"INDEFINATE" SUSPENSION
of "Bart Harmminga" from Jinja Club
 

Wednesday August 13, 2008

It started as a normal late afternoon golf game. Standing at tee #1 some elder club members were trading jokes and waiting for flights to form themselves. Suddenly, the Chairman said: "Sing [real name withheld] told me you have a web page about the club?". The tone was one of unsettlement.
"Yes", I said, "I report to my friends in a subweb of my site called greetings."
"But you should have told us".
"It's not a secret, and it is not posing as a club site, it is just one of my greetings to friends, I make no money with that page, if people like me to delete it, I will".
"Sing says it is even racist".
"That is ridiculous. I am not a racist".
"I told Sing to print it and let me read it".
"That is a good idea. Tell me if you want it off."
It is my turn to tee off with another player, so we part.
I have lots of three-puts.
On return in the club house the chairman on the veranda, not reading. But the 8 page web text with pictures is posted on the club house wall. Sing? Anyway, someone thinks he should try to light a fire. Would the chairman like that?
I hope not, so I return to the veranda and tell him, with a welcoming gesture inward: "its is already hanging. On the wall".
But the chairman does not take action.
I see Sing, go to him and say: "I heard people may have felt offended by that web page, if anyone did, I delete it".
"That is a matter for the chairman", Sing says with a gentle smile.
Since when is the chairman doing my web site? I thought. I went home.
At home I decided there was no reason to wait for any further reactions and I deleted the page from the internet.

[now, after two years, following the last incidents, I have uploaded again the original page "Jinja Club Life", without alterations, after all it has become an historical document]

Thursday 080814

The next day I went to the club with an apology to offended members. Now, the text of the web page had disappeared from the wall. I put my paper on the empty place:

The club manager told me he had orders from the chairman to tell me not to play pending my suspension.
"Do you have it written?"
"No but you should not play".
"I am not suspended until I am suspended. I will play. Do not worry, I'll tell them you did your job and I refused to comply".
I was not really in the mood for golf, launched 24 symbolic practice shots and signed the club book for driving range use.
Then it was time to wait for the incoming flights with senior members. The chairman entered. I went to show him the club book: "I just want to show you down here, you see? I played".
What does that mean?
"I played", I said over my shoulders, walking back to the veranda. It looked like the chairman was really wondering what it meant. Could the manager, who tried to stop my golf, have been lying about his "chairman's orders"? If the chairman would take interest in talking to me I could find out. But no approach.
I stayed long on the veranda, giving anybody the opportunity to talk to me. Only the golf captain did, inside, when I passed him one time: "I thought you had already been suspended, but you will soon get your letter". So indeed it had not, as the club manager had maintained, been the chairman, but the golf captain, possibly lying to the club manager that the orders came from the chairman, after all, a club manager would have no reason to hide the golf captain behind the chairman.
"They should ban you from the club altogether", one of the golf captain's friends said.
"You call us chimps". I do not remember whether this was the golf captain or one of his entourage.
Not letting this club conversation go on very long, I returned to the veranda, where some friendly club members told me that in their estimation I would be suspended, but I should take it calmly, I would just adhere to the rules of my suspension and then everything would be business as usual. Ironically they claim to be psychologically preparing me for suspension: "stay cool", "use your shock absorbers".
After taking some more beers the golf captain group tore my apologies from the wall.

The next day I decided to stay away from the club. Around sunset the manager called me to say he had a letter for me. I collected it the following morning. It reported the decision.

