Lev Lafayette's journal

Two nights ago, the Chinese consulate in Melbourne hosted a dinner for committee members of the Australia-China Friendship Society. It was held with no particular agenda in mind, but with less than ten people participating in the wide-ranging conversation, as one could expect, it did include a rather pointed look at a certain powerful but irresponsible world leader. The Consul-General was, of course, very diplomatic in his words and I could be a little more blunt (ironically, through understatements), but that is our respective positions. It was also an opportunity to send our farewells to the Vice Consul General who has served here for four years and welcome their replacement, who I am sure will do very well. On a directly related matter, the following night I attended the spectacular "Folk Reimagined" concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre, which was performed by members of the Guizhou Chinese Orchestra and the Australia Orchestra, which was a rather brilliant performance. I attended with Susie C., an old friend from Perth who has recently moved to Melbourne, and Fiona P., who recently spoke at the ACFS on bi-cultural experiences and history. On a much more modest scale, the Australia-China Friendship Society is holding a social dinner next Tuesday at Song's Dumplings; delicious food, inexpensive, and very good company.

As much as I would dearly love to visit Guizhou as soon as possible with its incredible landscapes (there is a very enticing trip on offer in early 2026), it is increasingly likely that I am going on a more distant (and much more expensive) adventure at the end of the year. Kate R., and I are plotting (following plenty of conversation over three extensive visits to the National Gallery of Victoria over three days) about taking a trip to South America and Antarctica at the end of the year, which would include Lima, Machu Picchu, Buenos Aires (where I can satiate my Jose Luis Borge needs), Tierra del Fuego, the Antarctic peninsula, and Montevideo. All of this is, somewhat, a result of having accumulated long-service leave (which I skipped in my last job to take this current one) and a dearth of international travel in my youth, albeit with a few interstate visits. Speaking of which, a quick trip to the top-end is planned in a month to visit Lara D., check out the apartment I helped purchase, and attend some events of the Darwin Festival.

Over the past few days, a significant number of people - around the four-hundred mark - have reached out to me to offer birthday wishes. The experience was quite beautiful and affirming in the sense mentioned by Erich Fromm: "love [is] a spontaneous affirmation of others on the basis of the preservation of the individual self", forming a bond of solidarity between the self and others. One does not seek affirmation (because that reduces the self to seeking approval from others as a directive), but rather one acts according to learned virtue without expectations, but nevertheless is joyous when affirmation is received. Which, in my own reflective way, is to express my deepest thanks and gratitude to all of you.

The day itself was relatively low-key, but I do like stretching it out into a week of celebrations. A good portion of the day and even the past week has been spent in the company of a young musician of quite incredible talent, Lani, who has also recently taken up paralegal studies. In the evening, Erica invited me over to watch Hayao Miyazaki's newest film "Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka" (titled "The Boy and the Heron"), which literally translates as "How Do You (all) Live?" One is charmed by the autobiographical elements and, of course, the thematic bravery - it asks the fundamental question of what each of us is doing with our lives and how we treat others. Pretty appropriate viewing on one's birthday, really.

Last night, I attended the opening exhibition of upcoming artist Sarah Jennifer's "Opulentia" at Chapel on Chapel. I spent a good portion of the evening chatting with the artist, who seemed quite excited by the fact that she had accidentally made some highly appropriate popular culture references from the 1980s in her works. Her style is one of the great sweeping arcs, bright colours, and abstract surrealism, and I hope to attend the exhibition again soon.

To finish off the week tonight, I was a guest of the Chinese Consulate, attending a reception at Kooyong Tennis Club for the Chinese New Year. It was, as it always is, an astoundingly well-organised event with a truly impressive array of speakers, attendees, and performers. I was quite delighted to spend a good period of time with an old friend and former minister, Luke Donnellan. It's a long time since I've seen him, and he rather looks like a stylish older Roy Orbison these days. Another person whom I met for the first time and spent a good period of time talking with was Andrew Irving, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Australia. I am sure we'll be having a few more discussions in the future.

