If you want to know a person's character, beliefs and values,. watch their words and actions when they are pushed to the edge (Rajesh Setti)
OR
take your potential employees, customers, stakeholders and alliance partners for a game of golf (Ivan Kaye)
Kanwal Rekhi entered USA knowing 2 English words “hi” and “hello ji.”
Surrounded by polished English speakers, he felt out of place - and felt that people looked down at him !!
But every night, he stood in front of a mirror, practiced phrases, learned English and kept going. He put his head down, worked hard, and let results speak louder than words.
Even today, his English is not great - he often mixes up grammar and words. But now, people call it his style.
Kanwal didn’t just survive — hethrived. He earned a U.S. degree, and became the first Indian founder to take a company public on NASDAQ.l, and is regarded as one of the fathers of Silicon Valley!!
The world notices your flaws until you’ve proven yourself. After that, they treat these flaws as your point of difference and celebrate your uniqueness.
Have a goal - Look in the mirror. Tell yourself, “I can do it.” And then do it.
#Resilience #Leadership #Inspiration #CanDo #GrowthMindset #Perseverance
Dear Justice Rigg,
I’m writing as president of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia to express the views of my Board about your ruling to allow the “March for Humanity” across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge on Sunday.
While I and so many others in my community are heartsick about the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel and the plight of hostages and of Palestinian civilians, and while doubtless the motivation of many of the participants was indeed humanitarian, sadly the tone and optics of the march turned out to be exactly as we feared.
I expect that you’ve now seen the huge photo of the Ayatollah Khamenei carrying a gun, behind which the leaders proudly strode.
As Iranian-born Ryde Councillor Tina Kordrostami posted, “We fled our country for freedom of speech, choice and identity.
Today thousands march on our bridge alongside supporters of the regime, who took this freedom away from us…make it make sense.”
To paraphrase an Iranian dissident academic who spoke at an Iranian-Jewish women’s lunch my organisation hosted during the Iran-Israel war recently, the cognitive dissonance of seeing people who just a few years ago stood up for Women Life Freedom now standing with those who deprive women of their lives and freedom is truly mind blowing.
The signs and slogans at the march about “Zios” must have given marchers like Jenny Leong MP comfort, since coding Jews as Zionists means you don’t risk prosecution or have to apologise when you dehumanise them (like saying they have tentacles) or answer calls like Shayne Chester’s: “…may [the march] be the beginning of a rising tide that washes the Zionist filth out of this country.”
Maybe you didn’t anticipate the Hamas flags at the march, or the Taliban or Al Qaeda ones – all symbolising the polar opposite of human rights, especially women’s rights and queer rights and the rights of people to demonstrate freely in the streets.
Perhaps before you made your ruling you missed the post by Bhenji Ra, a dance ambassador for the 2026 Biennale of Sydney – a photo shared multiple times of one of the signs that was being prepared: “Death Death to the IDF”. Those chants were heard throughout the march.
Or other examples of incitement to violence, like Crikey journalist and president of the Black Peoples Union Keiran Stewart Assheton saying, “The people marching across the bridge tomorrow should continue marching to wherever Albanese lives and beat the living sh-t out of him.”
On the morning of the march, the Sydney Morning Herald published a video released by Hamas of the emaciated, starved Israeli hostage Evyatan David being forced to dig his own grave in a Gaza tunnel after 666 days in captivity.
You accepted the organisers’ argument that the marchers were driven by ‘the horrific images published in the media’. But neither this horrific image nor any preceding ones of hostages living or murdered in Hamas’ hell over the past 667 days inspired anyone to say a public word about them.
It appears that the “humanity” of the march leaders and speakers does not extend to those hostages or to any non-Palestinian victims of the war. Socceroo marcher Craig Foster has never said a word about the 12 Druze Israeli children murdered by Hezbollah rockets while playing on a soccer field last year.
Disgraced academic and exclusionary feminist Randa Abdel Fattah was a keynote speaker. She infamously said about the now United Nations-confirmed mass rapes and sexual violence on October 7: “This is not a #MeToo or ‘BelieveAllWomen’ moment”.
At least Palestinian activist Tasnim Sammak was honest when she posted “It’s March for Gaza, not march for humanity.”
