On The Net - Computing News

with Chris Goh

You hear stories that challenge you to think harder about who you are. Sometimes you question, whether as a citizen, you have done your best. Sometimes, you'd rather be away from a world that seems to reek with sorrow, hate and corruption. To think that in 1916 there were young boys willing to die for something bigger than themselves, makes me ask, are we willing to sacrifice our lives for the greater good?

In the Easter just past, many of us would have attended to our religious duties, some will see Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, as a justification for their beliefs and, in some, remind them of someone who was willing to sacrifice his life so that others would believe, believe in the bigger picture, the belief in the human race, that even in the midst of our cruelty there was someone who thought we were worth saving.

This ANZAC Day we remember, and lest we forget, the sacrifices that many of our citizens, in fact world citizens, that went to war, in the belief that what they were doing was for the betterment of their society, our society. The tribute we place this ANZAC day is not to justify war, but to acknowledge the greater sacrifice of citizens that for whatever reason, believed that they were bettering the world. How often when given small opportunities to do it, we forego those choices, whether it be putting rubbish in the bin, giving right of way to pedestrians, or just allowing a senior citizen in front of us in a line; we excuse ourselves, excuse the significance of the exercise. Yet I am sure every man would have pictured themselves in a moment of glory, whether scoring a Ton at the WACA or doing a heroic deed. With these visions of glory, how can we neglect the simplest duty of a citizen and that is to work for the greater good.

Let us take with us this ANZAC Day, the ability to believe, to believe in a greater purpose, a greater respect for our fellow citizens. Let us try harder to justify the sacrifices made for us, made before our time for our time, so we can set examples for others that would come after us, and hopefully in due course, we may find that better society.

Hotsites

www.australiansatwar.gov.au/default.asp

This site has extensive literature on the various campaigns that the ANZACs partook in from the Boer War all the way to current Peace Keeping campaigns. The level of detail and humanness about the site is a credit to those that have developed it.

www.awm.gov.au

The Australian War Memorial has extensive literature on those who gave their life in conflicts Australia was involved in, including small biographical accounts of those who partook in them.

www.anzacsite.gov.au

The official ANZAC commemorative site contains extensive literature about the Gallipoli campaign with documents for educators and students alike.