Family-friendly weekend of sporting fun and fitness activities for all abilities Port Macquarie, an idyllic coastal city in the Mid North Coast of New South Wales four-hours north of Sydney welcomes the inaugural AFT International Sports Fitness Festival on November 4 and 5 at Panthers Port Macquarie, headlined by the Kyokushin Karate Port Macquarie Dojo’s Karate Kids on the Spectrum, gold medal winning swimmer and sport inclusion advocate Matt Levy OAM (NSW) and specialist pharmacist, health coach and podcaster, Theresa Loo (QLD) and more! Sport Inclusion Presented in collaboration with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, the festival promotes diversity, equity and inclusion in sports and fitness. A focus of this festival is its Sport Inclusion programmes for persons with disabilities and youth who are neurodiverse. Local Port Karate’s “Karate Kids on the Spectrum” programme which is inclusive of children who are neurodiverse will be showcasing a karate demonstration, meanwhile, the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf will have participants join in “walk virtually” along Port Macquarie’s famed coastal walk. Badminton Australia will facilitate a free demonstration, surfing enthusiasts are invited to Town Beach on Sunday morning to give it a go while swimming enthusiasts can hit the pool! Thank you for reading The Art & Science of Wellness – Sports Fitness Festival Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. Share All are invited to join in for the fun and games scheduled over two days: In a virtual launch webinar held on 24 August 2023 at the Sydney Community Hub in Haymarket, Mayor Peta Pinson shared, “We’re known for our beautiful coastline, our wonderful hinterland and the mountains, rivers, creeks, streams, and ocean which exist in every corner of our region. These are the reasons why people choose to come and live here. “Many of our residents live fit, healthy and active lifestyles – irrespective of age – so the AFT International Sports Fitness Festival will be an important event on our community calendar, and I look forward to it,”. Town Green promenade at twilight by Matt Gilligan Festival producer, Jasmine Low said, “Australia is known as a sporting nation with its beautiful outdoors, its choiciest food produce and multicultural mix. Through my own lived experiences, I have found many sporting events were intimidating and not inclusive of vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children with autism or persons with disabilities. As a result, we sought out to partner with partners like Port Macquarie to enhance access to their destination whether you’re an armchair traveller or there in-person,”. Jasmine is also a carer and together with her Malaysian counterpart and fitness coach Nikki Yeo, the best friends are worlds apart and yet have come together remotely to curate a hybrid festival to connect people remotely and in-person just as they have themselves. “Science has proven that walking even for just 30mins a day can raise your heart rate. We hope to entice those who are already fit, to use their fitness and strength for good. Neighbour, colleague or friend, walk with someone and it will change you and them,” urged Yeo, a founding board member of Exercise is Medicine Society Malaysia. We invite all people including those from non-English speaking backgrounds to come along with their families and try out sports and fitness activities. Sport can bring everyone together, making us stronger as a cohesive community. Fit for Good All activities are free aside from the AFT Health Workshop (A$30 per person) and Secret Supper (A$66 per person). Companies are invited to take up the Corporate Pledge sponsorship package which aims bring co-workers together to have fun, keep fit and work together as a team to do good plus lunch together, in support of local businesses. The festival’s ‘Fit for Good’ and ‘Eat for Good’ call benefits charity partners like All Together Now, The Koala Hospital, Port Karate Dojo and other local businesses. In a bid to make the festival environmentally friendly, organisers invite the general public to bring their recyclables to drop into a Return and Earn bin at Panthers Port Macquarie. All proceeds from the recycling will be pooled and distributed to support karate classes for children and support the community’s favourite endangered animal, injured koalas at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. Details: Event title: AFT International Sports Fitness Festival @ Port MacquarieDate: November 4 & 5, 2023Time: 7:00am – 4:00pmVenue: Panthers Port Macquarie, 1 Bay Street, Port Macquarie NSW 2444Cost: Free upon registration at www.sportsfitnessfestival.com/rsvpEmail: info@sportsfitnessfestival.com RSVP See you at Port Macquarie! #iloveportmacquarie #sportsfitnessfestival #sportsequity #diversitybyinclusion About us and our partners: Port Macquarie-Hastings Council (https://www.pmhc.nsw.gov.au/) oversees the one of the fastest growing urban centres in Australia. The Local Government Area covers 34 communities spread across the coast and hinterland, in