Last night I attended the annual Chinese Language and Culture award ceremony held at the Chinese Consulate. This event, held over the past several years, recognises those university students who have excelled in the namesake award and is co-organised by the consulate and the Australia-China Friendship Society, with the awards determined by the Australian Tertiary Chinese Teachers Association. Short speeches were provided by the Consul-General, Xinwen Fang, myself in the role as president of the ACFS (Vic), and Chunming Shan of the ATCTA. Each of us made reference to the importance of language to understanding culture and the importance of understanding to reach a successful relationship between people; the Consul-General quoted Wittgenstein (I wonder how many people noted that), whereas I made the point that the students were over-turning Chris Bowen's "educated guess" from five years ago that there there are only 130 Australians of non-Chinese heritage who can speak Mandarin with competence. A rather worrying statistic when one considers that China is Australia's largest trading partner (for both imports and exports) and the dependence on a good working relationship with said country for secure peace in the region. Following the awards there were song and spoken performances from tertiary and even high-school students and a dinner - the consulate does put on some rather delicious food. From the performances (they were all excellent) I must note one young woman who nervously gave a speech in Chinese and then, when the music started, completely went into her zone with the confidence of an expert and with an utterly stunning and angelic voice.

Continuing on-topic, the day previously, Duolingo dutifully informed me that I am in the top 0.1% of its learners for the third year in succession. I know I started the year with the objective of concentrating on Chinese, French, and Esperanto, which I certainly did in the first half of the year (I came first in the Diamond Tournament in early June), but it's turned out that my studies have ended up with Chinese, Spanish, and Music. My emphasis on Chinese is for obvious reasons, while my interest in Spanish has come about with the decision to participate in "Sonidos del alma", the local Spanish-language choir and a desire to visit South America in the second half of next year. This week, according to Duo, I also reached CEFR B1 in Spanish, which suggests a modest level of competence. As for Music, this relatively recent interest (as a practitioner rather than a critic) dovetails quite nicely with the choir participation. Speaking of which, I am making excellent progress in the course in music theory derived from Augsburg University curriculum, and I am certain I will complete it by the end of the year. If I start rambling on about diatonic chord progressions in minor or minor keys and the circle of fifths, you know what's happened to me. Actually, I know exactly what's happening to me; I am exploring language, culture, and music as a means of emotional regulation as I attempt to reconstruct ethics in the face of profound human cruelty.

"People talk sometimes of a bestial cruelty, but that's a great injustice and insult to the beasts; a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel."
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, "The Brothers Karamazov"

This week is eResearch Australasia, probably the most significant meeting of minds in the country of its sort. I have presented several times in the past at this annual conference, and this time I'll be speaking on the "The Spartan HPC Story: From Small Scale Experimental to Top500 and Beyond" which, as one fellow staff member quipped, is "a love letter to Spartan". There is some truth to this; I have watched Spartan grow over the past nine years from being just a plan on paper, raised in innovative poverty, and becoming one of the most significant systems on the planet with volumes of research output. Supercomputing is important, with a return of forty-four dollars in profits or cost-savings per dollar invested. There is not an area of modern technology or science that has supercomputing has not touched (could you imagine where we would be with COVID-19 without supercomputing?), and it pleases me a great deal to be deeply involved in this industry and academic pursuit.

But this is not the only academic pursuit of recent days. I have already started drafting a presentation on bioinformatics HPC education for EResearchNZ, which will be held in Christchurch early next year. Apropos more New Zealand matters, last week I attended the annual Wellington University Alumuni event (when you've graduated from several universities, you get to go to a few of these), where Professor Nick Long of the Robinson Research Institute spoke of their fascinating developments in superconductors (which NZ is a bit of world leader in) for fMRI, electric aviation and space vehicles, and even fusion power. Further, this week I have also finished two major assignments (two PhD reviews) for the subject International Academic Writing for my doctoral studies at Euclid University, and finally, I have started writing a paper on catatonia with Angela L (she's the subject expert, I'm merely a helpful wordsmith making use of his psychology degree).