Though nominally for humanity, this march also gave voice to ignorance, hypocrisy and hate.
I am sure you were unaware that you allowed it on the most sombre fast day in our Jewish calendar, Tish b’Av. On this day we process our intergenerational trauma about all the calamities that have befallen our people through history, including the destruction of our two ancient temples in Jerusalem by colonising invaders, our forced conversions by Crusaders in the Middle Ages, our genocide by Nazis across Europe and North Africa in the 20th century, our ethnic cleansing from the Arab lands of the Middle East soon after it, and now our massacre by Hamas and other Islamist terrorists on October 7 two years ago.
So many of us watched the march in a state of deep distress. In our eyes it represented another 90,000 steps towards the hateful and deliberate exclusion of our people from the human family.
Jewish people are not called the “canaries in the mine” for nothing. The images of Islamist leaders and terrorist group flags that we saw at the march should remind everyone that the enemies of Jews are also the enemies of women, queer and many other marginalised people. When Jewish Australians are not safe on our streets it means that our whole society is unsafe.
Indeed, the fact that the weekly public reading of hostage names was cancelled by police because they said all their forces were deployed for the march and they “could not guarantee the safety of the participants” says everything about the danger the march posed not just to us, but to all citizens of NSW.
I am sure you did not intend to enable more exclusion, social division, hate speech or incitement to violence when you overruled the government and police to enable this march, but sadly that is what you did.
The only consolation is that despite all the talk of how many people participated, the reality is that more than 99 per cent of NSW’s population chose not to. Australians do not like or want the import of overseas conflicts to our streets, and they are decent people who really believe in a “fair go” for all. Extending empathy to only one set of innocent victims of a war is not the Australian way.
Lynda Ben-Menashe is president of National Council of Jewish Women Australia. This letter was sent to Justice Belinda Rigg a day after the march.
Together with many of my fellow Jews living in Australia we have felt a renewed sense of pain and following the deeply disturbing antisemitic rallies that took place in our country.
These rallies were promoted as peaceful gatherings, but in reality, they were anything but.
They echoed with chilling chants calling for the destruction of Israel and “death to the IDF,” featured Nazi symbols, and openly celebrated terrorism — including images of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei holding a rifle. For our community, these were not just slogans or symbols — they were painful reminders of hatred we have known all too well.
This kind of incitement has no place in Australia — a country built on values of respect, dignity, and inclusion.
If peace were truly the goal, the organisers would have raised their voices for the 50 innocent hostages still held by Hamas. They would have stood against the terrorist organisation that continues to bring misery to Israelis and Gazans alike. But instead, they chose to take a cherished national landmark — a place that should bring people together — and use it as a platform for division, hostility, and extremist ideology.
What should have been a call for compassion was twisted into a rally of hate.
And our community felt every word, every image, every cheer — because we know where such hatred leads. We've seen it before. And we will not be silent in the face of it.
Let me say this clearly: we will not be intimidated.
We have stood tall for thousands of years, through the rise and fall of empires, through hardship and hate — and we remain standing today.
Not only surviving, but thriving.
Yes, it hurts. It stirs memories we hoped to keep in the past. But let it also stir something else: our pride in who we are.
Our strength. Our unity.
This moment is not new to us. Every year on the Seder night, we declare with unwavering faith: "Vehi She'amda l’avoteinu velanu..." — that in every generation, there are those who rise to destroy us, but the Holy One, Blessed be He, saves us from their hands. This is not just a line in the Haggadah — it is the lived history of our people. And it is our present resolve.
It is especially striking that these rallies took place on the 9th of Av — Tisha B’Av, the most sorrowful day in the Jewish calendar, when we mourn the destruction of our Holy Temples and countless tragedies throughout Jewish history. Yet even on that dark day, we find a message of hope:
That while hatred and destruction may rise again and again, they will never break the eternal spirit of our people.
If anything, they remind us of our mission — to rebuild, to strengthen, and to stand proudly as Jews.
This is a moment not for fear, but for determination. Not for retreat, but for reaffirmation. We will continue to live as proud Jews — to educate our children, to celebrate Shabbat and holidays, to support one another, and to bring light where others bring darkness.
Our sages taught that in a place where there is no humanity, strive to be human. And we would add: in a world where there is hate, let us bring more love. In a time of noise and confusion, let us stand firmly with clarity and compassion.
