Councillor Carol Israel
Braving the challenge
The unionist is now a councillor. Weeks in her new job, the neophyte
politician is learning the ropes on a job that demands speaking out on
issues that matter.
It takes time but Councillor Carol Israel (Labor) of
Blacktown Ward 4 is confident she’ll find her way soon
drawing on her bundle of experiences as a workers’ rep, an
entrepreneur, a migrant, and a widowed mother who raised
three children on sheer fortitude.
“I WISH A BETTER
CITY FOR ALL OF US,
A CITY WHERE WE ALL
RESPECT ONE ANOTHER
REGARDLESS OF RACE,
CULTURE AND RELIGION.
WE ALL WANT A PERFECT
WORLD AND WE CAN ALL
START HERE.”
“This work can be daunting, but I can be a fighter,” she
says with a smile in an interview with AK.
“I speak up, but no – not immediately – I study issues, I
study people, I love observing people. When I am convinced
that something is wrong and duty calls for something to be
done, I really stand up.”
Cr Israel is one of the fresh faces in the city council. She
said she was just as surprised waking up one day as an
elected councillor.
“When they (the Party) approached me and asked me
to run, I didn’t immediately say yes, I had to think it over for
some time because it would be affecting my full-time job. I
didn’t know if I can juggle the time but I love being involved
and working with the community.”
Cr Israel has been working in the union for almost a
decade now. Her plunge into advocating for workers’ rights
started in 2007 when she joined the retailers’ union – the
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association NSW
(SDA).
Her involvement in the union laid the groundwork that
challenged her to understand and lobby for the betterment
of workers, families, and communities as a whole.
didn’t know what the future held for our family,” she recalls.
She eventually became a union area and metro organiser
first in Liverpool and then later in Blacktown, the city where
their family had settled since arriving in Australian in 2001.
“My late husband was then offered by a Telecom
company to work in Australia. It was a big decision for us
to move here, I eventually had to pack up our photography
business to settle in Australia,” she relates.
It seemed a rosy migration experience with her husband
gainfully employed while she started working in a burger
joint and later retail shops and the family becoming Aussie
citizens. But tragedy knocked on their door. Gloom
descended when, just before Christmas of 2010, her
husband succumbed to leukemia.
“2010, I remember that year, it was the year we didn’t
celebrate Christmas. It was shattering, it was hard, it was
tough. Everything suddenly rushed in to my mind and I
“I was thinking there was a mortgage to pay, we had
three growing children; the first few months (after his death)
was really just a blur. But I told myself, I had to accept his
death, I needed to be strong.
“I had to fight back. I went out and engaged in
community service instead of locking myself weeping inside
my room all day. I just went out there to be more useful –
that’s probably how I found solace.”
She got involved in community activities, organising
festivals, clean-up days, supporting her son’s soccer team,
and practically everything to keep her mind busy. Most
of all, she became a tireless supporter of the Leukemia
Foundation.
Her children are now all young adults – Janine, 28, Ian,
26, and Jeno, 23.
An only child, Cr Israel grew up in Cabanatuan City. She
says she was a mix of being shy on one hand, spirited on the
other, that “my parents had to send me to Baguio (St. Louis
University, Political Science) so I would not get involved in
fiery student activist movements.”
She immerses herself into reading books, anything from
biographies to science fiction, historical and romance novels.
But now she may have to shelve some leisurely reading
to pore over volumes of documents that now require
her attention. It is back to studying: researching on the
complex issues that hound the city, giving her inputs to local
government legislation, and speaking out in behalf of her
wards in Blacktown.
“I wish a better city for all of us, a city where we all
respect one another regardless of race, culture and
religion. We all want a perfect world and we can
all start here.”
The ‘Monito-Monita’ Tradition in Gift Giving
This tradition is still done by many Filipinos in Sydney.
One of the Filipino traditions during
Christmas is the exchange of gifts between
families or friends. A simple way of exchanging
gifts is bringing a gift to the Christmas party
of which the amount is agreed upon by the
participants. Each gift will be numbered and
raffled off during the Christmas party.
Another variation of giving gifts during
the Christmas season is the Kris Kringle or the
Monito/Monita. Mostly this is done among
classmates, office mates or among a group
of friends. It slightly differs from the usual
exchanging gifts because you will know in
04
DECEMBER 2016
|
ANG KALATAS
advance to whom you will give a Christmas
present during your group’s Christmas party.
The Pinoy’s Monito/Monita is a modification
of the Secret Santa (Western countries), Kris
Kringle or Christkindl (German), Sinter Klass in
Dutch, Father Christmas in England and Pere
Noel in France.
Noted for the values of friendship and
camaraderie (pakikisama), the Monito-Monita
highlights the gift giving nature and creativity
of the Filipinos.
http://quirksoflife.com/the-monito-monitafilipino-tradition-in-gift-giving/
www.kalatas.com.au