Racism in this country

I know that most of my blog post has always been very me-centred ~ after all, the purpose of my blogs has been in part to be like a diary of sorts - a place for me to pen down my thoughts for the moment and perhaps when I am much much older, a place for me to come back to and reflect on what has been said.

This is my first ever post of a somewhat political nature and is a result of the recent spate of incidences in the country that the media are portraying as racial or hate inspired.

It is because of this

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AFTER INDIANS, SRI LANKAN STUDENTS ATTACKED IN AUSTRALIA
Fri at 5:54pm


MELBOURNE, June 12 (NNN-PTI): After Indians, a group of students from Sri Lanka have been allegedly attacked in Australia, with three men smashing the windows of their home and taunting them with "racist insults" in capital Canberra.
Police are investigating allegations of attacks against a group of Sri Lankan students at their home, ABC News reported.

It is alleged that three men smashed the front windows of the students' house in Macquarie in north Canberra after an unsuccessful attempt to crash a party.

The students said a car window has also been broken and that they have been taunted with "racist insults".

One of the students, Dijula Wijesuriya, said he has been threatened with a knife. "This guy comes up and takes out a knife and says 'get out of our streets'," he said.

Wijesuriya said they have been living in fear, especially considering the recent violence against Indian students in Sydney and Melbourne.

"We really didn't go anywhere else, we just stayed at home, just go to uni and come back home straight away and lock the doors and stay inside." India Australia Association of Canberra president Madhu Kalia said she is surprised by the incidents.

"So far Canberra, it has been alright, there have been no attacks on students," she said.

Police said they have investigated several incidents but have not received any reports that they have been racially motivated.

-NNN-PTI

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My 2 cents worth is that - They, the attackers most prob mistook the Sri Lankan students as Indians.

From a non-bias opinion tho, the whole thing has been blown out of proportion. Racism is prevalent in every country.

The funny part is, Australia is a country of migrants. the most recent case of a spat was between the Lebanese Aussies - and the Indians. And all these cries to get the Indians out cause they are not assimilating. Well, there are heaps of Italian and Greek Aussies esp of the older generation that still can't speak decent english.

Assimilation? But of course! It IS however an easier said thing that done. One catch-cry commonly heard here is "If you don't like it, then leave" - doesn't this sound familiar? Hell yeah! We hear it often enough in countries that "pride" itself in its multi-cultralism. Any country that has at one point encouraged or encourages migration is bound to have this problem. The issue is, how deep does this racism and ignorance go to?


And at the end of the day, if all these migrants left Australia - whose left? This is a convict nation .. Get rid of the English, Greeks, Italians, Russians, Chinese, South Americans, South Africans etc migrants and whose left?

On a more personal note, I've not felt any tinge of racism and if I am to compare Australia and Malaysia, well..lets just not go there shall we.

*bleh* update

This issue from work has really spoilt my weekend.

Even picking the Top 2 winners from yday's Caulfield Cup did nothing to cheer me up *yes - it was a facade - that update I had on FB*

The ppl have spoken. Malaysia elections 2008

I really did not want to do a post about the Malaysian election as I was disheartened and discontent. One of the key reasons? Malaysian citizens not residing in the country are lawfully not allowed to exercise their rights. Yes, I checked. As soon as I heard that it was elections time again, I checked at the embassy and later from Wisma Putra

In short,

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REGISTRATION OF VOTERS

Registration of voters for Malaysians abroad is divided into two categories:

• Postal Voters / Absent Voters consisting of:·

Armed forces that are in service.·

Government Personnel (Federal Government, States Service or local authorities) who are in service abroad.·

Individuals studying full time abroad (only if they are sponsored by the Government).· Spouses to the list above.

• Normal Voters·

Comprising of Malaysian Citizen other than sated above.

Registeration of voters for Malaysians abroad is divided. When the time comes for election, normal voters need to return to Malaysia to cates their votes based on the area they are registered in.

*****************************

What Bullsh!t. Is this democracy? Yet another strategy to manipulate the outcome. Typical Govt propaganda -afraid of loosing power as Malaysians abroad (unless they are Govt officials or students (unless Govt sponsored, not private students) are deemed to susceptible to "outside" influences or are indebted to the Govt.

Don't get me wrong here now though. I DID exercise my rights during the last election as I was fortunately in the country and I did vote for the BN coalition. But seeing how the country is going to the dogs and the injustices and corruption all over, one but feels somewhat defeated esp as Malaysians have always had this lackadaisical "Tidak Apa" attitude when it comes to anything political. More "We'll let the other person do the work" than the "My vote sends a message".

Why am I *finally* putting up a post election blog? My daily reads of the Malaysian dailies and the results are in. No 2/3 majority and a massive 4 state control loss + 1 retain control win. Some of the major "stalwarts" in politics have been defeated by freshfaces. Some of the biggest heads has rolled.

The ppl are speaking in volumes.