Far from being a cloistered figure, this weekend's big trip was out to Bendigo with the Australa-China Friendship Society, where we caught up with members of the Bendigo Chinese Association who have done remarkable work in preserving and promoting that community's strong ties to the region of Dai Gum San (Big Gold Mountain). We visited the Golden Dragon Museum, the Kuan Yin Temple, Guan Yin Miao (temple of The Goddess of Mercy), Yi Yuan ("Garden of Joy"), and the Bendigo Joss Hoss Temple. The visit was so enjoyable and educational, and the local Chinese association was so helpful and friendly that I believe it will become an annual trip for the ACFS.

My trip to the Northern Territory effectively consists of two parts; the first, and more official reason, is attending the National Conference of the Australia China Friendship Society. The second, a more holiday and festive reason, involves bands, rodeos (yes, really), donkey sanctuaries, and more. The second part will have to wait a couple of days, because this post will be about the ACFS National Conference, which ran from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th of June, mostly at the ACFS NT Centre in Leanyer. For myself, however, the Conference started by watching Eunice Leong's funeral, which had been held the day before. Eunice was a founding and life member of the ACFS, which dates back to 1951. As her son Anthony pointed out, she was the diplomat who complemented the warrior spirit of her partner, Maurice, and must be remembered for her service to this country. I only had an opportunity to spend time in Eunice's company on a few occasions, but her sparkling disposition, humour, and intellect left a lasting impression.

As for the Conference itself, it began with a reception at Parliament House with an opening speech by the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Ngaree Ah Kit (from Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Chinese descent herself), and then with Colin Mackerras giving the Bill Morrow lecture remotely from Beijing. After that, the City of Darwin hosted a dinner, and I spent quite some time with the Mayor, Kon Vatskalis whose partner, Amy, also spoke at the Conference as Director of the Confucious Institute at Charles Darwin University. The following night there was the spectacular conference dinner also at the Hilton Double Tree, which I attended with the ever-stylish Lara; the cuisine was delicious, the singers and dancers truly impressive, and the short speech by Minister Mark Monaghan was of good quality. The NT opposition leader, Lia Finocchiaro, was notable for arriving, announcing themselves, having their name read out, and leaving - all done in under ten minutes. While on a food-based subject, I must also give enormous credit to the ACFS(NT) branch whose volunteers provided the conference Chinese and local cuisine feasts for lunch on the Saturday and Sunday. Another more informal event included a visit to the impressive Chung Wa Society Museum and Temple, which dovetailed nicely with a presentation from the Society's President, Roland Chin.

At these events, the informal provides superb conversational and networking opportunities, while the lectures and presentations give information from people with expertise and necessary organisational activities. Financial columnist and author Daryl Guppy was an expert and entertaining MC for these events. The ACFS NT patron and former Deputy Minister Peter Styles had a certain grandfatherly charm with his sagacious advice on running volunteer groups. International Chinese guests (e.g., Duan Jan from the Department of American and Ocean Affairs, Jihong Fu from Shanghai, and Li Xiao from the Qingdao Associations for Friendship, Beijing Youth Camp, etc), were especially insightful in their contributions in group discussions about furthering positive and beneficial relations between Australia and China, while Edwin Joseph (President of the Multicultural Council) gave a useful commentary on that Darwin's rich tapestry of cultures. Official organisational business was handled fairly smoothly; membership, finances, activities, tours, and elections; and on the latter it appears that I have also become a national director and the communications officer. Overall, it was a successful and informative gathering that underlines the importance and benefits of seeking understanding between countries and cultures as an alternative to belligerence and ignorance. Special thanks must be given to Shu Qin Li, President of the ACFS(NT), and the rest of the branch for their incredible effort and success in putting the conference together.

On Sunday I hosted a Bi Luo Chun Yum Cha for the ACFS, which was well-attended and a great deal of fun. It was great to have a number of my friends in attendance, and I am especially thankful for the efforts of Tower L., in providing the tea and preparing much of the food. Representatives of the Chinese consulate were present who are, as always, exceptional in their diplomatic politeness. Appropriately, and in stark contrast to the vitriolic chest-beating that occurs in some circles, I also attended a Labor Academy event earlier in the week, "Peacebuilding in a World of War". From the keynote speakers, John Langmore presented quite a reasonable argument advocating a liberal international order (increased international developmental aid, international treaties, etc). In contrast, I almost felt sorry for Peter Kahlil, MHR and Chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, in trying to make an argument that the AUKUS submarines purchase was part of the international peace-building. That argument has been pretty soundly demolished even within the Labor Party by Labor Against War.

