* ĐGH Benedict XVI: “Các chế độ Cộng sản là sự nhục nhã của thời đại chúng ta”

Kính thưa quý vị,

Ngày hôm qua, nhật báo The Australian có đăng một bài nhận định của bà Quỳnh Đào (Melbourne) tựa đề “Nominations spur for human rights”, nói về việc đề cử Hòa Thượng Thích Quảng Độ và Linh mục Nguyễn văn Lý cho giải Nobel về Hòa Bình năm 2013. (xin xem phần phụ lục bên dưới).

Để hổ trợ cho bài viết nói trên, và cũng đúng lúc có tin Đức Giáo Hoàng Benedict 16 vừa từ chức, chúng tôi đã gởi một bức “Thư cho Chủ Bút” (Letter to the Editor) của nhật báo The Australian và hôm nay đã được đăng trên nhật báo này như theo link dưới đây (bức thư thứ nhì trong link).

Bức thư có mục đích liên kết quan điểm chống Cộng của các vị lãnh đạo tinh thần đáng kính nói trên

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/letters/popes-influence-kept-the-power-of-history-at-bay/story-fn558imw-1226576489671

*** Sau đây là bản dịch Việt ngữ của bức thư:

“Quả là một điều có ý nghĩa sâu sắc khi đúng với ngày Đức Giáo Hoàng Benedict XVI – được biết nhiều về quan điểm chống Cộng sản của Ngài – loan báo từ chức, báo The Australian đã đăng bài viết của Quỳnh Đào về sự đề cử hai nhân vật đấu tranh cho dân chủ và nhân quyền ở Việt Nam Thich Quang Do và Nguyen van Ly cho giải Nobel về Hòa Bình. (“Nominations spur for human rights”, 12/2)

Đức Thánh Cha đã nói hồi năm 1984 rằng việc các chế độ cộng sản đã cướp chính quyền nhân danh giải phóng là một trong những điều nhục nhả của thời đại chúng ta.

Cộng sản Việt Nam không là trường hợp ngoại lệ với những sự vi phạm tất cả các quyền tự do căn bản, bao gồm tự do tín ngưỡng, phát biểu, hội họp, đi lại và các quyền khác. Trong ý nghĩa đó, sự đề cử hai Ngài đã là sự thắng cuộc vì đã khiến cho thế giới chú ý đến các sự chà đạp đó.”

HT Thích Quảng Độ và ĐS Hoa Kỳ tại VN David Shear (cùng 2 nhân viên LSQ Mỹ ở Sàigòn) – Hình chụp ngày 17/08/2012

LM Nguyễn văn Lý tại Nhà Chung, Tòa Tổng Giám Mục Huế – Hình chụp ngày 15/03/2010

*** Nguyên bản Anh ngữ:

“IT is poignantly significant that on the day Pope Benedict XVI – well-known for his stand against communism – announced his resignation, The Australian published Quynh Dao’s account of the nominations of Vietnamese democracy and human rights advocates Thich Quang Do and Nguyen Van Ly for Nobel peace prize (“Nominations spur for human rights”, 12/2).

The Pontiff said in 1984 that communist regimes which came to power in the name of liberation were one of the digraces of our times.

The Vietnamese communists are no exceptions with their violations of all basic freedoms, including those of religion, expression, association, movement and others. In that sense, the nominations are already winners in bringing the world’s attention to these abuses.

Viet Tran, Riverhills, Qld”

*** Phụ lục:

Bài viết của bà Quỳnh Đào, đăng trên báo The Australian ngày hôm qua thứ Ba 12/02/2013

Quynh Dao [12.02.2013] Nominations spur for human rights

HƯNG VIỆT (Brisbane)
13/02/2013

MEDIA RELEASE: RADIO 4EB VIETNAMESE GROUP’S RADIOTHON TO HELP FLOOD VICTIMS

Vietnamese Programming Group

140 Main St KANGAROO PT  QLD 4169 –  POBox 7300 – East Brisbane  QLD 4169

MEDIA RELEASE

RADIO 4EB VIETNAMESE GROUP’S RADIOTHON TO HELP FLOOD VICTIMS

 

Last night, Sunday 9/1/2011, in response to the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal to help the floods victims in Queensland, the Vietnamese Group of Radio 4EB-FM (Brisbane) ran a Radiothon within the Vietnamese community.

