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Self-management, the way to go
ON the third day of a 10-day workshop
on self-management approach to solving drug and alcohol problem, a
participant testified that he just quit smoking and given up chewing
betelnut.
I was taken by surprise, and did not expect such changes to be that soon
as the self-management option was tested for the first time.
At the back of my mind, I was rather optimistic that more of similar
experiences would gather momentum.
I now know that the statement by Allan Richardson, an experiential
psychologist, about self-management approach was right.
He said human adults were constructed to develop a self-management
option that could be used to override some aspects of the automatic
system.
A powerful self-management system available to them has not been
explored by psychologists and little is known about the most effective
use of such an option.
The training in self-management was done to empower young people from
within so they can avoid the abuse of drug and alcohol in their lives.
Nonetheless, from the feedback received from the participants, the
training did affect and influence other aspects of their behaviour and
character as well. One participant said: “There are some personal
changes, which I have acquired and would like to mention. I have put a
stop to drinking alcohol and I will live by that resolution.
“I have fair understanding since I got the self-management training.
“I was able to make budget and make some small-scale investment, which I
hope will turn out profitable.
“I am now able to take control of my personal time and use time to do
worthwhile things.
“I am able to understand how I would acquire wealth in the village.
“However, I appreciate the fact that the self-management training has
actually put me in a better position to be a better person and to do
value-added activities in life.
“I am very thankful and recommend that similar training will help a lot
of people.”
Another participant said that self-management had not impacted on him,
but that he has been able to influence other young men and women.
“After the self-management training, I went home with bright ideas.
“At home I started to practise it to see whether changes may occur or
not.
“When I started from point one, all things fell in line.
“I was sitting on my bed one morning after prayer. Suddenly, I thought
of the self-management training and I sat still for 10-15 minutes
recalling what I learned and what I will do.
“My mind told me of some money I kept in my room. This money belongs to
the youth group. It is purposely for the celebration of drinking beer,
steam (homebrew) and puffing drugs for the last time in life before
making resolutions in the New Year.
“But using my self-management skills, I thought of leading the youths in
another direction. I told them what to do with the money.
“I used the self-management approach to direct their minds onto the
right track.
“After a long discussion, the youths came to an agreement.
“I used half of the money to take the youths to Mt Wilhelm for a camp to
work out some solutions in life, and to plan a youth farm. It worked out
as I planned.
“The other half of the money was used to register the youth group.
“Also the group elected me as their president without calling for
nominations.
“Only through self-management skill, we can make wise decisions and
guide others.”
The workshop on self-management approach to solving drug and alcohol
problems was conducted last November.
Except for one participant, the rest have all stopped taking drugs and
alcohol – a 95% success for the first two months.
Thus the self-management approach to solving drug and alcohol problems
did play an important role in encouraging good New Year resolutions.
Another participant testifies to this.
“I do have powers of self-management. On New Year’s Eve, my peer group
came in with half a carton of beer plus six litres of steam.
“After the self-management approach workshop, I promised not to get
drunk.
“I was not interested in getting drunk but they were drinking next to my
house and causing a disturbance.
“When I entered the house, they got up and gave me a glass of home brew.
I refused. They kept insisting and I kept refusing.
“Over the fire, they boiled coffee, so while they drank homebrew, I
drank cups of coffee.
“After they had finished the homebrew, they went to sleep.
“At that point, I realised that I have the power to say yes or no.
“Self-management had directed me to do the right thing and make a better
choice in such situations.”
A few participants have also taken part in Personal Viability (PV)
Training before and have offered their comment.
One said: “The PV course showed us how to make money. There were some
empowerment topics but these were not detailed. So after that, I did not
even know what to do after the course.
“At first, I started a canteen but I had to close it down after six
months. I was not successful.
“I tried to manage my money but I didn’t have good plans.
“Then I attended the self-management training and I now know myself that
self-management, sub-personalities, will power and struggling with
purpose, would come success.
“I am happy now because the first idea was from PV, so when
self-management training came it helped me to do better.”
Western nations ‘had vested interest
in Suharto regime’
By JOHN PASSANT
WAR criminal Suharto is dead. Look for the tears from his Western
supporters.
In their hypocrisy they may recognise he was a dictator, but, they will
rationalise, he was “our” dictator.
The man was a mass murderer.
In the years 1965 and 1966, he and his army supporters seized power and
killed up to one million Indonesians.
In the name of anti-communism, they killed Chinese people because they were
Chinese. This is genocide.
The West was up to its armpits in the blood.
The US supplied the names of Communist Party members to Suharto and his
cronies. They knew these people would be murdered.
American embassy officials ticked off their names as the army killed them.
What did it matter if a few commies were assassinated?
Then Australian prime minister then Harold Holt said that “with 500,000 to a
million communist sympathisers knocked off, I think it’s safe to assume a
reorientation has taken place”.
And how did Australia described this genocide? A “cleansing process” said
the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
Ethnic cleansing is a better description.
But the West wanted Suharto in power for its own interests so the mere mass
murder of one million people was of no importance to the US or Australia.
And then there is East Timor. During the 23 years of brutal occupation, East
Timor’s population fell by a third – about 200,000 dead.
Australia (in particular Gough Whitlam) supported this takeover and Malcolm
Fraser’s government gave de jure recognition to the Indonesian regime in
East Timor.
Australia even trained Indonesian army troops, which were used in East Timor
(and West Papua) to suppress the indigenous population.
In West Papua from 1969 when the UN supported Act of Free Choice (what
Orwellian words!) saw Indonesia installed as the new colonial ruler, the
Indonesian army has killed over 100,000 people.
Yet despite all these murders – murders well known to the West – Suharto has
received massive support from the US, Britain and Australia in particular.
Indeed, as Iraq and Afghanistan show (once again), when the West thinks it
is in their interests to do so they will don the gloves of blood themselves,
rather than rely on proxies like Suharto.
Then there is the looting of the Indonesian coffers.
Suharto, his family and cronies were corrupt. Transparency International
claimed that Suharto and his family filched as much as K104 billion from the
country’s coffers.
The criminal case against him for this corruption ended because of his ill
health. The civil case will be settled out of court. I wonder who presently
in power in Indonesia benefits from these decisions.
International courts have been useless in the fight against this mass
murderer, a man clearly guilty of war crimes and genocide.
That’s because the West did not want him tried. He was their ally.
And further, any action could implicate those who aided and abetted Suharto,
like the Australian leaders Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating and Howard.
Apparently only those criminals who lose the West’s support (like Saddam
Hussein) suffer some sort of retribution.
Certainly those from the West who support dictators are never charged.
And those Western leaders (like Bush, Blair and Howard) who invade other
countries and kill hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians are never
brought to justice.
Individual terrorism is abhorrent. State terrorism, whether by Suharto or
his Western backers, is just as abhorrent.
Near the site of the Bali bombing – a bombing in which 88 Australians were
murdered – there are mass graves from 1965 and 1966. There are about 88,000
dead there.
Australia’s outrage over Bali should extend to those Suharto murdered. It
does not.
Only when the working people of Indonesia are in power, instead of Suharto’s
cronies, will Indonesia be free of its murderous past. – onlineopinion
* John Passant is a Canberra writer.
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