Another year has raced by – the final ‘A Different Light’ column for 2015.
Another year has raced by.
Is it me or are the years peeling back as fast as a log truck on P? Summer seems to have snuck up with ferocity, 29 degrees officially recorded last Saturday with 34 degrees reported unofficially. While December has had its hot moments, I always forget just how hot February gets in Tai Tokerau. Is it the effect of global warming or is it old age?
So, how was 2015? It’s time to reflect on the good, the bad, the humble and the narcissistic, and speaking of the latter how some of my columns have panned out.
In January I whined about being told “at least you’ve got a good tan”. Well, I still have, even though it is just the start of summer (there must be a down side to that!)
In February an Auckland father turned to crowd-funding to bring his Down Syndrome son home from Armenia. He dramatically exceeded his goal. However the small family is surrounded in controversy raising several ethical questions.
The National Party should have taken heed of the Shakespearean warning to “Beware the ides of March” with Winston Peters giving them a bloodied nose, as he took out the safe National seat, reminding the Government that some of the provinces were not feeling the love.
April was particularly brutal when I turned 50. Realising I could no longer rely on my youthful looks was challenging.
Mad Max, the mother of all motorhead movies, moved me in May. (Okay I’ll stop that with the m’s now). Disability was showcased in the movie as it is in real life where disabled people pop up in both camps – goodies and baddies.
Delayed until June 2015, the hotly-contested Whangarei referendum resulted in a landslide win for the Hundertwasser project, which received more than 50 per cent of the total vote. The art centre finally had a public mandate and the community support it needed to proceed.
There was a flurry of activity from ODI in July and August. I’m not talking about the character from the Star Wars movie, but the Office of Disability Issues (ODI). There was a short spitfire round of consultation on the Disability Action Plan using social media, but by all accounts the engagement was on a par with the NZ Flag public meetings, #dismal.
In August we hosted the first Whangarei disability and senior’s expo, ‘Getting Out There – Making the Most of Living’ with our mates, the Northern Advocate. A great success, this was a flagship of collaboration between social and commercial entrepreneurs.
September brought about the end of an era when eighties rocker Graham Brazier passed away. It also brought back some pretty outrageous memories for me.
October was all about the Rugby World Cup and the Men In Black. Didn’t we do well. The Deaf community used the international event to campaign for captioning to put us on par with the Aussie’s who have mandatory captions for all prime time television.
Unfortunately, the campaign wasn’t as successful as that of the AB’s.
In November the Government quietly mumbled that they were going to survey disabled people and Maori every 10 years, as opposed to every five years in the national census, a move that I thought would activate howls of discontent from both populations, but it didn’t – there was a resounding silence.
In December we celebrated the International Day of the Disabled with a Tiaho-led gathering on the Canopy Bridge. For me coming together as a community of consumers, participators and innovators, as a community of like-minded people, who share a somewhat different take on the world, is always unpredictable, funny and ultimately revitalising. My perspective on the world might be a little warped, ‘coz I am – but I hope it has shown you life in a slightly different light this year. Festive Greetings to one and all.
Downloadable pdf below:
| Available Downloads | Type | Size |
|---|---|---|
| A year of changes good and bad for all | 418 KB |