The support was overwhelming with callers coming not only from Queensland but also from Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and even overseas like Germany and Saudi Arabia. All expressed that helping these victims was our way of showing our gratitude to the Australian people who gave us their help when we needed it most as refugees arriving in this country.

At the end of the 1-hour Radiothon, the amount pledged was nearly $8,500 which will be sent to the Premier’s Appeal fund.

Brisbane,  10 January 2011

Viet Tran

(Convenor)

Footnote: More pledges have come in since the date of the above Media Release

The 2007 Election Debate

(To: The Courier-Mail, 22/10/2007)

Sir,

Now I understand why Mr. John Howard doesn’t want to have more than one Leaders’ Debate on the election.

While Mr. Howard seemed to be uncomfortable, irritated and ill at ease with the whole idea, Mr. Kevin Rudd looked relaxed and with a smile on his face, appeared to be enjoying the debate.

Though a good debater doesn’t necessarily make a good Prime Minister, I would expect the nation’s leader to be confident enough in front of the public to articulate his viewpoints as well as to dismantle the opposition’s policies.

Perhaps the attacking momentum of “me-tooism” was taken away from the Prime Minister during the day when Mr. Rudd announced yet another policy, this time on child care, proving once again that the ALP do indeed have policies of their own.

But the moment that Mr. Howard lost the debate last night, to me, was when given the opportunity to ask the opposition two questions, he blew them both with such trivia matters that Mr. Rudd could dismiss without any difficulty.

The only consolation, or hope, for Mr. Howard after the debate was that even though he had also lost the similar debates in the last 3 general elections, he still won the main prize itself. However this time, that ultimate goal will be much harder to achieve.

Sincerely,
Viet Tran

Marion Jones and Andrew Johns

(To:  The Australian 10/11/2007)

Sir,

I have just learned of the difference between American and Australian values in sports.

Marion Jones admitted to using banned steroids before Sydney Olympics Games. Immediately she got stripped of her medals, banned for 2 years and was demanded by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to return more than $100,000 in prizes and bonuses she received for her Olympic performance.

The USOC also urged the 6 athletes who ran with Jones in medal-winning US relays in Sydney to return their medals. USOC President, Peter Ueberroth, wrote a letter of “sincere and humble apology” to the 205 Olympic committees and “a more extensive letter to people in Australia, apologising to the organisers, the volunteers and the Australian people”. (The Australian, 10/10).

Here, Andrew Johns admitted to using recreational drugs throughout his decorated rugby league playing career.

Nothing has been done about the awards he received during this period. No penalty has been imposed. He only needed to lie low for a few weeks before being offered a role to assist the NSW State of Origin team
(The Australian, 11/10)

How do we ever expect our children to learn NOT to cheat by using performance-enhancing drugs?

Sincerely,

Viet Tran

Ipswich Motorway and the Federal seat of Ryan

(To: The Australian 10/08/2007)

Sir,

Mr. Michael Johnson, our local MP for Ryan, commented that the (Goodna bypass of Ipswich Motorway) decision “.. is the right decision in the long term for the area, but it could have been managed better. The merits of the case could have been explained better to the people affected …”

Well, the announcement was made in March and Mr. Johnson has had over half a year to have explained to and convinced us of this option. He might have tried but I think he has now realised that it is a lost cause and that voters in his constituency are totally against the decision, forcing him to write to the top party echelon for blame and help, if possible, before it is too late.

Between Blair (with 5.7 percent margin) and Ryan (with 10.4 percent margin), of course Mr. Howard must give the less safe seat (Blair) higher priority. In doing so, he even ignored the views from two top Liberal leaders in Queensland, Bruce Flegg and Lord Mayor Campbell Newman.

No wonder Mr. Johnson has a lot to thank Mr. Howard for reducing the margin from 10.4 percent over 3 years ago to merely 0.5 percent now.

Yours sincerely,

Viet Tran

George W Bush and Burmese regime

(To: The Australian 26/9/2007)

Sir,

For once, I have to applaud George W Bush for his criticism of the Burmese regime and his support to the call for Freedom and Democracy in that country.