Let us also not forget the many Australians of all backgrounds — government officials, neighbours, colleagues, and friends — who have stood beside us and condemned this hatred unequivocally. There is more good than evil. More light than shadow.
To those in our community feeling anxious: your concerns are valid, and we are here for you. We continue working closely with authorities to ensure safety. But above all, we will not let fear define us.
Now is the time to strengthen our Jewish identity — to wrap ourselves in our heritage like a warm tallit, with pride, dignity, and faith.
Let us respond to darkness with more mitzvot, more kindness, more unity. Because light is never diminished when shared — it only grows stronger.
Am Yisrael Chai — the Jewish people live. And we always will.
With blessing, hope, resolve, and unshakable faith in Alm-ghty G-D”
Rabbinical Association of Australasia
President Cyril Ramaphosa
Our successful working visit to the US reaffirmed theorrow. importance of keeping the channels of dialogue open. The willingness of the US to engage with South Africa on resetting our relationship is testamenteto the strengthiof the bilateral relationship.
We need to work together as Government, business, labour and all of society to overcome our domestic challenges, including the high rate of crime, if we are to attract investment that advances economic growth and creates jobs.
As South Africans, as a sovereign and independent nation, we are always ready to acknowledge and address our problems, just as we are always ready to engage our critics in meaningful discussion. #SAinUSA>
#GovZAUpdates
South Africa's strength lies in our people, our resilience and our values. We invite the world to see our country not just for its history - but for the opportunity it offers today and tomorrow.
- Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa
President of the Republic of South Africa
https://sparkmag-au.blogspot.com/2025/05/a-brilliant-response-from-cyril.html
Public golf under threat from sub-par local councils
Thanks Bill Ireland for pointing me to this article by Chris Mitchell of The Australian
Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, a keen golfer, banned the sport in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula during the Covid-19 pandemic, but – as with much of what he did during his reign – the result was unexpected.
The game was actually given a global shot in the arm by Covid-19. People realised what should have been obvious to Andrews: you don’t get sick playing golf in the open air.
Golf Australia on December 18 released the sport’s five-year results: a record 3.8 million Australians played golf in 2023-24. Participation rose 9 per cent, and 19 per cent of all adults played at least one round across that 12-month period.
This column plays golf three times a week – either in Sydney or at Kew on the NSW mid-north coast – and has noticed a rise in school-age students playing late afternoons. Junior participation last year rose 33.4 per cent (37.3 per cent for boys and 13.8 per cent for girls).
Yet public golf, the foundation stone of the game nationally, is under threat.
Golf Australia says as many as 50 courses nationally face pressure from community groups wanting open public space at golf courses.
Moore Park, Sydney’s 18-hole city public course, may be halved to nine holes next year after years of campaigning by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who lives in nearby East Redfern and owns property in the area.
The Minns Labor state government has conducted extensive public consultation – most of which supported the status quo – but has budgeted to start work on plans to turn 20 of the course’s 45 hectares into a park.
The Save Moore Park organisation has delivered an alternative that keeps 18 holes but reduces the course to a par 68 and offers 15 hectares of extra public space, parking, bikeways, skate park, BMX track, fitness trail, dog park and minigolf for children.
James O’Doherty in The Daily Telegraph on Friday reported the government had been warned the original plan might be far more expensive than imagined.
The compromise 18-hole option would certainly guarantee much of the $16m a year flowing from golf activities at Moore Park would continue to help finance the Greater Sydney Parklands portfolio.
Moore Park, gazetted in 1913 as the city’s workers club, is visited by 500,000 people a year, 82 per cent of whom live within 10km of the club. Many rely on public transport to access the course.
It is at the western end of 360 hectares of parklands including Centennial Park, Queens Park and the wider Moore Park grounds.
The Warringah course on the city’s northern beaches fought for years to resist a push to turn the city’s second busiest course into public open space.
Chatswood on Sydney’s north shore is being reduced to 12 holes.
In Melbourne, Darebin Council in 2022 voted to retain the Northcote course for golf after a push for it to be opened to public recreation after 3pm daily or all day Sunday.
Last year, Monash Council voted to keep the nine-hole Oakleigh Course after a push to turn the course into parkland.
