Canberra celebrates women in the nation’s capital

Today was the last day of “The Women who made Canberra” exhibition in the Canberra Museum and Gallery. Displayed from 10 November 2012 to 17 March 2013 in the lead up to the Centenary of Canberra, tribute is paid to the achievements of women who lived and shaped the city.

Twenty-one women were showcased, including basketball star Lauren Jackson and squash legend Heather McKay.

Lauren Jackson (1981-present) moved to Canberra from Albury when she was awarded a scholarship to study at the Australian Institute of Sport at 15 years of age. At 16 she was the youngest player to join the Opals (the Australian Women’s National Basketball team). She represented Australia at four Olympic Games and carried the Australian flag in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Jackson is currently contracted to play with the Canberra Capitals until the end of the 2016 season. Jackson’s basketball uniform is on display.

Heather McKay (1941-present), from Queanbeyan, excelled at tennis and hockey but became Australia’s most famous female squash player. In her 20 year squash career she won 14 successive Australian Amateur Squash titles (1960-1973), 16 British Amateur and Open titles (1962-1977), and the inaugural World Championship title in 1976, and again in 1979. In that time, she only lost 2 matches: one in 1960 and another in 1962. From 1985-1993 she coached squash at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. She is a Member of the Order of Australia (1969) and a Member of the British Empire (1979) for her services to squash. She is in the World Squash Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame as a legend. Her hockey blazer (NSW 1967) is on display in the museum.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog