Glen Waverley trader Christo Christophidis criticises apartment balcony washing which Monash Mayor Geoff Lake says has benefits

Posted to Waverley Leader (22/4/2014) on 22/4/2014 at 11:30 AM
Commenting on "Glen Waverley trader Christo Christophidis criticises apartment balcony washing, which Monash Mayor Geoff Lake says has benefits"
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/glen-waverley-trader-christo-christophidis-criticises-apartment-balcony-washing-which-monash-mayor-geoff-lake-says-has-benefits/story-fngnvlxu-1226891111228

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of multiculturalism. Oops, the culture of some who used to live in high density, high rise buildings overseas, who decorate the buildings with poles hanging multi-colour clothing including under garments.

I came to Australia many years ago in search of a better place to live with fresh air and a backyard of my own to grow plants and flowers. Times have changed; people spend mega bucks to live in shoe boxes, smelling the oily fume from surrounding restaurants; not that I don't like Char Siew or roast duck, but living in those apartments are like living in my kitchen.

Have you been inside the building? It is supposed to be new, but the cleanliness and some damage caused by selfish people moving into the premises are less than desirable. Oh yes, how can one sleep well with those announcement via the PA systems from the train stations and the school?

Security called at Clayton Street Festival after MP refused request to speak

Posted to Leader Newspaper (26/2/2014) on 26/2/2014 at 3:42 PM
Commenting on "Security called at Clayton Street Festival after MP refused request to speak"
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/security-called-at-clayton-street-festival-after-mp-refused-request-to-speak/story-fngnvlxu-1226837450798

Inga Peulich should not have assumed what was practised in the past would remain unchanged. The organiser was not a crystal ball gazer who could read her mind. In my unbiased opinion, Inga Peilich's RSVP did imply her giving a speech, no matter how short it was. If she wanted to address the crowd, she should have done the right way by being explicit in her reply, and no one including Geoff Lake could decline her request since she is "servant" of Victorians.

However, Geoff Lake's remark was appalling. He should not use the occasion to gain brownie points for the Labor Party. The festival was supposedly an apolitical event, and saying that Inga Peulich was not to speak at the festival because her government did not help fund the event was naïve to say the least.

Once a govenment is elected, in this case Victoria, whether you like it not Geoff, it is the government for all Victorians, and not only for you or Inga Peulich.

It's time to grow up, you two. Your behaviour in the public is unacceptable and despicable!

Urged to contest Victorian elections

Posted to City of Waverley Leader (14/5/2012) on 4/7/2012 at 12:58 PM
Commenting on "STAND FOR COUNCIL: More urged to contest Victorian elections"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/stand-for-council-more-urged-to-contest-polls/

In the City of Monash, 9 out of 11 are Labor members or associated with the party. If one is not specific partisan aligned, you have Buckley's chance. Need to say more?

Will ratepayers at City of Monash learn from Queensland state election?

Posted to Your News, Waverley Leader on 25/3/2012 at 4:48 PM (Not published by Newspaper)
Title: Will ratepayers at City of Monash learn from Queensland state election?

The number of Labor Councillors in the City of Monash is 9 out of the total of 11. I am deeply concerned about local council being used as a training ground of future state and federal politicians for candidates backed by political parties with financial and other resources. This deprives other non-politically aligned candidates the opportunity to contribute towards the good of the City and the ratepayers.

This may sound like the voice of a sour grape, but then this is a statement of fact. It is unlikely for quality and genuine independents to sacrifice their time and livelihood (including money) to campaign for a position, only to find out there is Buckley’s chance to even get back their deposit money, unless there is a level playing field. Those who have burning desire to contribute will likely pack up their boxing gloves after a number of attempts.

Better resourced and influential candidates have running mates; some are even dummies who do not supply contact details to the electoral office. The purpose of having these dummies that are unlikely to win is to preference their votes to their mates to boost the count. Unfortunately, the existing preferential voting system and non-contact disclosure cannot be amended.

Some decisions made by the City executives are just being rubber stamped by the Councillors. The Council meetings can be described as more than courteous. There are insufficient scrutiny and accountability. To name a few, these include annual rate increase, council expenses including Councillors', use of technology and most laughably the curtain at Clayton pool.