urban, suburban and rural environments. With pristine coastal and hinterland environments, world class restaurants and a vibrant community, the Port Macquarie-Hastings region is incredibly diverse, with huge opportunities for growth and development. All Together Now (www.alltogethernow.org.au) is a Harm Prevention charity acknowledging that racism is a form of abuse, with a mission to “Educate Australians About Racism”. Port Karate’s Karate Kids on the Spectrum (www.portkarate.com), Kyokushin Karate classes that help children and adults with Autism or ADHD to break down boundaries. Port Macquarie Koala Hospital (https://koalahospital.org.au/), a licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility, that has been helping rescue and rehabilitate koalas since 1973.The facility is run by Koala Conservation Australia Limited, a not-for-profit organisation that includes approximately 200 volunteers dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating koalas and conserving and restoring their natural habitats. A Fitness Today (AFT) was founded in 2015 by two friends, a carer and her fitness coach. It has presence in Australia and Malaysia and produces digital content like videos, podcast interviews and feature articles on a wide range of topics related to sports, fitness and wellness. AFT strongly advocates for sports diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Website: www.afitnesstoday.com. GIG: Go International Group Dotcom Pty Ltd. (www.gointernationalgroup.com) is an independent impact media production group is licensed to produce and represent the AFT International Sports Fitness Festival, AustraliaFitnessToday.com, AsiaFitnessToday.com and AFT Podcasts. The group is affiliated to Go International Group Dotcom Sdn Bhd. which was established in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and has been producing youth, sporting, and lifestyle events since 2005. The Move8 Walk-a-Hunt was first initiated in 2018 at the KL Car Free Morning co-organised by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and Multigreen Events. Why are we doing this? A Fitness Today creates impact in communities by making sports and fitness more accessible to: Thank you. Thanks for reading The Art & Science of Wellness! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Jasmine Low
Kerry-Ann Augustin, Senior Writer at airasia interviews GIG co-founders, Jasmine Low & Nikki Yeo about their podcasting experience. View the published article on airasia’s website. Kerry-Ann Augustin: You’ve been working on three different podcasts – Asia Fitness Today’s Kurang Manis, Move8 … what triggered the idea behind each of them? Jasmine Low: In February 2019, I had won a second prize from the Motion Picture Association International Script-to-Screen Workshop Malaysia for KURANG MANIS (Sugar, Less), a documentary about six Malaysians who bare all about their hopes and dreams about New Malaysia and what it means to be amongst one in two Malaysians who are obese. The prize was a trip to attend the Australian International Documentary Conference in Melbourne in March 2020. We attended this and learnt so much about factual content-making, and it also opened our minds about content distribution. Although Kurang Manis was to be a film project, MCO lockdowns in Malaysia and filming restrictions meant that co-producer Nikki and I had to improvise and to launch the documentary as a podcast first. This is an impact project inspired by our own health, spurred on by national health statistics that show Malaysia’s alarming figures of increasing non-communicable diseases and the objective of the project is to entertain while educating Malaysians about nutrition and sedentary lifestyles. So we buckled down, and self-funded and produced the first season of Help! I’m Prediabetic! The Kurang Manis (Sugar, Less) Podcast which rolled out on 9th February 2021. Our first season includes an impressive list of guests; 2020 Australian of the Year, Ophthalmologist and Chairman of Sight for All Foundation, Dr. James Muecke who champions diabetes awareness to prevent loss of sight and also The World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time (squash) Nicol David among other stellar guests which included scientists and physicians. We’re now in the planning stages of season two. In addition to Kurang Manis, we also produce The Move8 Fit for Good Podcast where we interview fitness professionals who use their fitness for good. Here, we speak about exercise, movement therapy and strength building from a physical and mental standpoint. Thank you, airasia and Kerry-Ann! airasia berhad is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline. Since 2018, the group’s businesses have include hotels, holidays, activities, online shopping and a robust travel, lifestyle and e-commerce platform delivered via the airasia super app. Most recently, the group has pivoted to offer integrated logistics including last mile deliveries through Teleport and digital financial service via its money app, BigPay. Listen to Talks with Tony, a new podcast by airasia Co-Founder and CEO Tony Fernandes.
