For 10 days, Melbourne has been showered with the aura of the Commonwealth Games 2006. Winners and losers. From sorrow to joy....all of those emotions were clearly portrayed during this entire period.
There is another side of the Games that may not catch your eye if you have not been listening carefully. The Indigenous people of Australia ie aborigines have set up protest and described the event as "The Stolenwealth Games". They have been marching in front of the Queen and managed to put big posters that managed to caught the attention of the people.
The reason for their protest....the wealth that has been taken from them ever since British put their foot on Australia. Interestingly, someone has argued that the Aborigines themselves have never been able to create wealth themselves. Due to the presence of British, the Aborigines managed to see the glimpse of wealth. Hence why the protest?1
But one could argue that the definition of wealth is rather subjective and should not be measured in materialistic point of view. Possessing a peaceful mind and body is part of the wealth too ;)
more info on "Stolenwealth Games", click here.
Looking at another side of the Games, the host nation, Australia has clearly shows their dominance by capturing more than half of the medals being offered. Some of their athletes even managed to break Games and world record. Quite a massive performance by Australian athletes indeed.
One of the most interesting things that had managed to capture my attention was the effect of the advertisement. National Australia Bank is the major sponsor of the Commonwealth Games and their advertisement on mass media has attracted lots of attention. They showed this one athlete training in throwing discus in many ways. He even went to ballet class just to improve his techniques. The advertisement shows how determined he is to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.
At first, I thought he is an actor since I never see him before. In fact, most Australians never know this guy before the advertisement. That guy is Scott Martin, a real Australian athlete competing in discus and shot put. In fact he is a very good and eventually managed to get gold medal in the discus. Now, that what you call as a dream comes true, truly inspirational ;) 2
The opening and closing ceremony were bizarre and ridiculous. What could be so important to show footy players when most part of the world never know that game? Only fireworks managed to save the day. Too much money being wasted in these ceremonies.
Overall, Commonwealth Games is not that successful and created lots of unnecessary problems to the locals. Even the daylight saving time is being delayed by one week.
p/s: Commonwealth....hmm, I don't think all the participating nations have the same 'common wealth' though. The gap is just rather big and keep on increasing day by day.
There is another side of the Games that may not catch your eye if you have not been listening carefully. The Indigenous people of Australia ie aborigines have set up protest and described the event as "The Stolenwealth Games". They have been marching in front of the Queen and managed to put big posters that managed to caught the attention of the people.
The reason for their protest....the wealth that has been taken from them ever since British put their foot on Australia. Interestingly, someone has argued that the Aborigines themselves have never been able to create wealth themselves. Due to the presence of British, the Aborigines managed to see the glimpse of wealth. Hence why the protest?1
But one could argue that the definition of wealth is rather subjective and should not be measured in materialistic point of view. Possessing a peaceful mind and body is part of the wealth too ;)
more info on "Stolenwealth Games", click here.
Looking at another side of the Games, the host nation, Australia has clearly shows their dominance by capturing more than half of the medals being offered. Some of their athletes even managed to break Games and world record. Quite a massive performance by Australian athletes indeed.
One of the most interesting things that had managed to capture my attention was the effect of the advertisement. National Australia Bank is the major sponsor of the Commonwealth Games and their advertisement on mass media has attracted lots of attention. They showed this one athlete training in throwing discus in many ways. He even went to ballet class just to improve his techniques. The advertisement shows how determined he is to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.
At first, I thought he is an actor since I never see him before. In fact, most Australians never know this guy before the advertisement. That guy is Scott Martin, a real Australian athlete competing in discus and shot put. In fact he is a very good and eventually managed to get gold medal in the discus. Now, that what you call as a dream comes true, truly inspirational ;) 2
The opening and closing ceremony were bizarre and ridiculous. What could be so important to show footy players when most part of the world never know that game? Only fireworks managed to save the day. Too much money being wasted in these ceremonies.
Overall, Commonwealth Games is not that successful and created lots of unnecessary problems to the locals. Even the daylight saving time is being delayed by one week.
p/s: Commonwealth....hmm, I don't think all the participating nations have the same 'common wealth' though. The gap is just rather big and keep on increasing day by day.
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