With cynical intent, this article questions the federal
government's desire that applicants for citizenship should display (not
necessarily uphold) Australia's national ethos.
Non-English speakers had to know about one of the icons of cricket, a
game not exactly popular with people outside the British Commonwealth of
Nations.
Previously, Australian citizenship meant a commitment to
Australia, its constitutional and other institutions, and its social values (if
not mores) in exchange for protection by the sovereign state of Australia. The
recently permitted dual citizenship allowed Australians to rush off to fight
wars on behalf of the nations of their ancestors. A bifurcated allegiance? Two
passports? What did Australian citizenship offer? Return entry to Australia at
no financial cost, and protection from deportation are obvious benefits.
Seeking cultural modification after allowing immigration
entry to people without regard to their capacity to integrate (no, not
assimilate, which is an out-dated concept) into a multicultural nation; and
being confronted with requests for the nation to be changed to suit the immigrants'
ancestral culture (not vice versa), is akin to trying to tame the Tatars after
they had been granted entry to the city.
Successful migrant
settlement
This article deals more constructively with the issues of
desirable cultural adaptation and integration into the host nation. This article sets out in an analytical manner the benefits of appropriate cultural modifications after migration, against a likely diminution of access to the equal opportunity offered by the host nation were inherited cultural stances sought to be retained unaltered. In any event, the migrant will soon find that the people 'back home' are also changing their cultural stances, even as his own children and (subsequently) grandchildren lead to a fusion of cultures.
Ethnic diversity vs.
Multiculturalism
This article challenges the role and effectiveness of
official attempts to impose policies (multicultural policies) on inter-cultural relations. The author advocates evolution not
imposition; habituation with mutual tolerance; the never-denied (or limited)
right of people in Australia to practice freely those of their cultural
traditions which are not inconsistent with Australia's institutional structures
and social values; mainstreaming of necessary services (not parallel ethnic
service structures); and constraints to official ethnic empowering.
The author points out that all residents in Australia are free to pray as they wish, to cook and eat their traditional foods, dress as they wish, and celebrate their festivals as they wish. They are, however, required to respect the cultural values and practices of other ethnic communities. They are also required to give away unacceptable traditional practices such as clitoridectomy, spitting in the street, and such like.
The duality of
detachment
Highlights the following detachments:
·
The traditionally recommended spiritual
detachment of Hindus who have completed their family and other socio-legal
obligations;
·
The almost osmotic detachment of immigrants from some aspects of their
ancestral culture;
·
The evolving detachment of successive
generations of Australians from some of the obligations and traditions of the
first generation Australians (the immigrants);
·
The encroaching societal deterioration of
sectors of the nations of the Ultra-West.
These are the nations created by immigrants who are detached from the
tribal communitarianism of their
antecedents.
A needed unity from a
recent diversity
This article asks when the visual signifiers of cultural difference (usually clothing) will be
discarded voluntarily. Does not the
assertion of cultural difference often imply a claim to cultural superiority?
Will three generations of life in Australia be enough to enable the evolution of one
people from diverse ethno-cultural origins?
Where the priests and politicians have not imposed barriers, have not
the youth of Australia come to see themselves as one people?
New national icons
from a revised national identity
Slightly tongue in cheek, this article effectively asks: since a very substantial number of immigrants
from a wide range of cultural origins, and their descendants, have shaped Australia
for the better, and have thus achieved a superior national identity which has
taken its rightful place internationally, will they be permitted to contribute
to choosing the new national icons? Are
a highway man, a cross-dressing entertainer, or a sportsman the ideal icons for
the Australia of today, the author asks.
In any event, newl icons should not be a threat. The resulting palimpsest should not obliterate
the historical icons.
B)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
'Transitional
Cultures' by Arasa. Published in an
anthology 'Culture is ... . Australian stories across cultures'
This article is partly historical, partly analytical. The historical part throws a spotlight on
some of the people the author met in his early years in Australia, and some
interesting experiences and observations.
The latter part offers comment on part of his wide work experiences in
migrant settlement, and on some issues relating to cultural integration.
OTHER ARTICLES
a) 'Early cross-cultural shocks: Asians in Australia.' An unpublished address to Australian History
students at Wollongong University.
The author was one of the few early post war students from
Asia. The bilateral shocks were obvious,
except that the Asians the author knew were effectively unscratched by the display of racist
attitudes and racist discrimination in shops, other public places and when seeking
private accommodation. Street abuse was
not uncommon.
The history student audience was reminded that the
generation of Australians met by the author was of their grandparents'
generation. The value of the talk was
partly historical, partly an acknowledgement that race relations had improved
spectacularly. The author concluded that the nation's future progress in the international
sphere is in the hands of the students and their cohorts everywhere.
b) 'The Aussie Family of Mankind' This was a brief submission to the Race Relations
Commission.
Here the author seeks to emphasise the differences between
racist attitudes and racist behaviour, that is, behaviour that is
discriminatory. He also warns that not
all discriminatory behaviour is racist or even tribal or cultural in intent.
c) In 'Asia Sentinel' (Electronic media covering all Asia)
'Australia's Immigration Dilemma' and 'Australia's Asylum Dilemma'. These articles discuss the policy issues.
d) In 'Malaysian Insider' and 2 other internet sites
'Racism & tribalism'. Shows the progress of the previously racist white Australia to a successful cosmopolitan multicultural nation. It identifies, as well, the first claim by any immigrant community to have one of the host nation's institutions amended - to include sharia law.
e) In www.ezinearticles.com See page 2 for details.