While many items seem transparent, nonsensical transparency is worth as much as the nonsense itself. It is important for ratepayers to learn more about the candidates before casting their votes this October council election. The City’s future – rate collection, development, open space, traffic management, business mix, social harmony, community health services, etc. must be discussion topics and subject to more vigorous scrutiny.

Yarra Council boss quits, takes Monash Council job

Posted to Waverley Leader (22/2/2012) on 24/2/2012 at 4:57 AM
Commenting on "Yarra Council boss quits, takes Monash Council job"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/yarra-council-boss-quits-takes-monash-council-spot/

I wonder if City of Yarra were to offer the new CEO $360,000, will our "new" CEO take up the Yarra's attractive offer and quit City of Monash?

Curtailing on-call costs in Monash

Posted to Waverley Leader (21/2/2012) on 21/2/2012 at 10:03 PM
Commenting on “HAVE YOUR SAY: Curtailing on-call costs in Monash”
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/curtailing-on-call-costs-in-monash/

Ratepayers of City of Monash need more intelligent Councillors to represent their interests in the City.

Mayor Stefanie Perri is talking pure nonsense to say that “Councillors spend a large amount of time on the phone talking to ratepayers about local issues and concerns they may have." So far, as a keen follower of City of Monash's news and a frequent reader of the available local newspapers, I hardly read about what the Councillors have done or issues the Councillors have brought to the public attention!

As most ratepayers know, Councillors do not dedicate 100% of their time to represent the ratepayers, because they have other paid employment. I would be very surprised if the Councillors talk at length to ratepayers after hours.

If a Councillor spends a lot of their paid working hours talking to ratepayers, they are misusing their company's valuable resource namely time. If they operate their business, and have so much free time talking about other matters, I can imagine how dedicated they are in their business. What if it is true that they talk to ratepayers after hours? They probably value the ratepayers more than their family, honourable but plain stupid!

Pool curtain cost up in Clayton (Post 3 of 3)

Posted to Waverley Leader (7/2/2012) on 9/2/2012 at 10:50 AM
Commenting on "YOUR SAY: Pool curtain cost up in Clayton"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/pool-curtain-cost-up-in-clayton/

Jack Davis said he believed the cost increase was “a waste of money”.

Jack, you're too kind, and very wrong. The whole lot of do-good Councillors are "a waste of money", sack them all. Don't forget to sack the one that comes out with the budget and writes the tender.

Pool curtain cost up in Clayton (Post 2 of 3)

Posted to Waverley Leader (7/2/2012) on 8/2/2012 at 4:15 AM
Commenting on "YOUR SAY: Pool curtain cost up in Clayton"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/pool-curtain-cost-up-in-clayton/

The increase in cost should NOT have been approved.

It is an increase of 50% of the original budget. How much is the running cost in maintaining the curtain, and what's the life of this?

Can we trust the budget of the ongoing maintaining cost if the budget for the curtain is so disastrously off-target?

Pool curtain cost up in Clayton (Post 1 of 3)

Posted to Waverley Leader (7/2/2012) on 7/2/2012 at 2:26 PM (Not published by Newspaper)
Commenting on "YOUR SAY: Pool curtain cost up in Clayton"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/pool-curtain-cost-up-in-clayton/

A cost blowout of close to 50% is totally unacceptable, and whoever did the cost estimate and budget should join the dole queue. As for the Councillors, I doubt they know what they are doing almost all the time, except to agree with all the proposals, and moved motion to pass whatever put forward.

With more than three quarters of the Councillors belonging to the same political party that the PM belongs to, I suppose this is the best of the worst they can do for the City.

"Councillors voted unanimously last week to accept ... increasing the curtain budget from $45,000 to $66,400" is a conspiracy of the worst kind. Did they understand that if the blowout was so big in magnitude, how could they trust the budget for future maintenance cost, very likely came from the dude that budgeted for the construction?

Have you heard anything constructive the Councillors that have done for the ratepayers except raising their temper as fast as the mercury shooting up the thermometer stem on the total fire ban day?

This is the price to pay for voting for your mates. Open your eyes in the next election.

