Cultured Views

Is racism still alive in Australia…? first, show me a country in the world where it isn’t.

Wendy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:41:46 +0000

On Australia Day, January 26th, one of the worlds leading neurosurgeons Dr Charlie Teo will give the honorary speech and he will make the statement that ‘racism is still alive in Australia‘. Maybe it is to a degree Dr Teo – but so it is in all countries around the world. Australia is one of the most tolerant countries towards people of different cultures, which is why so many seek to live there. New citizens from abroad can practise their own faith, build their mosques, temples, shrines and synagogues alongside the Christian churches that are traditional in Australia. Dr Teo is descended from Chinese immigrants himself and has risen to become one of the most respected neurosurgeons in the country – has anyone refused his services because he is of Chinese origin…? I very much doubt it.

Racism exists everywhere; show me an India where light-skinned Indians are not considered better than dark-skinned Indians. Show me a China where Muslims are not persecuted for wanting to practise their faith. Show me parts of the USA where black-skinned Americans, Catholics and Jews are not looked down on by the bible-belt dwelling red-necks of the South. Show me a France where British people are not referred to disdainfully as ‘les rosbifs’. Show me a location in the Caribbean where white tourists are not killed on holiday for a few dollars and a wristwatch. Show me a Muslim-dominated region (there are plenty…) of the UK where white English females are not openly regarded as ‘white trash’ – show me a Lakemba or Hurstville in Sydney where the mindset of the growing middle-eastern population is any different.

Australians have lived with immigration for decades, we are used to migrants, however why is it becoming increasingly common for migrants now to want to change what they find when they arrive, and even demand that locals accommodate those changes…? and why should there not be some resentment about this…? that is not racism, that is simply indignation at ingratitude…and it’s justified. It’s the same everywhere Dr Teo – and in your ancestral China you need look no further for the worst of human rights abuses. Thanks to the opportunities of the country in which your parents chose, wisely, to raise you – and your fellow Australians who in their majority have treated you with respect and humanity – you are a successful, respected and wealthy man. It is easier to criticise what is closest to hand. Please don’t bite the hand that has fed – and continues – to feed you.

Every teenage boy needs a guitar…

Wendy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:13:22 +0000

My son had been wanting a guitar for several years and my being a musician meant I have been keen to encourage him in this. I always had the dream that out of my kids one of them would be a concert pianist, or a principal violinist with the Berlin Philharmonic someday…but of course only dreams as kids always have ideas of their own and I don’t believe in pushing them in directions they don’t wish to take.

So I bought him a guitar and have been searching for somewhere for him to take a course in acoustic guitar lessons so he can get a good grounding in the basics – theory is important. The cost of these lessons can be prohibitive but the benefits are many, I am a great believer in children having music lessons. So now I dream about having spawned the next John Williams, or Segovia…but he’s a long way from that right now!

The Costa Concordia – has ‘women and children first’ gone down with the ship?

Wendy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:48:07 +0000

It is interesting to read the accounts of how the evacuations from the Costa Concordia were conducted when it listed to one side off the coast of Italy. ‘Women and children first’…really? in this day and age are we honestly expecting men to stay and risk drowning so that women can be saved…? going by eye-witness accounts the truth is obvious. Equality reigns in survival situations if you ask any man. But to suggest that children not be given priority in an emergency situation is simply ridiculous – and of course if children are involved then their parents have to be involved with them. It is a hard one to call, especially if you have never been in such a situation yourself.

I only know that I would be desperate to see my family safe before myself. ‘Parents and children first’ should be the policy, there has to be some system in place because children would be the most vulnerable in the case of an emergency. It is not nice to read that adults were fighting each other to get onto the lifeboats but fear, and the over-riding sense of self-survival, is a natural instinct in all of us. Unless you’re a parent…then your child’s survival over-rides even your own.

RIP to those who did not make it.

Projects for 2012…

Wendy — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:45:57 +0000

I don’t make new years resolutions, cannot see the point, but I do believe in reflecting on aspects of life from the previous year and considering ways to improve on them throughout the new year. Last year was an ‘okay’ one for us – the kids did well at school and everyone stayed safe and well and that’s the most important thing to me.

Personally for me this year is going to be quite an academic one; I’m almost through the second module of my university degree and am really enjoying the subject…history of medicine. Things are rolling along well too with my first language module – German – and I have picked the lingo up quite easily and am even able to say things to my German daughter-in-law. I intend to follow this through to advanced level as I love the German language and find it fun to speak. Not sure at the moment what to do with the German with regards to a degree – this is my first language module – but I am sure I will find something to slot it into. I don’t intend to study anything other than German…certainly not French as I never enjoyed speaking that language when we lived there. As it is I am working towards a history degree, this year I will be studying the Enlightenment and Romanticism eras and they will go towards that, but would also like to slot in a music module. Too much choice for sure.

I’ve other avenues of interest that have been closed off for a few years that I wish to open again, but they depend on time-permitting. With the job, the module work and study, plus the family to look after I am running out of time to set aside. Oh yes…I intend to get to the hairdressers this year – if I can remember where I last went. Yep – it’s been that long!

So how was Xmas 2011 for you?

Wendy — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:19:23 +0000

Xmas 2011 was not an easy one financially for many families, that’s a fact. I think people are feeling the pinch these days and from speaking to friends the attitude was a common one – fewer gifts for the kids and extra careful with the shopping. I saw all the usual ‘christmas gifts for her‘ signs in the shops but I’d say it was as hard for the single men as it was for us mums and dads.

I really am going to make a bigger effort to put some cash away each month so that I am not into new next Xmas there will be extra to play around with. I know I say that every year but we all really have to plan ahead more seriously nowadays – it’s not fun knowing what you want to buy the kids and knowing you cannot really stretch the budget to cover it. I hope you all had a great Xmas anyway, it was a quiet one for us, but the really special part of it was just as good as ever…seeing the kids faces on Xmas day. No matter how hard things are you have to take pleasure in the simple things.