I hate blonde-haired, blue-eyed yobbos prancing about in the Australian flag who intimidate people who don’t look like them.
I hate the drunk bloke who told me in Chinatown the other night that I
had the personality of a rubber glove (fair enough, that’s his view)
but then turns to my Sri Lankan-born son-in-law and says the problem
with this country is “the coloureds”.
You know how you can sometimes
be haunted by your inaction? I have been ever since. Because I was so
gobsmacked by the comment I said nothing as he walked away.
I wish I’d told this ignorant bastard that he was an arrogant
so-and-so and that if the truth be known we’re all migrants to this
country.
I wish I’d said that he should be
unsecured loans grateful that by the Grace of God
he was born in this country and not in Iran or Afghanistan or wherever.
But I didn’t. And I will always carry that shame of a lost opportunity.
You may think it was such a little thing that I shouldn’t worry so much about it. CJ didn’t seem to worry. But I do.
Australia has such a wonderful history of multiculturalism which we,
generally, seem to have got right when compared with what happens in the
rest of the world.
But there are still pockets of bigoted, supremacist views.
This Australia Day, let’s not politely ignore derogatory race-related
comments from friends and relatives.
One of my proudest moments as a Dad was when my eldest daughter, as a
teenager, stood up to an older relative’s constant racial jibes. Up
till then we’d all just uncomfortably laughed them off.
But when Sam told them she found the comments unacceptable, it gave
the rest of the family the confidence to support her view and it made a
difference.
I reckon on Australia Day it’s important we all take a similar stance.
Here’s a suggestion. Give a copy of comedian Anh Do’s biography, The Happiest Refugee
as an Australian Day present to a narrow-minded friend or relative.
Ahn Do makes me laugh - a lot.
I’ve read
The Happiest Refugee. I laughed out loud while reading it… and I cried.
The face of Australia is changing, just as it did when Anglo Saxons
started coming out, and again after World War 2 when there was a big
intake of Southern European migrants.
Just look at your kid’s classroom and the number of children from an
Asian heritage. Most of them born here and have broad Aussie accents.
Just as many people know the story of their First Fleet ancestors or,
as in my case, of the Germans who came to South Australia under the
Wakefield Scheme
bad credit loans ,
The Happiest Refugee tells a similar story, but of a Vietnamese refugee.
I had so many laughs reading this book. The warmth just embraces you.
But the overriding lesson for me was the love Anh and his family have for Australia.
It made me guilty that I take Australia for granted. I love this
country but, by comparison, I just don’t understand how good it is.
The passion, the thanks, the love this family of refugees (and I
suspect most other refugees) have for this country is so sincere and
moving.
And look at what the Do family has produced.
Anh is an actor and comedian who’s starred in plenty of Australian movies and TV shows.
His brother, Khoa, was 2005’s Young Australian of the Year,
recognised for his “leadership, compassion, and will to inspire and
inform Australians on issues that affect our community”. He’s an actor
and writer.
Then there are all the other great
Australians who came to this country as refugees and don’t have blonde hair and blue eyes.
I’ve come up with a few - but help me out. Add to my list.
Frank Lowy
Australia’s richest man, founder and largest shareholder of the world’s
biggest shopping centre owner, Westfield. Lowy was born in
Czechoslovakia, and lived in Budapest, Hungary during World War II. In
1952, Lowy left Israel and joined his family, who had left Europe for
Australia and started a business delivering small goods.
Tan Le
1998 Young Australian of the Year and voted one of
Australia’s 30 most
successful Women Under 30. A very successful entrepreneur who arrived
from Vietnam as a refugee in 1982.
Les Murray
Australia’s Mr Football, the number one man when it comes to soccer.
Host of The World Game on SBS and inducted into the FFA’s Hall Of Fame.
Hungarian refugee who arrived in Australia and spent time at Bonegilla
Migrant Camp near Wodonga.
Majak Daw
Recruited last year to North Melbourne at the age of 18. First Sudanese
Australian to be drafted into the AFL. Fled the Sudanese Civil War to
Egypt, then finally made it to Australia.
Gustav Nossal
Born in Bad Ischl, in Austria. Because his father was Jewish, the Nossal
family left Vienna for Australia when he was eight. He went on to
become a world-renowned research biologist and was Australian of the
year in 2000.
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Dr Karl was born in Sweden to Polish refugee parents from European
concentration camps. His father had been a member of the Polish
resistance and was imprisoned in Russian jails and German concentration
camps. The family migrated to Australia when Karl was two. He is a
prominent scientist, medical doctor and television and radio presenter.
Huy Truong
One of Australia’s leading entrepreneurs. After arriving from Vietnam
aged seven with just the clothes on his back, he has built dot-com
company Wishlist, turned around and sold a large company, managed fast
growing company Jurlique, and launched a fund to invest in small and
medium businesses.
