Protest takes up the sky

An ingenuous way to show dissatisfication as a result of prolonged, unsolved negotiation on wages increase demanded by the Queensland Teachers' Union (QTU) has gone up in the sky. Today is supposed to be a strike day by about 35,000 state teachers across Queensland, the second of its kind this year, demanding an 18 % increase of their wages to get parity with other states because they claim that Queensland teachers are the lowest paid teachers in Australia. However, it doesn't materialise as the QTU agreed to abandon the strike as the Bligh's government is willing to offer an interim pay rise of $2000-a-year.

Initially, the teachers planned to hold a rally in front of the Parliment House in downtown Brisbane, but, they changed course, hiring a plane instead to vent their frustration up in the sky. The Bligh's government is repeatedly sticking to their early offer of an increase of just 12.5 % for the next three years.

A trail of smoke, created by a plane forming the word "Bligh" with "X" mark underneath

It is interesting to see what will the major papers have to say in tomorrow's issues and what will be the government's response to this latest debacle. Let's just wait for the update to appear in this blog.

A right check sign appears to 'win' the QTU struggle over wages hike

Tahlil ceremony for Griffith Uni undergrad

A Tahlil ceremony was held recently (1/8/09) for the late Hjh Surinah Hj Tahamid, an undergrad student at Griffith University in Queensland, who passed away while on a semester break in Brunei on July 17, 2009. About 20 of her close friends and colleagues, some are currently studying at various universities in Queensland attended the religious gathering.

A section of her colleagues offering prayers

The function which took place at Brisbane’s Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV) commenced with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah led by Hj Rahim Omar, an undergrad student in nursing and health management at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). This was followed by the mass reading of Surah Yaasin and ended with a thanksgiving prayer read by Hj Rahim.

Her friends and colleagues from UQ and QUT

The late Hjh Surinah, an officer at the Ministry of Health is taking an undergrad course in community health since 2007 at Griffith University (Logan Campus) and is expected to finish off her degree course by the end of this year. She was just celebrating her 41st birthday when she died and her sudden demise shocked KGUV residents with many of her colleagues and friends describing her being a cheerful and helpful person. “She would be sorely missed and fondly remembered for keeping us in stitches with her hilarious spontaneity.”

Her roommate (4th from right) and other colleagues (GU, UQ & QUT) and friends