[PW] and a Happy ANZAC Day

[Kevin O'Kelly]

I meant no offense. I have wished US veterans a "Happy Veterans Day" and they did not seem to feel it incongruous. 

But I do understand your point, Timothy. Thank you for the explanation.

FERGUSON Timothy <TFERGUSON at goldcoast.qld.gov.au> wrote: Thank you for the thought Kevin.

I do not want what I am about to say to seem critical of you. You wish
us well, and that is a good thing, and we wish you well in return.

I would like to say to you, though, that ANZAC Day is a solemn occasion
for the mourning of our war dead, and some Australians find the greeting
"Happy ANZAC Day" disquieting.  I know it could be difficult to tell
this: in some areas of our media it has started to become common.  On
the "Sunrise" program yesterday, for example, it was how they seemed to
start each segment. That being said, although there are certain forms of
traditional celebration that occur on ANZAC Day, generally involving
beer and archaic forms of gambling, used by returned soldiers to
celebrate their status as survivors, many of us find the idea of the day
being celebratory to be unpleasant. As time has progressed from the
1980s, the celebration has become increasingly solemn, and increasing
significant to the average Australian.

I don't want you to take this as criticism of you. I know that many
other countries have celebratory war remembrance days, Americans and
their 4th of July, and so on. Also, I may be a bit of a fuddy-duddy
here: it may be that as the veterans pass on, that the celebration will
again change and fewer Australians will think "Happy ANZAC Day" a
trivialisation.

In exploring that feeling of discomfort, I think its because of its
sensation of impiousness. I know that this sensation is not universal
among Australians, and so trying to explain this to outsiders without
trivialising their own national sufferings is difficult. Basically it is
that ANZAC Day is not a festival, it's a vigil. If you are from another
country, then in the difficult international times we now suffer, I am
sure you have had a disaster with major loss of life at some stage. If
someone wished you a Happy Disaster Commemoration Day, then perhaps
you'd feel a similar disquiet, and perhaps you can understand what I'm
trying to say in that framework.

I apologise again if this seems like a personal criticism, which is not
what I intend.  As I hope you can see, this is an issue about which
Australians disagree, and so it seems churlish to write back to you and
explain the intricacies of our customs, for which I do apologise.  I
hope you have a great day.


 

-----Original Message-----
From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
[mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of
Kevin O'Kelly
Sent: Saturday, 26 April 2008 0:33
To: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: Re: [PW] and a Happy ANZAC Day

To all the wombats Down Under!

 

       
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