Stupidity and Racism Go Hand in Hand

Melbourne has been witnessing a sickening spate of attacks targeted towards Indian nationals, the latest involving a man who was bashed unconscious while walking home from a train station in St Albans and cars belonging to students torched outside their home in Springvale. The government has been quick to manoeuvre a public relations strategy to control the damage on the lucrative international students’ market, up there among Australia’s biggest export earners besides coal and metals. Australian leaders could have shown more concern by perhaps visiting the injured students at hospital, or having roundtable discussions with student leaders, but no, export revenue comes first and so they spent more time assuring prospective Indian students that Australia is still safe.

The police meanwhile, fending off accusations of indifference towards the attacks, have religiously maintained that the crimes are largely “opportunistic”, rather than racially-motivated. This despite the fact that only Indian students seem to be so consistently robbed and punched and threatened and stabbed over the past month. Thankfully, the Victorian Attorney-General has used the occasion to expedite the creation of hate-crime laws which would cover harassments based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. It is quite clear that the legislation is aimed at preventing attacks against any race, so it came as a bit of a surprise when a concerned Don Bruce of Watsonia sent a letter to the The Age (June 4, 2009) claiming that “your hate crime legislation seems to cover everyone except white Anglo-Saxon males, Rob Hulls. Apparently my safety and that of my son is considered to be of less importance”.

The wording of the proposed legislation made public so far goes along the lines of “”hatred for or a prejudice against a particular group of people”; it doesn’t actually highlight any race, so how is it that this legislation would not cover white Anglo-Saxon males? One gets the impression this particular Don Bruce is feeling a bit left out from all the media attention and public sympathy the Indian victims are getting. I could almost hear him cry “Oh poor me and my white Anglo-Saxon heritage! Take pity on me!”

And there has been widespread condemnation of those attacks by Victorian politicians, from both left and right, as well as the general Victorian public. The state has a long and proud history of multiculturalism and while there is an undercurrent of racism in Australian society, it is not unique to the country alone. What is interesting is that a significant portion of criticism hurled towards Indian students – while they are being the target of attacks – come from Indians themselves. They are usually Indian Australians hailing from upper middle class backgrounds who perhaps, through their criticism, wish to reaffirm that they are distinctly different (read: better) than their foreign counterparts. One Rahul Kapadia, from the millionaire’s suburb of Toorak, wrote in (June 7, 2009) to blame Indian students for the attacks, due to “their loud talking habits, lack of etiquette and lack of courtesy to fellow passengers, coupled with loudly playing iPods and shoving themselves into trains and trams in a “me first” attempt”.

I don’t know how much of it is true and how much is simply his own distorted stereotype of Indian nationals, but that can hardly justify the senseless bashings and stabbings being committed against them. The rude behaviour that Rahul lists could easily be ascribed to anyone in Australia, not just Indians. He further declares that “when such students, who also flaunt their wealth by wearing gold chains around their necks, decide to walk from desolate stations at odd hours in the early morning, hoodlums would attack such people regardless of whether they are Indian or not”. That’s not true. The closest thing to bling I see Indians sport are religious gold chains; they’re not flaunting their wealth, they’re affirming their faith. And no, they are not choosing to walk from desolate outer suburb train stations at odd hours in the early morning, they are forced to because that’s the only work shifts they can afford to do without clashing with their classes. But I wouldn’t expect Rahul from Toorak to understand the circumstances faced by people living without the luxury of private automobiles and an inner-city address.

Malaysian Gets Costly Lesson on Proper Wages

Malaysia’s The Star daily today featured a report on a restaurant owner who has been fined by the Melbourne Magistrate’s court for underpaying his employees. Hong Poh Meng, owner of Penang Kayu Nasi Kandar Ltd which operates a restaurant here, Kayu@Boxhill, was fined A$180,000 for breaching 11 Australian work place laws. These include paying a chef brought over from Malaysia less than A$10,000 over 18 months, which amounts to a staggering underpayment of A$76,000 or less than 12% of the minimum amount the man was entitled to. In addition, two 19-year-old casual waitresses were underpaid A$4876 and A$899.

Among the Malaysian international student community here there is widespread perception that Asian employers, including Malaysians, will generally underpay their workers, and the working conditions will not be as hospitable as would be expected in businesses run by Australians. However, for many students they have little choice but to endure those conditions because 1) they need the money; 2) many restaurants in the Melbourne CBD are run by Asian employers; 3) the students are not able to meet the language expectations of Australian proprietors.

I was fortunate enough to work for an Australian food business during my student days that paid above the minimum rate and provided excellent working conditions for its staff. My experience should not be the exception, rather the standard for the food service industry in a country as prosperous as Australia. Hopefully this court outcome will serve as a reminder to other businesses to treat their employees with the respect they deserve.

Celebrating Water (What’s Left of It) in Melbourne

March marks the end of what has been an extremely hot summer in Melbourne, and the city traditionally farewells the scorching season with a festival celebrating water, called the Moomba Festival. It’s quite different from conventional notions of ‘celebration’ where tonnes of the stuff would be carelessly used in lush abundance, such as the tomato-throwing parade in Spain. No, with a water storage level hovering at a mere 30%, the Moomba festival has taken on more serious themes like water conservation and the importance of using less and less.

Rain is such a rarity in Melbourne that everytime there’s a downpour, it’ll be on the 6 o’clock news headlines. “Melbourne awash with rain”, “Welcome shower for drought-stricken Melburnians” blurts out the newscasters with undisguised tones of joy. Because there’s not much you can do with water that’s not there, the water activities in the Moomba festival is mainly limited to water skiing type shows on the river Yarra that snakes through the city. The other drawcards are mostly wholesome family fun activities such as fun fairs, rides and a parade along the city’s main thoroughfare which is more community-minded than spectacular.

This year in an effort to make the festival more appealing to the younger crowds, a concert was held showcasing, we are led to believe, Australia’s hottest acts. I guess I blame myself for being naïve enough into thinking that a free concert could be any good. Having said that, many in the crowd appear to genuinely enjoy themselves, so it could be either they’re drunk or it just wasn’t my kind of music.

In early February a large slice of Victoria was ravaged by bushfires on a day where the mercury reached 45.6°C. It was a horrible day in the city where the strong winds made you feel like a giant hairdryer was being used to blow the Earth. I can’t imagine how it must’ve felt for the communities that were affected by the fierce fires. Many lives were lost and towns and houses completely ruined.

A huge concert was organised a few weeks later to build up funds for the fire relief effort. The photo above shows the weather on that day. How ironic that it ended up being the wettest day of the year so far. Weather-wise, Victoria is a most baffling place.

Melbourne has this lingering image as a wet, rainy city. This reputation is actually undeserved considering it now receives less rainfall than cities like Brisbane or Sydney which has often been seen as the sunny cities of Australia. I suspect the culprits behind this fraud are Melburnians themselves, who wish to cling on to Melbourne’s image as the most European of Australia’s cities by evoking memories of dark grey clouds and suited up city workers sheltering under uniform black umbrellas. In any case, it was a relief to experience some dark comforting gloominess once in a while. The bright blue sky and sunkissed earth thing was starting to bring me down.

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