With my own "political anarchist" leanings (synonymous with "libertarian socialism" and differentiated from both "lifestyle anarchism" and "social anarchism") I identify war as a function of the State. As per the "realist" school of international relations, there is no global state or enforceable international law (with the exception of Chapter VII of the UN Charter), which means that each State attempts to expand its power and influence at the expense of competitors and ultimately seeks monopoly rule. Within the State, each State attempts to enforce its own model of political economy and property rights and its own legal code. The military is thus the ultimate weapon used by the State against external competitors as the police are the ultimate weapon against internal competitors. "Peace" is something that exists between States as a form of a temporary détente and within States with the legitimation of civil rights and a just distribution of resources, a temporary détente in class war. In other words, "Peace with Justice" (to use the title of Clinton Fernandes' book on Noam Chomsky), as opposed to an authoritarian peace established through fear and oppression.

I make these words also in recognition of the passing of Helen Hill last week. Helen was a tireless activist and academic for the idea of self-determination and peace with justice especially for the people of Timor-Leste and also the South Pacific and Tanzania. For Timor, as the official Timor-Leste government statement notes, her work began in 1975 with her first publication on the subject, "The Timor Story", released in 1976. Helen stuck with the Timorese people in solidarity right through those violent and difficult years of occupation from 1975-1999 when so often activists were bluntly told that the cause was impossible and could never succeed. But eventually, it did, and while nation-building after independence has been no walk in the park, it has been their journey for which people like Helen showed the practical meaning of solidarity. Deskansa Em Paz, Dr. Helen Hill.

Last Thursday evening I attended the 70th-anniversary dinner for the Australia-China Friendship Society Victorian branch at the appropriately named "Red Emperor" restaurant. There were roughly a hundred people present, pretty much the perfect size for such a gathering large enough and intimate enough. Society president Anthony Leong gave an excellent introductory welcome, as did the Minister-Counseller Zhang Hua and the acting Consul-General Zeng Jianhua, all of whom made a point to ensure they introduced themselves to everyone present and a bit of conversation; expert-level diplomacy. But most attention on the night was directed to Anthony's father, Maurice Kwok Leong who was celebrating his 103rd birthday. Maurice was a founder of the ACFS and nine-times president of the Sze Yap Society and temple, founded in 1856 and housing the largest collection of ancestry tablets in Australia. Of a particular generation and an iron disposition, let's just say that he had something to do with the various wars at the time and leave it at that. "A national treasure" is how several people attending described Maurice, and they're definitely not wrong.

Whatever misgivings that one may have of the PRC management of internal affairs (and they are certainly plentiful enough) they don't exactly have an extensive history of wholesale invasions of other countries. There have been some unpleasant border skirmishes (e.g., Vietnam, India) and there's the issue of Tibet which has some ticklish history. The differs from the old European powers which mostly lost their politically imperialist status during the latter part of the 20th century, and the neo-imperialism of the United States of course, which has been involved in pretty much every conflict since WWII and has troops around the globe in addition to its substantial economic power and control. It also differs in comparison to Russia which still acts like the Tsarist Empire of old and, under the Soviets, would be both liberator (from the Nazis) and invading occupier.

A few days ago I put finger-to-keyboard as the Putin government threatened to use nuclear weapons to protect Russia, following a series of losses in Ukraine. As I suspected at the time, given that Putin is in absolute denial of Ukrainian self-determination and history, this would mean the occupied territories and especially those that are part of this stage-managed referenda. A day later former Russian president Medvedev, and deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, confirmed this and noted that strategic nuclear weapons were also on the agenda. It has been a very long time - not since before Gorbachev - that the threat of nuclear war has been so real. I am perplexed by the relative indifference of how serious this is.