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http://www.thepunch.com.au/artic ... bout-australia-day/ 7号台Sunrise 主持人Koch写的文章，不错。但是我更爱看的还是那260条回复。 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 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, 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 |