Chinese New Year Celebration 2012 at Kingsway, City of Monash

Posted to Your News, Waverley Leader on 7/2/2012
Title: Chinese New Year Celebration 2012 at Kingsway, City of Monash

Compare with previous years, the attendance was much lower. Even close to 1 pm, Kingsway was not packed. Some stalls were not open for business, and the queues at the food stalls were short and not as "deep". Conspicuously missing were the popular DVD stalls, but there were two "traders" selling DVDs in the pavement.

The very hot weather could have turned a lot of the people away. It could possibly due to this being the last Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration around Melbourne - CNY celebration fatigue.

Beads of sweat rolled down my face, and the day was hot! I played safe to have my lunch at a Grand Tofu cafe/restaurant, which I hoped the food hygiene standards were better observed.

The ground outside the Monash Library seemed to be the real cultural hub. Chinese Association of Victoria conducted several activities including lantern painting, origami making, calligraphy demonstration, and the good old tradition of solving the classical riddles written on strips of paper hung from the tent "ceiling". Other Chinese schools and associations were there as well. This patch was a lot more crowded than the food stalls.

I took a few photos of the non-Chinese dance performance on stage. The dancers wore red - the only thing that was close to Chinese tradition!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2834859783541.2123412.1020578094&type=3&l=0f8b69dada

It was very difficult to "shoot" the lion in action because there was hardly any room to move about, let alone trying to get to the front of the crowd to capture the lion's movement close to the ground. I don't have a good camera, and cannot capture the action well at high speed.

The Lion went from shop-to-shop. It moved about on the ground, leapt in the air, lifted high to get the red packet containing money tied together with a complete lettuce to a beam above the pavement. The Lion "drank" a bottle of beer, and was likely exceeded .05. Its tail moved about like a real drunkard; it also rolled on the ground and "laughed" - well it did open its mouth flap wide.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2834912664863.2123414.1020578094&type=3&l=8af6596af4

Suddenly, the Water Dragon arrived in the City of Monash in its true form, brought along buckets of rain. Astrologically speaking, Lunar New Year began on 23/1/2012, but the Year of the Dragon actually started on 4/2/2012. This year is the Year of the Water Dragon, and it is a Black Dragon.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/sin-fong-chan-the-teacher/lesson-on-chinese-new-year-and-the-year-of-dragon/196474710450530

By now, Kingsway was deserted, and one could roll a bowling ball down the street without knocking down any pedestrian. The street was wet, and the Dragon leader asked his team members to stay put in the pavement until the rain stopped.

There were activities in the Century Walk, including the Vietnamese spring roll demonstration. I got in just at the right time; I had the last piece of spring roll from the demonstrator!

Depressed sales drove some of the more “dynamic” stallholders go round taking orders from anyone and everyone they could approach, and delivered them freshly cooked from the stalls. Eat your heart out online ordering, this is human-base customer service.

I had enough for the afternoon, and left at 4:45 pm. The sun was still hiding behind the clouds, and for more than an hour. I wanted to return to Kingsway for more fun and action, but I suffered from CYN celebration constipation! And so, I leave the reporting to someone else who attended the later part of the celebration.

Until next time, have a wonderful year. May the Dragon bring you lots and lots of water or its equivalence – wealth!

Will illegal DVDs be sold during Chinese New Year celebration again?

Posted to Your News, Waverley Leader on 22/1/2012 at 4:17 AM (Not published by Newspaper)
Title: Will illegal DVDs be sold during Chinese New Year celebration again?

I attended the CNY celebration last year, and there were several stalls selling non-original, copied DVDs. The incident was reported to the duty police officer but no action was taken.

Just a few days ago, one of the world's largest file-sharing sites has been shut down in US, and its founder and several company executives charged with violating piracy laws. Are these Monash traders not violating the piracy and copyright laws?

I would like to see that these traders be prosecuted for violating the laws. Although City of Monash does not have the jurisdiction to prosecute the offenders, but the City do have the obligation to stop these people selling items in breach of the law, no difference from paddling drugs in the Monash precinct.

I am writing this and put the City on notice before the coming event, to be held on 5 February.

Please do not publish my name.

