14歲的大兒今年讀八年級
這個年級學校有一個活動
說是會幫助學生學習社交
並且為上九年級做準備
大兒不願意參加那個
通過上次跟學校心理醫生的談話
我明白了她的理念就是學校的理念
而他們的理念就是成功學那一套
就如我之前所講過的
他們想把人人都培養成leader
想把人人都培養成成功人士
那誰做那些失敗人士呢
誰做那些被領導的人呢
其實就在他們如此培養的過程中
就已經製造了大量的失敗人士
8歲讀三年級的女兒說
在學校每週一次的assembly上
當站在台上的一個孩子例行說出
…Please listen to your teachers.
下面有一個認識那孩子的男孩子說
Yes, we do, Jo.
他的說話引起很多學生的大笑
女兒說
這個男孩子後來一整天都得呆在校長室
我問為什麼
她說可能是因為校長一直在強調behavior
而他的行為違反了校長所強調的behavior
她說可是他讓大家笑有什麼不好呢
大家都開開心心的不好嗎
這位校長是兩位男副校長之一
我想帶八歲的女兒去動物園
我問十四歲的大兒是否想一起
他說不想 如果是跟女朋友一起可以
他說跟女朋友的話可以逛一整個珀斯
我問女朋友就這麼好嗎
他說就是一個人
我問那我也是一個人 為什麼不跟我一起
他說跟你已經十四年了 舊了
我問那你以後的女朋友在一起十四年後也舊了怎麼辦
他說那就把女朋友變成妻子
我說那妻子做了十四年後舊了怎麼辦
他沒說話 我說可以把妻子變成孩子的媽
我問那孩子媽十四年後又舊了怎麼辦
他說可以讓她做第二個孩子的媽
如此類推 我說再然後讓她做祖母或是外祖母
我說這是一個非常好的strategy
我需要讓所有人都知道
他笑
（圖為大兒十一歲時）
14歲大兒讀八年級
他們每週有半天是mentor program
可是mentoring的內容呢
都是學習正確思想正確理念正確行為
而學校組織的相關活動呢
參與率維持在50%上下
我說那教育廳可真得思考一下
以前可能活動參與率有70%、80%
可如果現在只能有50%
那說明那個舊體系已經不奏效了
但是這給了我一個idea
像我大兒這樣的人
以後可以成為一個mentor
再回到這間中學做這件事
大兒說他現在對死就很坦然
因為他活著的每一天都很滿足
我們一起探討什麼是哲學
探討哲學思想的起源
探討生命的意義
他說相信自己會找到
一個愛著自己的女人
我的三個孩子，從小我跟他們講中文，而且講的內容很豐，但不逼著他們學中文，也不逼著他們講中文。14歲的大兒說，他的同學同樣也是父母是中國人，但中文比他差多了，他挺自豪的。
8歲的女兒問我，她是先學的中文還是英文，我說你們都是一歲開始上每週兩天或是三天的日托所，那裡都是講英文，所以你們還是英語是母語，中文普通話是第二語言。女兒在網上看到中文或是聽到中文，她會感興趣也會來問我是什麼意思。
總體來說，我的三個孩子一直保持著對中文的喜愛。
12歲的二兒想在中學選中文做為第二外語，但是恐怕不可以，因為他不符合條件，條件是這樣的：
For the purpose of the Authority’s Application for permission to enrol in a WACE languages course process, speakers of dialects and variants of a language are considered to be speakers of the standard language:
There are three criteria against which the application for enrolment will be assessed:
二兒不服氣，說“我的中文水平很有限啊，我為什麼不能學”。我說可是你比起那些完全沒有中文背景的人，你回到家能夠講中文的這個條件，就比那些其他人多了很多。
這個對第二外語選擇的限定，我記得是在我們來西澳以後才有的。也就是說，當以前外來移民還不太多時，當地人不視我們為敵人，而當這些外來移民的人數多到會搶他們的飯碗時，他們與我們之間就存在競爭關係了。
我對二兒說，你想學中文，為什麼不在家跟我學呢。他說感覺佔用學校時間學會比較好。
但是那種對零基礎學生教授的中文課，其實是很悶的，而且也學不到什麼。
他自己沒有孩子，娶了一位馬來西亞女子。
無論是講故事，還是唱兒童歌，他都很在行。
自從兩個兒子長大，我就很少去這裡了，如今又可以帶女兒去了。
Turning Points in History for Kids – The Golden Age of Egypt
Rome and Greece do not yet exist.
However, Egypt is in its ‘golden age’ from 2613 to 2494 BC.
Gold saw the start of a golden age for Egyptian art and architecture, as Pharaohs built magnificent temples, pyramids and tombs for themselves and their families.
Its magnificence was never to be repeated.