From: Bert hamminga To: Chairman Jinja Club Through: Manager Jinja, August 27, 2008 Thank you for you letter of 14-08-2008 concerning my suspension. Being a foreigner, I think I should just assume your decision is appropriate to the circumstances. I wish, however, to express my happiness that qualifications like "racist", which haunted the club in high profile are refrained from. I infer from your letter, since it says that a decision has been taken, that hearing an accused person is not part of Jinja Clubs suspension procedure. Let me therefore write you what I would have said had I been heard. Nine years ago, easy software appeared allowing you to make text, insert pictures, and email them to friends. I started to use it for holiday greetings. But at the time, email boxes still were small compared to the size of such files. Hence I started to upload my greetings to a server, and just sent a link to my friends, allowing them to access them on a moment of their own choice while not burdening their email boxes. Since I had no plan to communicate secrets, I did not bother to password protect these greetings. Later, I changed from Dutch to English language. While internet became a big thing and search engines got introduced, in communicating my greetings I was still using the system as a means to upload files to a server that friends could access. And up to today, these greetings pages are normally read only by 20-odd people I know personally, almost all in Europe. Nevertheless, I realized there was no password protection so the pages were accessible for every internet user. And I assume that an anonymous reader typing the right keywords in a search engine might get a reference to one of my greetings pages, access it, and from there reach other greetings I sent. However it came about, a reader outside my small group of regularly alerted friends accessed my page about Jinja Club. He or she thought the page was controversial and informed others in the club, who started to ask me questions. Though nobody asked or advised me to, I immediately removed the page from the server holding my files. I thought people thus far involved would understand I had no intention to damage Jinja Club. Why would I? What would be my profit of such a thing? And if at this point a conversation between the few club members involved, including me, had followed, the issue would have ended inconspicuously. But the highly unfortunate course of events was different: the same evening I deleted the file, a hard copy of the page was posted on the club house wall. Others had printed hard copies before I could delete the page. After the page�s removal from the wall the attention of members not yet informed went frantically for these copies. The crown of all this conspicuous firework was my suspension, that had probably become inevitable after these events. I am sorry for having uploaded to an internet server a non-password protected greeting to my friends that turned out to be controversial. I turned out to have made something that could be used to inflame the club, as the wall posting did. Even though I did not see this while making the page, I do carry responsibility. After removal of the page, I posted my apologies on the club house wall, but senior members removed it. I refuse all requests for copies and comments on the events. I nowhere raise the issue. I will continue to do so. Copies circulating at the moment do not come from me. We may still have a chance that this thing will come to a halt before literally every bystander has satisfied his curiosity. Every one of the highly unfortunate moves towards the present situation is understandable from some angle. Moreover, I realize with regret that had my page not been available, all this could not have happened. Yours Sincerely, Bert hamminga

My wake up on the issue was too slow. When on that Wednesday (top of page) I was first asked about the page, I did not even think it would get frowned upon after it would have been properly read, even though I realized the pages did report on some neglect of maintenance of respect for property, not the most serious I know, but the most amusing. I thought they were considered normal: everybody knows, the club house veranda conversation habitually concerns them, and never so by suggesting that serious action should be taken. I do not consider my tone in the web page to be defaming or even one of accusation, but rather of benevolent resignation. I read my web page again. Yes, I am still really pleased with it! The quality of my web pages is not always superb, but this page is surely way above my average. Sing knew - and little did I foresee - that by posting it on the club house wall, he could  injure members' pride, yes, high pride, more than sufficiently to have their author suspended, and his apologies even torn off the wall!
Nobody in the club seemed to have given any thought to how to contain the presumed "damage" . The desire to retaliate was far stronger. Thus, Sing published the page on the club house wall, in order to turn members against the author and the club officials kept it available for any interested reader, under the bar table. After the conspicuous firework of suspending the author this naturally is made use of, to say the least, eagerly. Thus club officials effectively spread the very pages they regard as regrettable.

Update March 29, 2010: the incidents above are dated August 2008. We are now in March 2010. Until recently there was no news. Formally, I am still a member, albeit an "indefinately" suspended one "until the committee consults and reviews the implication...". After recently having visited Entebbe Golf Club, however, its pro, visiting Jinja Club, was told, no doubt by insiders, because he took them seriously, I was "not known" there.... A few weeks later, the Jinja Club golf captain said, on the phone, to Entebbe Golf Club that I was "not a member" ("known" after all??). I sent the following email:

To Chairman Jinja Club cc. Uganda Golf Union, Entebbe Golf Club I hereby report another incident of misconduct of your golf captain. 1. The incident took place at Entebbe Golf Club, yesterday. 2. The incident was the refusal of Entebbe Golf Club to admit me to the course on the basis of reciprocation as a member of Jinja Club. 3. That refusal by Entebbe Golf Club, in itself, was correct, because yesterday, senior Entebbe Golf Club members have heard the Jinja Club golf captain saying over the phone that I am not a member of Jinja Club. I myself also have directly heard this yesterday, even repeatedly.  4. However, as you perfectly know, I am a member of Jinja Club. I have a card, I have not ended my membership, nor have I been radiated. 5. But I have been suspended. That was in 2008. The term of that suspension was not fixed in the letter you sent me. In that letter (I attach a copy), in which my name was misspelled �Bart Harmminga� I was told that the suspension was, I quote absolutely literally, �indefinate�, �...until the committee consults and reviews...�. So, many of us are since waiting with curiosity for the moment that the term of the suspension shall be determined. 6. I will not deal here with the grounds for the suspension. They are unique and would not pass in any competently managed golf club in the world. Nevertheless, in 2008, I decided to abide by the suspension and the rules of it, meticulously specified in your letter. These rules (just see your own letter, attached) do not forbid me to visit other clubs on the basis of reciprocation. 7. I do not come back to my decision to abide by the questionable suspension, and regard it as another incident of Jinja Club committee misconduct different from the subject of this letter which is that I clearly am a member of Jinja Club and that your golf captain clearly denies this, first to third parties, second, but only after being forced, to myself. My first thought was that it would be appropriate to submit a complaint to the Uganda Golf Union, but I have decided not to, for the following reasons: 1. For me it is, at present, clearly not desirable to remain as I am, a member of Jinja Club. I hereby end my membership as per end of today. 2. I have no other personal interests or claims. 3. Jinja Club is a small club that just manages to stay in existence with extremely low membership fees and and enormous bar debt load. Whatever some say, the club is a value to Ugandan golf. This is just an incident of misbehaviour of its present committee, if not even only its golf captain. It is in no golfer�s interest to further weaken the club. Today I have loaded details of both incidents, to the friend's department of my server. I regard you, Entebbe Golf Club and Uganda Golf Union as friends hence I give you the address: it is: [link to present page]. These details include the original page I was suspended for.  I suppressed that page in 2008 without feeling the need personally, or having been requested thereto, but as a courtesy to the committee that had suspended me. Yours Sincerely Bert hamminga P.O.Box 77 Jinja, Uganda