When I was a teenager, my favourite yearbook was Space 1999, a British series starring Barbara Bain & Martin Landau (one of the most successful husband and wife teams) and also Catherine Schell as Maya, who could morph into a frog, an insect, or even a rock! It seems those early days of sci-fi series like this, and Star Trek may have also been the crux of inspiration for two men – Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin, USA) and Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic, UK) who have now morphed from A-to-Z-e-commerce entrepreneur (Bezos) and Virgin-everything-until-you’re-not entrepreneur (Branson) into commercial astronauts! Fun facts Martin Landau was Cmdr. John Koenig of Moonbase Alpha, a ship stranded in space with a quest to find its way home while Barbara Bain was Dr. Helena Russell, the cool and professional chief medical officer on the lunar station. Another Space 1999 character was Ziena Merton who played the role of Italian data analyst, Sandra Benes. Merton was born in Brunei, her mother was Burmese, father half English, half French and raised in Singapore, Portugal, Borneo and England. Maya is a character I still have in mind – fans may recall her monobrow! via GIPHY Space tourism Yesterday, on 20 July 2021, Amazon founder’s Blue Origin completed New Shepard ship’s first human flight (after 15 test flights prior to this one) with four civilians onboard; Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, 82-year old Wally Funk who’s now the oldest person to fly in space and the 18-year old Dutchman Oliver Daemen whose father bid for the ticket, making him the first person in history as a commercial astronaut and the youngest person to fly in space as they passed the Kármán Line, the internationally recognised boundary of space located 100km from the Earth’s mean sea line. Astronauts were in communicado with ground crew at mission control and the in-cabin voice of Sara Knight was eeriely familiar since my last AirAsia commercial flight in 2019. But her voice also reminded me of Maya! Virgin Galactic’s Sir Richard Branson and his crew of five others (plus two pilots aboard mothership VMS Eve pictured above) on 11th July blasted off just 20KM short of the Karman Line, technically not reaching ‘space’ and yet having the few minutes of ZERO G aboard VSS Unity also made history, with two women aboard, one of whom with Indian heritage. 22 flights were done prior to this one. Read more: https://bit.ly/AFT-VSS-Unity Environmental impact What do the environmental groups say about this? Dr. Stuart Parkinson, ED of Scientists for Global Responsibility whose patrons include the likes of the late Prof. Stephen Hawking, cited a report by the Climate Change Committee where the UK government’s advisory body found that 62% of the necessary measures by society to reduce carbon emissions involve societal and behavour change. Avoiding air travel was one, whereby the carbon footprint of a return flight from London to Hong Kong is 3.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), similar to a UK citizen’s average car use for over 10 months. In that same article, one space flight results in emissons of at least 330 tCO2e, according to Prof. Mike Berners-Lee of Lancaster University and a renowned spokesperson on carbon footprinting. Parkinson snubs the aim of the journeys, saying “A few minutes of zero-gravity experience and a nice view… environmental vandalism for the super-rich”. Can tax save humanity? As a boutique agency, we can only stand back and watch how billionnaires like Bezos and Branson fulfil their personal dreams. But our question is, was it really just space travel? We all need to pivot and find newsworthy experiences for purposes of building brand equity and while the new frontier is looking fantastic, it seems like it curtails a greater purpose…which in our opinion, in real terms today, is to survive as long as we can on this planet without destroying what’s left of it. While space tourism sounds exciting, a more sustainable option could be donning a 360° viewfinder and experiencing it via VR lens. Or, perhaps there ought to be a hefty carbon tax put onto the space travellers if reason cannot stop them. Just like in Oaxaca in Mexico, their Mayor introduced a soft drink & candy ban for children under 18 in a bid to manage rising health concerns. A sugar tax has been introduced in several countries like Singapore, Norway, Bahrain, Brunei, Finland, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Philippines and Sri Lanka with 2020 Australian of the Year Dr. James Muecke AM proposing it for Australia. The World Health Organisation (WHO) encourages people to take as little sugar as possible because “nutritionally, people do not need any sugar in their diet”. It said that reducing sugar intake to 25g a day would provide health benefits. This is six teaspoons according to the WHO. If they can’t implement a sugar tax globally, will they be able to succeed in implementing a carbon emission tax? That onus falls back onto the policymakers, conscience of the entrepreneur and commercial astronauts themselves. Or perhaps, we just need a really good Netflix series titled Space 2999 while the big boys go in search of a more sustainable and clean fuel!
Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Asia Taskforce Report Launch CANBERRA, April 7, 2021 — The Hon Dan Tehan MP, Australia’s minister for trade, tourism and investment, launches the report A Second Chance: How Team Australia Can Succeed in Asia from the Asia Taskforce, an initiative of the Business Council of Australia, Asia Society Australia, and knowledge partners PwC and the University of Sydney Business School. Featuring a panel discussion with Asia Taskforce leaders: Mark van Dyck, regional managing director, Asia Pacific, Compass Group and chair of the Asia Taskforce; Jennifer Westacott AO, chief executive officer, Business Council of Australia; Philipp Ivanov, chief executive officer, Asia Society Australia; and Andrew Parker, partner and Asia practice leader, PwC Australia. (50 min., 28 sec.) Source: The Asia Society Go International Group is pleased to serve Australian clients who seek business exploration opportunities and introduction to Malaysian small-medium enterprises (SMEs) via its Cultural Immersion Programs. For further information, contact our Consulting Advisor Jasmine Low in Sydney on sydney@gointernationalgroup.com or call 0426 381 741 (+614 26 381 741).
The International Surrealism Now Exhibition will open in 2020 (with exact dates to be announced soon) at the Center of Arts and Spectacle (CAE) in the city of Figueira da Foz in Portugal, and in the ambit of celebrating its 10th anniversary, the 14th edition of the International Surrealism Now exhibition. Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Japan, Vietnam, India, Iran and the Philippines will be represented in the next edition of Surrealism Now, the largest World Surrealism exhibition of the 21st century which gathers artwork from 53 countries. Bien Banez, Philippines, Chuang Chih Hui, Taiwan, Cynthia Tom, China / USA, Gromyko Semper, Philippines, Farhad Jafari, Iran, Iwasaki Nagi, Japan, Lv Shang, China, Radhika Menon, India, Shoji Tanaka, Japan, Shan Zhulan, China, Sio Shisio, Indonesia, Vu Huyen Thuong, Vietnam, Yang Sumin, Taiwan and Jerome Kugan, Malaysia are the artists whose work will be present in the International Surrealism Now. The exhibition is a project created by Santiago Ribeiro, Portuguese surrealist artist, and started in 2010 at the Bissaya Barreto Foundation of Coimbra. In these 10 years, the exhibition has toured various parts of the country from Lisbon to Porto. It was also toured the world via satellite exhibitions in the United States such as Dallas, Los Angeles, The University of Mississippi and New York, also in Europe in Berlin, Paris, and Madrid among others always promoted and organised by Santiago. This exhibition has become the largest exhibition of surrealism of the 21st century in the world, consisting of works of painting, drawing, digital art, sculpture and photography by 126 participating artists from 53 countries – Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, India. This release has been distributed by PRNews.gointernationalgroup.com About Santiago, the mentor, and promoter of the largest exhibition of surrealism in the 21st century in the world, the International Surrealism Now, already has numerous presences around the planet as well as Berlin, Moscow, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Mississippi, Indiana, Denver, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Nantes, Paris, London, Vienna, Beijing, Florence, Madrid, Granada, Barcelona, Lisbon, Belgrade, Monte Negro, Romania, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Minsk, New Delhi, Jihlava (Czech Republic) and Caltagirone in Sicily and many cities in Portugal. The Arts and Entertainment Center (CAE) was opened in 2002. Large cultural structure (2,200 and 800 seat auditoriums – outdoor amphitheater, foyer, breakout rooms, studios, 4 exhibition halls) was thought of as a centrality with European Community funds and its programming tends to go through major national and international shows and this structure is also linked to other programming centres and events, in an anchor logic that disperses without losing continuity. Below are the names of the artists: Achraf Baznani, Morocco / Agim Meta, Albania-Spain / Aissa Mammasse, Algeria / Alessio Serpetti, Italy / Alvaro Mejias, Venezuela / Ana Neamu, Romania / Ana Pilar Morales,Spain / Andrew Baines, Australia / Asier Guerrero Rico (Dio), Spain / Axel Blotevogel, Germany / Brigid Marlin, UK / Bien Banez, Philippines / Can