Date: Tuesday 26th September
Time: 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Location: Community Centre
Presenter: Stewart Farley
四月間，天氣寒冷晴朗，鐘敲了十三下。溫斯頓史密斯為了要躲寒風，緊縮著脖子，很快地溜進了勝利大廈的玻璃門，不過動作不夠迅速，沒有能夠防止一陣沙土跟著他刮進了門。
門廳裡有一股熬白菜和舊地席的氣味。門廳的一頭，有一張彩色的招貼畫釘在牆上，在室內懸掛略為嫌大了一些。
畫的是一張很大的面孔，有一米多寬：這是一個大約四十五歲的男人的臉，留著濃密的黑鬍子，面部線條粗獷英俊。溫斯頓朝樓梯走去。用不著試電梯。即使最順利的時候，電梯也是很少開的，現在又是白天停電。這是為了籌備舉行仇恨周而實行節約。溫斯頓的住所在七層樓上，他三十九歲，右腳脖子上患靜脈曲張，因此爬得很慢，一路上休息了好幾次。每上一層樓，正對著電梯門的牆上就有那幅畫著很大臉龐的招貼畫凝視著。這是屬於這樣的一類畫，你不論走到哪裡，畫面中的眼光總是跟著你。下面的文字說明是：老大哥在看著你。
8歲的女兒說
雨開始重了
我們笑
她問為什麼好笑
我說我們說
雨開始大了
你用英文說
The rain is big
你覺得好笑嗎
她說好笑
14歲的大兒就不會說
雨重了
他說雨大了
12歲的二兒中文也不錯
10歲時候他跟哥哥的同學
發生爭執的時候都是用中文
女兒是同齡時期中文程度最弱的
12歲的二兒在睡覺前
會找到我跟我黏糊一會兒
14歲的大兒感覺bored時
就會找我說話
8歲的女兒隨時都希望我跟她玩兒
我跟我媽說
我得抓緊時間休息
她不理解
認為我不上班也不怎麼做家務
怎麼還得抓緊時間休息
我給她解釋了一下她明白了
我說不然我的耐心與好脾氣
要從哪裡來
他是體育生
不服管的黑龍江人
有一次因為夜歸
被學生秘書林小靈批評
導致二人發生衝突
他把系辦公室的窗戶玻璃給砸了
徒手手都被玻璃碴拉破流血了
我老公那時是班長他護著同學了
但是這事我老公並不記得
他記得中學時做班長
整個年級一起出去郊遊
他護著掉隊的同學
以至於跟老師發生衝突
而我是那種
在化學實驗室裡大叫
快看這是我們的結晶
我老公就趕快示意我別叫了
那時我們開始談戀愛
於是做實驗被分在一組
好像是他分的組
後來他就不想做班長了
但是他一直被我們班上同學
稱作班長
我在勞教所的時候
在法輪功專管大隊
到後來我是管理者
於是我有特權
躲在管理委員會辦公室
抄菜譜抄唐詩三百首
後來來了一個
剛畢業的管教小姑娘
看到我如此安逸她不高興
後來我就失去了這個特權
我利用手中特權為同修辦好事
我也看到有人利用特權整同修
那時我二十五歲
The West Australian government has defended its $7.8 million City of Perth inquiry and legal pursuits stemming from the probe after its latest bid to have a former councillor charged was thrown out.
Last week, Supreme Court Justice Matthew Howard dismissed the state’s attempt to have ex-councillor Lily Chen fined for contempt of court over claims she omitted $75,000 in funds from financial statements demanded by the inquiry panel.
Chen was suspended alongside the rest of the city’s council in March 2018 by then-local government minister David Templeman amid allegations of mismanagement and infighting.
The panel, charged with the powers of a royal commission, issued a notice demanding a rundown of Chen’s income between 2016 and 2017, excluding her salary or funds derived from a trust.
Chen was dragged to court in April 2022 by WA Attorney General John Quigley, accused of failing to disclose a string of payments she said were fees obtained under an “arm’s length” business deal that did not meet the notice’s definition of income.
While finding the payments constituted income in a general sense, Howard ruled they were not required to be disclosed under the definition outlined by the panel’s demand notice.
Howard did, however, highlight evidence adduced at trial that indicated Chen had failed to disclose the payments in that year’s tax return, which he said “obviously” did not reflect well on her.
When quizzed about the ruling, a spokesperson for the attorney-general told this masthead the court’s finding would be considered and that it was too early to discuss the possibility of an appeal.
The spokesperson confirmed the state had been ordered to foot the bill for Chen’s legal costs, but would not be drawn on how much that would cost taxpayers.
The state did, however, vigorously defend its decision to establish the inquiry and pursue the lawsuit.
“The decisions to establish the Inquiry Panel into the City of Perth and to commence these proceedings were appropriate, despite the ultimate outcome of this application,” the spokesperson said.
Chen, who is currently overseas, told this masthead she was pleased with the decision and believed it had reinforced the importance of a judicial system independent of government.
And while pleased her court costs would be at least partially reimbursed, the migration lawyer said she would never recover what she had lost in earnings over the past four years.
Another dead end?
After a two-year inquiry, a 2000-page report tabled in parliament concluded the city had been “poorly led, divided and dysfunctional”, uncovered breaches of the Local Government Act and made more than 340 recommendations for renewal.
At the time, Templeman said it had also unearthed more than 135 matters, many of which concerned suspected criminal behaviour among 23 councillors, city employees and their associates which had been referred to authorities, including WA Police, Federal Police and the tax office.
But the case against Chen is the latest to have fallen over in the wake of the probe, which was bankrolled by the city’s ratepayers at more than double the anticipated cost.
Between 2020 and 2021, police dropped five fraud charges against ex-councillor Jim Adamos over allegations he used a sham lease to run for council and made false allowance claims.
In June, former councillor Keith Yong and his sister Angie Yit-Choo Yong were handed suspended jail terms after being found guilty of giving false testimony during a 2019 inquiry hearing.
But no charges have been laid as part of the electoral fraud claims levelled against Yong, and there have been no criminal convictions stemming from the allegations unearthed by the inquiry.
Current Local Government Minister David Michael refused to be drawn on whether the government still believed the inquiry was worth $7.8 million, nor whether the matters referred to authorities were still under investigation, responding with the same comment as the attorney-general’s office.
The Court of Appeal threw out 26 of the 45 serious Local Government Act breaches the State Administrative Tribunal found had been committed by former mayor Lisa Scaffidi before the council was suspended.
The breaches left remaining included her failure to disclose gifts and travel perks, including a $47,000 trip to the Olympics funded by BHP, which first triggered the 2018 probe.
陳旭@perth 