Riches Not Important

Illawarra Mercury

Wednesday October 8, 2008

Riches not important

Like many, the global economic shenanigans make me a little anxious about my superannuation.

Solomon's proverb could be right: "Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle."

But I also recall what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. He noticed that God dressed the flowers of the field more splendidly than even King Solomon. And so he concludes that God knows our needs and can look after us too.

Instead of stressing out about possessions, Jesus suggest we should seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness.

Worrying will not add a single hour to our lifespan, nor a single dollar to our bank account.

Rev Sandy Grant, St Michael's Cathedral, Wollongong.

Give Bulli a boost

Is the NSW Government insane?

Why on earth is Premier Rees throwing $30 million at a car chase when sick people are being sent home from Wollongong Hospital? That's if they can even get in. Meanwhile, the Minister for the Illawarra is building a huge monster freeway to northern nowhere, with concrete dam walls across Woonona and Bulli villages causing major traffic problems.

I am told that will cost somewhere between $130 and $170 million.

And the old Bulli Courthouse and police station are being sold - will that public money go into better police services? I doubt it.

The long-suffering community desperately needs better medical facilities at Bulli, and money for schools, public transport and social services - yet all the state ALP boys can do is play with toy cars on toy roads.

Jill Walker, Bulli.

Thanks to Wollongong

This year the Vietnamese community in Wollongong celebrated the 30th anniversary of their settlement in this region.

To mark this event, we organised a special event on September 13. On that night, we raised a total of $12,182.13 for St Vincent de Paul, to help this organisation continue with their worthy causes to assist other new arrivals in Wollongong.

Since the fall of South Vietnam to the Communists in 1975, more than 1.6 million Vietnamese people have escaped the regime and have since settled around the world. However, in Wollongong, the first Vietnamese refugees' arrival here was dated back to 1978. As refugees we brought nothing but our hearts and life experience with us. We don't take for granted what we have become today. We thank God for the wonderful life we have here in Wollongong.

The success and achievements of our community would not have been possible without the help of the Australian people, the Christian communities and charities, government agencies at all levels, former teachers and staff at Towradgi Public School and at Fairy Meadow Hostel, and many volunteers who have helped in our integration and the settlement process.

So it is with gratitude that we thank you, the Australian people, in particular the people of Wollongong, for opening your arms and welcoming us into this region 30 years ago.

We are forever in debt to your generosity and warm hearts.

As time passes we hope the next generation will remember the sacrifices their elders made in their journey to find freedom for their families.

As for the future, we hope to continue making a positive contribution to Wollongong and making this already beautiful city even greater.

Teresa Tran, President, VietnameseCommunity in Wollongong.

Heed mining warnings

Why are the dangers of mining and selling uranium to other countries rarely spelt out in the media?

The supposed peace loving, environmentally friendly countries competing to sell this product to Russia, India, and China, knowing full well it could never be safely policed, have no moral grounding whatsoever.

Not only could this insidious product be returned in the worst possible way, as our exported scrap metal to Japan was, but nuclear waste repositories are still on the drawing board.

Then there are the billions of dollars in clean-up costs at the end of a nuclear reactor's shelf life and the acres of land that can't be used for aeons.

After the possible nuclear bombing of some unfortunate city, and then the retaliation, would Labor and Liberal leaders realise history has repeated itself yet again? Would we care?

Brian Johnson, Gymea.

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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