Category: Patriotism

Remembrance – Peringatan # 10 Lest We Forget – Heart To Heart

Afrim of Heart To Heart

Afrim is a man deeply committed to bringing people together with the beauty of flowers in a spirit of love.

But I sense that he is deeply concerned about what he sees in some people in his immediate neighbourhood and across Victoria and Australia. He says: “We are at war with our own politicians. But my friends in the freedom movement are now standing up for the moral values which the Anzacs and all other diggers fought for.”

In Afrim’s eyes, I see the same quiete, kind, thoughtful, family-based determination which I have been privileged to honour in my own father’s eyes from the time when dad was involved in fighting fascism in the 1940’s.

God Bless Afrim.

God Bless Freedom.

Geoff Fox, 19th August, 2022, Australia

VICTORY FOR ALL #1 MacArthur Style Bulldogs

For the past ten years, my life has been focussed on trying to learn and share the lessons of World War Two.

This was a major theme of art displays I created at both a national heritage water source important to the memory of General Douglas MacArthur in Morotai, Indonesia, and also at Barak Obama’s first school in Jakarta.

During this decade, the people I have conversed with on matters relevant to this endeavour included Prime Ministers Gillard, Rudd and Turnbull of Australia and Presidents Jokowi and Yudhoyono of Indonesia.

This morning, the people who inspire me the most by showing the spirit of WW2 are the Sons Of The West (people from the Western Bulldogs football club) who are headquartered down the road from my place.

As I understand it, this season, Coach Luke Beveridge has shared the work load of playing among a large number of players. This is a strategy which will keep the team fresh for the finals.

This reminds me of the spirit and wisdom of General Douglas MacArthur.

The simple piece of word art above is for all sons and daughters of the west and of the whole world.

May we all learn from our past and work effectively together now and well into the future.

Geoff Fox, 5th August, 2021, Footscray, Australia

KARTINIISM # 1 Vulnerability In A Dark World

Sadly. so sadly, the softest women’s voices hide themselves in quieteness in this shouting world.

I was a midwife for 32 years. I cannot understand why mothering gentleness is so widely scorned.

Kartini knew that the tender love of mothers is the heart of our world.

Geoff Fox, Hari Kartini, 2021, Terra Nullius

Antique Ideas #2 Arma Virumque – Lacrimae Rerum

This transcreation of parts of the first 462 lines of Vergil’s Aeneid is a holiday season gift to a wise friend with a deep feeling for the value of ancient knowledge.

In creating this I note that male suffering did not begin with the cruelties of the modern world.

Geoff Fox, 20 December, 2020, Terra Nullius

Austral-Indonesian Tujuhbelasan #15 Bung Karno and Maman AMB

Good mannered culture opposes the insulting barbarous global culture: “Who are you and !?/Who am I if not you?/Who are you if not yourself?/Who are you if not me?”

On this date in 1937, a new Asian imperialism commenced the massacre called the rape of Nanking.

In contrast, Indonesian culture combines the passion of revolution with soft calm kebersamaan – togetherness.

Geoff Fox, 13 December, 2020, Down Under