100 years ago
7 May 1925
LECTURE
A most interesting and instructive lecture, illustrated by magic lantern slides, was given to the Presbyterian school hall Dandenong. The title of the lecture was “A Factory in a Garden”, and the subject was the wonderful institutions of messrs Cadbury Bros, of cocoa fame. The firm has achieved in its co-operative methods. A strike has never been known there. A branch has been established at Claremont Tasmania where 600 workers are employed and where the whole process of manufacture from start to finish is carried on. The lecture was given without any charge, not so much for purposes of advertising as from pride in this industrial achievement.
50 years ago
8 May 1975
COMPUTER ‘FIRST’ HERE
Frank Facey Real Estate has installed a computer in its Dandenong offices to handle their listings and monthly statements. It has been installed to provide a better service for clients, and also cut down the workload for staff, taking a quarter of the time it used to take to do statements. The computer is believed to be the first of its kind to be working outside Melbourne in a real estate office. The firm’s property manager said the computer, an IBM ITT Data System Terminal, was used mainly in the field of property management. Its possibilities were almost limitless.
20 years ago
9 May 2005
$25m third-line study
The State Government allocated $25m for studies into the best ways of delivering a third train track between Dandenong and Caulfield in its budget announcement last week. It’s estimated that the overall project will cost $1 billion and take 10 years to complete and would require private and commercial land acquisitions, station upgrades and bridge reconstructions. Dandenong MP John Pandazopolous said the third track was needed to ease pressure on the Dandenong line which was “chock-a-block.” Liberal MP for Eumemmerring Province Gordon Rich-Phillips said it would make more sense to spend $25m on actual projects rather than studies.
5 years ago
5 May 2020
Loneliness of Covid class
In this Covid-19 world, students and schools are learning to adapt to the new solitude, say St John’s Regional College captains Tofy Jorisson and Aker Mawith. “I miss everything about school,” Tofy says of the remote-learning experience. From the comfort and privacy of his family home, he keeps in touch with teachers on the app Microsoft Teams – an interactive app that could become a “permanent” part of learning, he says. Of course, a big change is being estranged from friends – except through social media. Meanwhile, Aker enjoys the increased flexibility and adapting to new technology. But she also misses social interaction and one-on-one teaching. Teachers had also initially found it “very difficult to get our heads around” working from home. ICT learning systems leader Maria Nasioulas said: “During these unprecedented times the solitude of teaching and learning took us by surprise as our workplace is a busy and active one – routines, timetables and running around to rooms to teach our students.” She appreciates not travelling to work, but misses not being able to interact with students and colleagues.
Compiled by Dandenong & District Historical Society