Summary: Jinja Club suspended a member for a "publication", but

• The club merely accidentally found, or was given by someone who merely accidentally found, a private, though unprotected file on an internet server.

• A member of the club's committee published the file's text on the club house wall without consent (a copyright infringement).

• The club's committee unilaterally judged "some information" in the text as  "false, incorrect, defamatory and damaging to the club image". That opinion is not generally shared.

• The club suspended a member for just writing something. Even if it had concerned a genuine publication, or even "false etc.", golf etiquette would have required more respect for freedom of expression.

• Then the club abandoned the suspension procedure half way by simply never fixing the term.

• Then, from the club, word got spread to other clubs that the suspended member was "not known" in the club

• Finally the golf captain spread word the suspended member was "not a member".
   

Update May 15, 2010: Today I played at Jinja club. After all, I am not a member anymore and suspension obviously is members only. While playing I heard that less than a month ago the Jinja club committee has changed and all senior members starring on the lines above have been replaced. Another senior member, I was told, had "fled", after a physical fight with the representative of Jinja Club sponsor Escom. Near the end of my game, I was approached in a rather shy way by a young man claiming he got sent to me with a message. I told him I would talk to him after finishing my game. Then, the message turned out to be that some "gentlemen" on the veranda wished to tell me I was not allowed to play and wished to talk to me. I answered they could come to my car now, but they should be a bit quick as we would be leaving soon. My shy young man took off to bring that answer to his clients. They did not come. I checked the faces: I could not positively identify any member of the present committee. They seemed to have hurried themselves to the club after being phoned about my presence on the course. I waved to them and invited them to come, but was at a rather rough tone summoned to the veranda. The noise changed into a decisively baboon-like barking when I ignored the summon. But no move. A younger loyal dared to come closer to me (even up to twenty meters!) to shout to me they were going to arrest me. I advised this forward caddy to inquire back at the tee box whether this was I wise thing to say. Amused, my flight drove off, while the veranda barking, still going on, made it seem we were leaving a zoo.

Update July 03, 2010: Applying for membership of Entebbe Golf Club I received this rejection:

First insisting I was not a member while I was; now I ceased to be: claiming I am! But the club does not mind letting me play and cash in on my guest fees. Suspension makes money!
I reacted to the Uganda Golf Union only:

Entebbe, July 3, 2010. To the Hon. President of the Uganda Golf Union Mr. ....   Dear Sir,   This is for your information only: In a letter dated June 24, 2010, c.c. UGU Entebbe Golf Club rejected my application for membership. EGC calls me a �member of Jinja Club�, where, it claims, I have �matters to resolve�. I am not a member of that club. I suspect the �matters to resolve� could be related to a letter c.c. UGU I was given to read several years ago, intended to be received by a person called �Mr. Bart Harmminga�, dated 14-08-2008, in which Jinja Club attempted to put the said person in what was written as �indefinate suspension�, but failed on several R&A-formal counts independently, including default of hearing. I decided I should not be member of Entebbe Club. Hope this is useful to you, remaining,

Update July 14, 2010: A man who considers himself targeted by the Jinja Club suspension of the nonexistent "Bart Harrminga", a Scottish national by the name of Bart Harrings, has come out in the open with a blog: Bart Harrings' Blog. Mr. Bart Harrings� Blog welcomes blog comments. His email: bartharrings@gmail.com