It’s a pity that he had several opportunities over the past 12 months but missed to say the same to the Vietnamese leaders. It leaves me with the impression that his response is only reactive, not proactive.

Sincerely,

Viet Tran

Refugees from Sudan

(To The Australian, 10/4/2007)

Sir,

I share the concern of your Editorial (The Australian, 4/10) that Mr. Kevin Andrew’s comments regarding the refugees from Sudan ” … seem calculated to provoke community outrage and undermine support for migrants and refugees“.

It is even more troublesome to know that the Minister’s decision on the matter depended not on empirically statistical but only on anecdotal data which were easily prone to bias and/or prejudice.

The “expert” ‘s advice to Mr. Andrews that the Sudanese and Ethiopian refugees, ” … were younger, with a significantly lower level of education, had been living for up to a decade in refugees camps with greater exposure to trauma and torture, and consequently were finding it more difficult to adjust to living in Australia…” could have been applied to a lot of us, refugees from Vietnam 30 years ago.

Yet given a second chance to rebuild our lives, and with assistance and support from the Australian people, it can be said that a large majority of us have passed the test of integration and fitted quite well into this new society.

I’d like to think that Australia’s human compassion has not faded with time and I sincerely hope that this issue raised by Mr. Kevin Andrews is not another “race card” that we have seen played at every Federal election since Tampa.

Sincerely,

Viet Tran

Nam Lê, The Boat and the PM’s Literary Award

(To The Australian, 11/3/2009)

Sir,

The latest accolade that Nam Le and his debut work The Boat received – The Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction 2009 – is a timely and eloquent reminder that given an opportunity, refugees will thrive on to develop their talents and skills to contribute to the richness of multicultural Australia.

The young author is the pride of the Vietnamese community and an inspiration to new settlers in Australia.

Your sincerely,

Mr. Viet Tran OAM

Nam Lê, The Boat & Dylan Thomas Prize

(To The Australian, 11/12/2008)

Sir,

It is with much pleasure and extreme pride that I read about the achievement of young Australian Vietnamese author Nam Le. On winning the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize (The Australian, 12/11) for a debut published collection of short stories “The Boat”, he has demonstrated yet again the diversity of contributions that migrants in general, and Vietnamese in particular, can make to enrich Australian cultural life.

With his intelligence and imagination, coupled with his writing skills, Nam Le speaks on our behalf that we do not live in ghettos, physical or intellectual, as some would be politician would have tried to have us believe.

Indeed Vietnamese culture is not limited to fish sauce (nuoc mam), or beef soup (pho) or glamorous long frocks (ao dai) worn by women and girls.

We have also had young filmmaker Khoa Do who was awarded “Young Australian of The Year 2005” before his much acclaimed movie Footy Legends was released in 2006. The movie also became the launching pad for actor / comedian Anh Do of Channel 7’s Beijing Olympics coverage fame.

Recently we saw singer Thanh Bui, also from Melbourne, got into the finals of Australian Idol competition.

These are but a few more well known examples. And I am confident more will be heard of in future.

Sincerely,

Viet Tran

A legacy of Peter Beattie

A legacy of Peter Beattie to Qld ethnic communities

(To: The Bulletin, The Australian 9 Nov 2007)

Sir,

To Vietnamese Queenslanders, and undoubtedly many other ethic communities in Qld, the legacy of Peter Beattie is his total commitment to multiculturalism.

I was first elected as the President of the Vietnamese community just after Premier Peter Beattie became leader of the state. At that time,
we in Australia were passing through a very difficult period as far as race relations between Asian communities and the rest of Australian people were concerned due to the emergence of a politician who brokered on the notions of fear and division. As a target group, we needed strong leadership and support from our Premier.

The Multicultural Policy came into existence as the necessary catalyst that boosted our confidence to no bounds, saying that this country is indeed a nation of “Fair Go”, and from whence we could confidently carry on our daily lives and at the same time, put in our modest contributions to the building of this nation.

The establishment of the portfolio of Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the expansion of the annual Multicultural Service Awards, the
annual Multicultural Festival, the introduction of the Chinese New Year celebrations on Parliament Greens are but a few examples of his
initiatives in this area.

It was a tremendous experience and privilege to work with a man of his stature and calibre.

Sincerely,

Viet Tran    OAM