By John Leung
Politics is a game of ideas, having them and putting them into action. But for every version of this game, there are rules. Some of those unwritten rules may be broken as times advance, but some of these rules are there for a reason. It should not be surprising that someone who proposes earthshaking change… Continue reading Deconstructing the status quo
By John Leung
When I arrived in Australia last winter (or was it summer? The seasons are reversed down under), I never expected to get hooked on Australian Rules football. Of course, when Canadians and Americans think football we automatically think big men in padded armor tossing around an oblong, pigskin ball. In Australia, there are four types… Continue reading Football
By John Leung
It has become a ritual once every four years where Canada grabs a set of her best athletes, slathers them in red-and-white regalia and drops them onto the biggest athletic stage in the world tied down with expectations of top rankings and medals. When the event ends, they are herded back into the deep-freeze of… Continue reading Olympic shame
By John Leung
Reading the newspaper and watching the local news after the accidental death of Tyler Zeer, one must wonder what truly is in the hearts and minds of those he has left behind. The anguish his family, his relatives, and his fellow classmates at Bowness High School must be intolerable, and makes one wonder why death… Continue reading Hold dear those you love
By John Leung
What a tournament it has been! With NHL labour strife almost certain, this is the last we’ll see of our beloved hockey heroes for a while. Team Canada, with the gold from Salt Lake City in hand, has finally overcome the heartbreak of the previous World Cup final against the Americans in 1996. Now we’ve… Continue reading Poor World Cup Finnish
By John Leung
It seems like only yesterday I stepped off the plane at Sydney’s Kingsford-Smith airport. Knowing nothing about the city, I vowed I would explore it to its fullest. What I found was a diverse city that is truly one of a kind. From Bondi on the Tasman coast to the suburb of Penrith at the… Continue reading Sydney: City Down Under
By John Leung
With NHL labour strife looming, the World Cup of Hockey is an excellent distraction for fans that are sick and tired of the two sides whining and bitching. But who are the contenders and the pretenders for the crown of international ice hockey supremacy? Each side has their aces to build their case, but with… Continue reading Coupe du Monde de Hockey 2004
By John Leung
SYDNEY-At the final buzzer, we watched and mourned. The Tampa Bay Lightning jumping off the bench, congratulating themselves for winning the 2004 Stanley Cup. Even as far as Sydney, Australia, Canadians were in mourning. As a nation, we mourn the loss of another chance to bring hockey’s holy grail home. With fellow ex-pat Calgarians, we… Continue reading The bitterest defeat
By John Leung
It’s almost been a month since I left Calgary and arrived here in Sydney, and through that time it has been a complete roller coaster of emotions. At first, I was totally happy that I was leaving the terrible weather of Calgary for the tropical climate of Sydney. In this cosmopolitan and modern city, I… Continue reading A letter from Sydney
By John Leung
When someone says the word Australia, what comes to mind? The classics always come first: koalas, dingoes, kangaroos, Foster’s, Crocodile Dundee and the Crocodile Hunter. But what is the real Australia like, beyond all those stereotypes and symbols we’ve come to associate with Australians and their country?After what has been almost a year and a… Continue reading Going