Emed, Turkey / Carlos Sablón, Cuba / Cătălin Precup, Romania / Chuang Chih Hui, Taiwan / Cristian Townsend, Australia / Conor Walton, Ireland / Cynthia Tom, China / USA / Dag Samsund, Denmark / Daila Lupo, Italy / Dan Neamu, Romania / Daniel Chiriac, Romania / Daniel Hanequand,France / Canada / Daniele Gori, Italy / Delphine Cencig, France / Dean Fleming, USA / Domen Lo, Slovenia / Edgar Invoker, Russia / Efrat Cybulkiewicz, Venezuela / Egill Eibsen, Iceland / Erik Heyninck, Belgium / Ettore Aldo Del Vigo, Italy / Fabrizio Riccardi, Italy / Farhad Jafari, Iran / France Garrido, USA / Francisco Urbano, Portugal / Gabriele Esau, Germany / Genesis Cabrera, USA /Graça Bordalo Pinheiro, Portugal / Graszka Paulska, Poland / Gromyko Semper, Philippines / Gyuri Lohmuller, Romania / Hector Pineda, Mexico / Hector Toro, Colombia / Henrietta Kozica, Sweden / Hugues Gillet, France / Isabel Meirelles, Portugal / Iwasaki Nagi, Japan / James Skelton, UK / Jay Garfinkle, USA / Jay Paul Vonkoffler, American / Argentine / Jerome Kugan, Malaysia / Jimah St, Nigeria / Joanna Budzyńska-Sycz, Poland / João Duarte, Portugal / Keith Wigdor, USA / Leo Wijnhoven, Netherlands / Leo Plaw, Germany / Liba WS, France / Lubomír Štícha, Republic Czech / Ludgero Rolo, Portugal / Lv Shang, China / Maarten Vet, Netherlands /Maciej Hoffman, Poland / Magi Calhoun, USA / Marnie Pitts, UK / Maria Aristova, Russia / Mario Devcic, Croatia / Martina Hoffman, Germany / Mathias Böhm, Germany / Mehriban Efendi, Azerbaijan / Naiker Roman, Cuba / Spain / Nazareno Stanislau, Brazil / Nikolina Petolas, Croatia / Octavian Florescu, Canada / Ofelia Hutul, Romania /Oleg Korolev, Russia / Olesya Novik, Russia / Olga Spiegel, USA / Otto Rapp, Austria / Paula Rosa, Portugal / Paulo Cunha, Canada / Pavlina Boroshova, Switzerland-Germany / Pedro Diaz Cartes, Chile / Penny Golledge, UK / Peter MC LANE, France / Philippe Pelletier, France / Radhika Menon, India / Richard Shannon, USA / Roch Fautch,USA / Rodica Miller, USA/Ruben Cukier, Argentine / Israeli / Rudolf Boelee, New Zealand / Russbelt Guerra,Peru / Sabina Nore, Austria / Sampo Kaikkonen, Finland / Santiago Ribeiro, Portugal / Sarah Zambiasi,Australia /Serge Sunne,Latvia / Sergey Tyukanov, Russia / Shahla Rosa, USA / Shoji Tanaka, Japan / Shan Zhulan, China / Shia Weltenmenge,Germany / Sio Shisio, Indonesia / Slavko Krunic, Serbia / Sônia Menna Barreto, Brazil / Steve Smith, USA / Stuart Griggs, UK / Svetlana Kislyachenko, Ukraine / Svetlana Ratova, Russia / Tatomir Pitariu, USA / Tersanszki Cornelia, Romania / Tim Roosen, Belgium / Ton Haring, Netherlands / Victor Lages, Portugal / Vu Huyen Thuong, Vietnam / Yamal Din, Morocco / Spain / Yang Sumin, Taiwan / Yuliya Patotskaya, Belarus/ Yuri Tsvetaev, Russia / Zoltan Ducsai, Hungary / Zoran Velimanovic, Serbia. Contacts:Centro de Artes e EspectáculosRua Abade Pedro3080-084 Figueira da FozTel: 233 407 200Fax: 233 407 209E-mail: geral@cae.ptwww.cae.pt Hours:Monday to Thursday: 9 am to 11 pm;Friday: 9 am to midnight;Saturdays; 10 am to midnight;Sundays and holidays: 10h00 to 19h00;Show days: until the end of the show
This 25th of April 2020 marks a day of Rememberance that’s more important than ever this century. Globally, citizens of the world are advised to stay at home in the fight to #flattenthecurve – to not give the Coronavirus COVID-19 a chance to take more lives. It almost feels as if we’re at war, civilians not spared. Yet we fight only amongst ourselves. Seniors over the age of 70 in Australia are advised to remain at home, and we think of those who are living independently on their own, those who have not been able to enjoy the company of their families due to social distancing, those who have none and are alone. We think and honour all senior citizens and especially remember those who served defending their country, and the borders of their ally nations. For this reason, we’re also fundraising for a service that’s run by volunteers, that bring so much joy to seniors everyday – the people at Meals on Wheels. Here’s a link to the fundraiser if you’d like to donate. Join us this 25th April at 05:55 as we stand in silence for one minute, in rememberance of these brave men and women, the Anzacs. Lest we forget. As a company with presence in both Malaysia and Australia, we feel honoured and privileged to learn about the historical ties that bind our nations. Our Editor Syuhada Adam who originates from Ranau shared that Sabahans in East Malaysian Borneo honour Anzac