Gay marriage bill backed in Monash

Posted to Waverley Leader (14/12/2011) on 15/12/2011 at 2:41 AM
Commenting on "HAVE YOUR SAY: Gay marriage bill backed in Monash"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/gay-marriage-bill-backed/

The only reason I can think of why the Labor Party and a lot of non-Labor members support gay marriage must be that there are too many unhappy marriages in Australia.

I strongly oppose same-sex marriage because it contradicts what I think modern human beings believe in - going back to nature and growing things organically. We don't need genetically modified or laboratory grown life, including the highest form - the human embryo.

Why is the human race moving forward (a catchphrase used often by Julia Gillard) in the wrong direction?

Kingsway Chaos

Posted to Waverley Leader (29/11/2011) on 29/11/2011 at 9:55 PM
Commenting on "Kingsway Chaos"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/kingsways-chaos/

I am not scare mongering about the potential harm that could happen in the region if planning was not well thought out, allowing perceived city prosperity came before social harmony.

The brawl outside the Glen Waverley karaoke club at 3 am 20/11/2011 that left six people injured is just the start. Glen Waverley may be considered fairly affluent, and the good image can be tarnished easily in the future if drug traffickers use these commercial and entertainment venues to prey on the patrons and thugs start to claim their turfs.

It is most unfortunate that some cities in Melbourne metropolitan suffer from such fate and no solutions are in sight!

Paying for privacy in Monash

Posted Posted to Waverley Leader (22/11/2011) on 22/11/2011 at 1:04 AM
Commenting on "Paying for privacy in Monash"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/paying-for-privacy-in-monash/

It's probably cheaper to build a "small" Great Wall of China as a barrier than the stupid curtain. As a ratepayer I would like to know which company has the contract to build it. At that cost, probably Monash can outsource to a factory in China for less than 25% of the original budget.

The move to install the curtain is a bad precedence, and I can see all future toilets in public places and offices will be renovated to have taps and hosts to cater for those who use their hands instead of toilet paper, after they have discharged their business, for religious reason. That is not a fiction - the new Melbourne Women's Hospital wasted a lot of money to fix the problem after the management discovered the toilets of the newly built hospital were forever wet.

Council resolute on Kingsway footpath policy

Posted to Waverley Leader (27/4/2011) on 27/4/2011 at 10:53 AM
Commenting on “Council resolute on Kingsway footpath policy”
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/council-resolute-on-kingsway-footpath-policy/

OK, outdoor diners, all civic conscious and sensible people sympathise with your plight. We understand that you are contented to smoke or breathe in second-hand smoke to be lung cancer suffers causing grief to your loved ones; be an inconsiderate nuisance to create hazards forcing parents pushing prams or shoppers with trolleys into the street and get knocked down by cars wanting to park at the bays; an environmental hypocrite wasting valuable energy during winter using very inefficient ceiling heaters; gulp down the dirty and silent carcinogens pumped out from vehicles which do not complement well with the presumably healthy food you are consuming.

Oops, I forget to mention about the filthy mess, including the cigarette butts that scattered on the footpaths. Yes, City of Monash is a multicultural city, I do not mean ethnicity related culture, what I mean is the practice of those who want to be seen as trendy and mindless.

Should Yarra Council ban outdoor smoking?”

Posted to Waverley Leader (16/3/2011) on 19/3/2011 at 1:46 AM

Commenting on “HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Yarra Council ban outdoor smoking?”

http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/melbourne-council-considers-outdoor-smoking-ban/

City of Monash should be praised for banning smoking in many public areas, but unfortunately the Monash Councillors were gutless to ban smoking in outdoor dining cafés / restaurants recently. It was said that "Monash-specific ban would be hard on traders and thinks that the cost is too great to implement it."

There will always be people who enjoy lighting up a cigarette inside or outside eating places, but there are a lot more who don’t. By promoting Yarra as a complete smoke-free zone for café, it can attract non-smokers coming to help improve the food business in the City.

It will be fantastic if Yarra is the first City to implement such policy in banning all outdoor dining.

Monash drops bid for smoke ban

Posted to Waverley Leader (1/3/11) on 3/3/2011 at 11:48 AM
Commenting on "Monash drops bid for smoke ban"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/monash-drops-bid-for-smoke-ban/

It is load of nonsense for Cr Stephen Dimopoulos to say a Monash-specific ban would be hard on traders and thinks that the cost is too great to implement it.