Brisbane’s inner city 18-hole Victoria Park Golf Course closed in 2021 after 90 years.
The Elsternwick nine-hole course in Melbourne’s Bayside Council area closed in 2018 and was turned over to wetlands. Rosny Park Public Golf Course in Hobart closed – at least temporarily – in 2021, although no final decision appears to have been reached on the future of its land on the eastern shore of the Derwent River.
The shift to inner urban areas by young families is putting pressure on public open space, as have urban projects turning old industrial areas into modern developments.
Yet property developers in the outer areas of our big cities are required to allocate land for recreational purposes. Golfers wonder why big urban renewal projects in Sydney’s inner south are not similarly required to keep open land for recreation.
Jared Kendler, a golfer from inner-Sydney Surry Hills and campaigner for the Save Moore Park Golf Course group, makes the point.
“Local councils are often ill-informed about golf’s popularity and overall benefits to the community. Public golf courses just become an easy way for them to make a land grab to make up for poor planning decisions,” he said.
Much of the campaign against golf is driven by the idea it is an elite sport – yet it is not the elite private clubs that are being targeted because they own their own land.
Public courses do not require club membership and nine holes can cost about $27.
This newspaper’s Saturday columnist Nikki Gemmell triggered a storm when she wrote about golf in 2021, arguing public land would be better used as open space for children rather than the old men she argued receive all the benefits of golf.
Children do need open space. But there are counter-arguments in favour of public golf.
Lifelong ratepayers who access public golf are in effect being asked to sacrifice facilities so that people who have only recently moved into new higher-density developments can access open space that councils did not demand developers provide.
When Sydney’s old Manly Council – now part of the merged Northern Beaches Council – targeted Warringah public course for open recreational space, many critics of golf pointed to the nearby Manly course as an alternative. But Manly is private, and membership is very expensive.
Most people who use the Warringah course are locals, including many women and teenagers.
Club professional Rob Richards says golf is misrepresented as an elite sport for older men.
He says while about 40 per cent of players at the course are over 55, about 25 per cent would be under 30.
Richards says new players “anchor their golf at Warringah”. Indeed, even if new players could afford to play on a private course it is hard to see how most could justify such a financial commitment early in their time with such a difficult sport.
Says Kendler: “I use the example of Jason Day. He is one of the world’s best pro golfers but he started out playing with a club his dad found at the tip.”
Day, who has won 13 US tournaments, has often spoken about how he was introduced to the sport as a three-year-old in Beaudesert, south of Brisbane, with a three wood his father picked up at the dump.
He formally joined the Beaudesert public course as a junior, aged six, and turned professional in 2006 at age 19. He won the US PGA in 2015 and has held the world No.1 ranking. He has won 19 tournament in the US, Europe and Australia.
Warringah’s Richards says golf also teaches life skills: “It requires dedication, training, learning in a social environment with a strong tilt towards rules and behaviour.”
Adds Kendler: “Golf courses are melting pots that bring together people of all ages, genders and backgrounds.
“ In what other sport do you see a 12-year-old spending four and a half hours with a 70-year-old engaging in meaningful conversations and learning life lessons while focusing on a game, (and) away from mobile phones?’’
Legendary golfer Arnold Palmer summed up the sport: “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and challenges the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without doubt the greatest game mankind has invented.”
What a tragedy it would be if it became a sport only for the rich !!
Have Chrystal Clarity
Earn the right to grow by mastering the 1
Focus isn’t easy. It’s a fight. Distractions and shiny new opportunities, investor pressure, the urge to “keep up”,
Gem 💎
Resist the temptation to bolt on features or chase every customer segment until the core is unassailable.
The Rule of 1 demands discipline. It’s saying no to the good so you can say yes to the great.
Mastery of one unlocks the door to more, enabling sustainable growth that doesn’t crumble under its own weight.
Once your mission resonates, your product delights, and your customers evangelise, you’ve built a platform to layer on complexity thoughtfully.
Think of it like a tree: a strong trunk supports sprawling branches, but only if the roots run deep first.
The Rule of 1 isn’t sexy. It won’t grab headlines or dazzle at pitch days. But it’s a quiet power.
For founders, it’s a compass through the noise, proof that simplicity can be the ultimate competitive edge.
