 15-year-olds by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The assessment results were released last 7 December.

The program which is conducted every three years evaluates how students are “prepared for future challenges” by measuring the extent the students near the end of compulsory education have acquired “knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society.”

Students competencies are tested in the three domains of reading, mathematics and science. Assessment tests are typically administered to between 4,500 and 10,000 students in each country.

Internationally, 470,000 students took part in last year’s PISA survey. In Australia, 14,250 Australian students from 353 schools participated.

Australian students have scored high marks in their assessments to position them in the top ten performers among OECD participants.

“The PISA 2009 results show Australian students performed well above the OECD average in all three assessment areas,” Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, reported.

“There has been no statistically significant change in any major domain since PISA 2006. With the Government’s reforms to the Australian education system commencing in 2008, we would expect to see improvements to student performance by PISA 2015,” Mr Garrett said.

The first PISA assessment was conducted in 2000 followed by a three-yearly cycle in 2003, 2006 and 2009.

In last year’s three-yearly cycle PISA, 65 countries/economies participated. The same assessment was extended to nine additional countries in 2010.

Of the 74 countries participating, 39 countries/economies are non-OECD members. The Philippines was not among those included in the list of participants for 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009.

The top performing PISA 2009 participant is partner economy Shanghai-China with scores of 556 points in reading, 600 points in mathematics, and 502 points in science.

Shanghai-China’s score points were significantly higher than the OECD’s top performers Korea and Finland in reading and mathematics. Korea scored 539 in reading, 546 in mathematics, and 538 in science. Finland on the other hand scored 536 in reading, 541 in mathematics, and 554 in science.

The OECD PISA 2009 average is 493 points in reading, 496 points in mathematics, and 501 points in science.

Australia’s PISA 2009 performance is 515 points in reading, 514 points in mathematics and 527 points in science. The United States, on the other hand, scored 500 points in reading, 487 points in mathematics and 502 points in science.

Other highlights of PISA 2009 include:

1. Korea and Finland are the highest performing OECD countries, with mean scores of 539 and 536 points, respectively. However, the partner economy Shanghai-China outperforms them by a significant margin, with a mean score of 556.

2. In 18 participating countries, including Mexico, Chile and Turkey, the highest reading proficiency level achieved by most students was the baseline Level 2, considered a baseline level of proficiency, at which students begin to demonstrate the reading skills that will enable them to participate effectively and productively in life.

3. At the other end of the proficiency spectrum, an average of 7.6% of students attain Level 5, and in Singapore, New Zealand and Shanghai-China the percentage is more than twice the OECD average

4. Korea, with a country mean of 546 score points, performed highest among OECD countries in the PISA 2009 mathematics assessment. The partner countries and economies Shanghai-China, Singapore and Hong Kong-China rank first, second and third, respectively

5. Shanghai-China, Finland, Hong Kong-China and Singapore are the four highest performers in the PISA 2009 science assessment

6. Some 14.6% of students in Shanghai-China and 12.3% of students in Singapore attain the highest levels of proficiency in all three assessment subjects

7. Girls outperform boys in reading skills in every participating country

8. Countries of similar prosperity can produce very different educational results. The correlation between GPP per capita and educational performance is valid only to 6% of the differences in average student performance across countries.

“The PISA 2009 cycle is well underway and preparations for the PISA 2012 assessment have begun,” the OECD PISA website announced.