Day in rememberance of the thousands of allied prisoners of war who were forced to march in what was known as the Sandakan Death Marches that took place from Sandakan to Ranau between 1942-1945. Of the 2,434 prisoners who were held captive, only five Australian and one British soldier survived, all of whom had escaped. It is widely considered to be the single worst atrocity suffered by Australian servicemen during the Second World War. When Singapore fell in 1942, Allied troops who were captured comprised of nearly 15,000 Australians among them. In a WhatsApp chat with Syuhada, she shared that “About 30 minutes drive after the town of Kundasang, you will reach Ranau town. There is a Borneo Evangelical Church just past town, right before the Marakau intersection. This is where the horrors of the ANZAC POWs happened. Although it looks nondescript, one of the monuments is dedicated to Gunner Neil Cleary, who was tortured for weeks by the Japanese. The tree you see in the picture was said to be used to hang POWs. She shares these pictures taken in 2010 before smartphone era and apologises for the quality. In sharing this post, a friend reached out to me on Facebook to say that she too had visited the war memorial in Sandakan in 2016 and here’s her travel blog (link). She said, “Visited it. It’s quite beautiful and understated”. The camp staff who were responsible for overseeing the horror at Sandakan were tried as war criminals and three were convicted and imprisoned. We took the liberty of downloading the audio guide from the Sandakan War Memorial and Gardens of Rememberance, built at Kundasang, Sabah in 1962. It receives hundreds of visitors annually until today. A tribute to the brave men and women, the Anzacs. Left to right: Owen Campbell, Harry Jackson, Keith Botterill and Nelson Short arriving at Sandakan Airport. Harry Jackson was not a POW nor involved in the Borneo Death March, but he retraced the route in 1946 after the cessation of hostilities to reward natives who had helped the Australians on the March. The Sandakan story has got to be brought out into the light. That’s what I reckon. Bring it to their notice, and then they’ll start to talk, and that will bring it further into the minds of the younger generation that is coming up. When you realize it’s got to be told, then you don’t mind the personal anguish, as long as it does some good somewhere along the line and opens people’s eyes. Owen Campbell – one of the six survivors from Sandakan. Campbell was 87 when he passed away at Adelaide Hospital on 4 July 2003. May he Rest in Peace. In 1999, Campbell returned to Sandakan as a member of the Australian Commemorative Mission to dedicate a new memorial for those POWs who died in the area. He said, “I could sense my mates all around me”. I’d like to give full credit to this phrase – Lest we Forget as it’s used year on year for Anzac references. The origin of the phrase was taken from quotes of an Urdu Persian Muslim poet from Mughal India, Mirza Ghalib. It was then used in a Christian poem written by an English journalist, poet and short story writer who was born in India. Nobel Laureate Rudyard Kipling, who also wrote the Jungle Book wrote this phrase in the poem Recessional– dedicated to Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. God of our fathers, known of old,Lord of our far-flung battle line, Beneath whose awful hand we holdDominion over palm and pine—Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,Lest we forget—lest we forget! The tumult and the shouting dies; The Captains and the Kings depart:Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice, An humble and a contrite heart.Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,Lest we forget—lest we forget! Far-called our navies melt away; On dune and headland sinks the fire:Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,Lest we forget—lest we forget! If, drunk with sight of power, we loose Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,Such boastings as the Gentiles use, Or lesser breeds without the Law—Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,Lest we forget—lest we forget! For heathen heart that puts her trust In reeking tube and iron shard,All valiant dust that builds on dust, And guarding calls not Thee to guard,For frantic boast and foolish word—Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord! Rudyard Kipling This Anzac 2020, we will stand in silence. Lest we forget, lest we forget.