There will always be people who enjoy lighting up a cigarette inside or outside eating places, but there are a lot more who don’t. By promoting City of Monash as a complete smoke-free zone for café, we can attract non-smokers coming to help improve the food business in the City.

Unfortunately I disagree with Cr Geoff Lake trying to wash his hands clean by saying that "al fresco dining was something for the state government to tackle." City of Monash can introduce by-laws to overcome this problem. What’s wrong being the first City to implement such policy?

$45,000 bill for Monash women-only pool sessions (Post 2 of 2)

Posted to Waverley Leader (14/2/11) on 21/2/2011 at 11:08 AM
Commenting on "$45,000 bill for Monash women-only pool sessions"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/comments/your-view-45-000-bill-for-monash-women-only-pool-sessions/

Who is going to pay for the on-going up-keep and maintenance of the curtain at the Clayton Swimming Pool? The ratepayers, of course!

Every dollar spent on the curtain is a dollar sacrificed on other items such as maintenance of roads, street lighting, tree pruning, rubbish collection, etc. Now that this matter is so publicised, the flow-on negative effects will outweigh the benefits. There will be additional financial cost on security in addition to cost stated above, and social cost such as racial/religious harmony.

The next DEMAND will be prayer room and special toilets in all public facilities in the City of Monash. Some larger organisations have bowed to pressure to provide special prayer rooms, and companies must make allowance for workers to pray during work hours.

While I was assisting in a project in a middle-eastern country, my colleagues and I were advised to be sensitive not to eat in front of fellow colleagues at lunch break during the fasting period!

$45,000 bill for Monash women-only pool sessions (Post 1 of 2)

Posted to Waverley Leader (14/2/11) on 15/2/2011 at 12:50 PM
Commenting on "$45,000 bill for Monash women-only pool sessions"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/comments/your-view-45-000-bill-for-monash-women-only-pool-sessions/

I have written in various papers including this about my views on segregation, whether it is on businesses in Kingsway or the use of swimming pool.

Multiculturalism is not a one-way traffic. Australians are asked to be patient, tolerant, and acceptant with other’s cultures, and expected to learn about them, and yet many immigrants do not reciprocate. Unless there is a common unifying force to bind them together, the Australian social fabric will be torn.

To find out more about my other comments, follow the links
http://www2b.abc.net.au/tmb/Client/Message.aspx?b=114&m=49118&ps=50&dm=2, published 27/8/2009
http://www2b.abc.net.au/guestbookcentral/list.asp?numtoview=&GuestbookID=156&start=&sort=&filter1=Name&filter1val=CHAN, Sin Fong&filter2=Subject&filter2val=Speak English and Respect the Laws&filter3Remark=&filter3val=Tower of Babel&view=&advanced=&Action=&pagestart=, published 19/9/2006
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/comments/women-only-pool-float-for-monash/, published 19/10/2010
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/your-news/story/better-business-mix-in-kingsway/, published 7/1/2011
http://www.monashweekly.com.au/content/letterstotheeditor/, published 7/1/2011, 3/12/2010, 20/10/2010

Karaoke out of tune

Posted to Waverley Leader (4/1/2011) on 7/1/2011 at 11:51 AM
Commenting on "Karaoke out of tune"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/no-support-for-glen-waverley-karaoke/

There are more concerning issues regarding this proposed development:

• Over concentration of restaurants / food premises will cannibalise existing businesses
  
• A lot more late-night alcohol-fuelled violence will be in the precinct
  
• More demand on Police and Council resources to ensure Monash residents peace and quiet enjoyment of their properties at night
  
• Possible organised gangs will be attracted and infiltrated to this area with early morning licence
  
• Non-existing by-laws to ensure balanced mix of business
  

Although I’m a Chinese by descent, I definitely do not like to see the Kingsway turned into a Chinatown like Box Hill, Springvale, Richmond in Melbourne, or Eastwood, Chatswood and Cabramatta in Sydney - almost filled with Asian restaurants or businesses.

Only a balanced mix of businesses and ethnicity in the City of Monash will ensure racial harmony in the near and long-term future.