Australia as a Racist Country?

Australia as a racist country?

As I was reading the MX on the train before the nation’s widely celebrated day – Straya Day, I came across the CelebrityFx where American celebrities ambushed comments about Australians being the most racist’s people on earth. Now from my experience as a Chinese-born Australian, racism does exist but not to the point that it is very direct and up in the face remarks. But according to our international friends and foes, we are considered to be the ‘anus of the world’ (Jerry Seinfield). Why is it the case?

The bad image of us Aussies made me wonder about the comments and racially abusive events that happened in my life. I’d say not everyone here in Sydney are all racists people but there are a handful of those who does not understand the meaning of multi-cultural community we have in the 21^st century.

Early Racism events in Australia

Pauline Hanson, One Nation Policy

The early racism remarks sparked when Pauline Hanson introduced the While Australia legislation, many were offended – especially the Asian community about this ridiculous policy of our immigration systems. Surely there is something wrong with her.

The minority of such ethnic groups are becoming less powerful due to the way us Australians think of. For example, a woman wearing an abaya or a hijab is considered to be a ‘terrorist’ or a man wearing a hygiene mask in the streets is considered to be carrying SARS are a few racial comments I’ve heard in the streets of Sydney.

When people from the other parts of the world think of Australia, they think of irrational, racists white bogans who just drinks beer and wears budgy smugglers. This stereotyping of people are the same, when an Aussie sees an Asian or African person. Regardless, we can’t be labelled as that bad for being racists against other countries. I’m sure other countries do the same but within their own people.

People who make racists comments just wanted attention….maybe?

Even though Australia see themselves as believers in being multicultural and being diverse in race, this is contradicting as the social media is trying to persuade. Like for instance, where the girl that held an African themed 21^st party on her Facebook page was largely engulfed with remarks about her ignorance calling her a racist b****.

Australian Facebook user holding a her 21st African themed party.

But we have to understand that the intentions that these racist extremists are trying to do is attention. So to stir up some controversy that may affect a minority group, knowing that there are sensitive people out there, and some person might just give a racist comment for the whole world to see.

In this day and age, it depends how people see these racists comment. Sure we can use a few jokes about Chinese, Arabs, Indians, Africans and Europeans but in some cases you do have some people out there who just takes it at heart.

But in the end, comedians like Russell Peters or Danny Bhoy use racial jokes for fame and attention. And yet most people take them lightly. So why can’t we do that?

References:

MX Gloss & Glam, January 23^rd , 2014, p 12-13.

Rawsthorne, S. 2013, ‘Why does the world think Australia is racist’, The Guardian, 25 October, accessed on 29^th January, 2014 <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/25/why-does-the-world-think-australia-is-racist>

Russell Peters- Chinese, Indians, Jamaicans, Italians, 2008, YouTube video, nvscamb, January 21, accessed 30th January, 2014 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYiteaPBlz0>.

Waterland, R. 2013, ‘Australia: One of the most comfortably racists places I’ve ever been’, Mamamia, 18 April, accessed on 29^th January, 2014 <http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/john-oliver-australia-is-racist>.

Being a Corporate Global Citizen?

What makes a corporate global citizen?

Being a corporate global citizen is the ability for a company or organisation that is able to sustain communities, social, environmental, political and economic terms. There are factors in which a business entity must understand to provide socially and sustainable practice along with the ability to provide economic returns for their high end stakeholders. Such debated factors or issues surrounding the operations of an entity includes the environmental impacts which include carbon emissions, the social impacts such as human rights and equality for labours and many more. Therefore the factors that challenges an entity is a concern for the community, organisation as well as the government in how these entities will operate.

Are corporations doing the right thing as a global citizen?

Supporting global awareness is a key area in which businesses and large multinational corporations must incorporate in their objectives and mission statements. However, just being aware of global issues such as providing aid to third world countries or sponsoring an environmentally friendly campaign, does not do the job. As many know, governments are trying to incorporate tactics or shall we say, ‘taxing’ these multi-corporations for doing the wrong thing – but at the end, it is a fail to them.

For instance, when the Gillard Government started to enforce taxes on emissions, a huge controversy of the outgoing cost prices jumped to almost double for these companies. Many of Australian consumers felt a huge hit on the head when prices of consumables – even luxury items began to soar in early 2012. Even though redundancies being made to the people in the Australian economy, these big money making machines are emitting large volumes of carbon into the air regardless.

In all cases, what these multi-national companies are doing is just a way of trying to change the views of us people. Whether it be a program, environmental initiatives or political engagement, do we really think that they are doing the right thing? Unless proven via sighting what is actually written in the reports or in their operations, we can only judge by the information that is given to us – that is through annual reports or sustainable governance reports. Reports that have been reviewed by the head executives before it being published to the public to look good in the public eye may be a reason that not all companies are doing the right thing.

Who knows? I certainly can’t label these companies for being unethical or unreasonable in their operations. Maybe it is just the media that is trying to unfold the bad practices of such reputable business like the harsh working conditions in mainland China or excessive use of cheap labour in Sir Lanka or is it that the businesses are really putting their efforts to solve one area of sustainability and not the humanity of their resources? 

Bird Flu Craze

H7N9 bird flu at poultry market in Zhuji, Zhejing province.
Source: REUTERS, 7 News 17 January, 2014.

As I was reading the controversy news of our nature’s threat of the Avian Flu (H7N9), commonly known as the bird flu, I was really interested in how this outbreak has caused us humans to be infected from such virus. From progressive links on Google and some from World media news, I began to hunt down how the bird flu started and why is it a life threatening case for everyone around the globe.

How Avian Influenza is spread

According to Better Health Victoria (2014), this virus is carried by waters birds such as wild ducks. The virus is contained inside the bird’s intestines and is then distributed into the environment via bird faeces or ‘poo’. Domestic birds such as chicken and turkey are therefore affected by contact of this ‘poo’. Because of this, these domestic birds become ill, shedding feathers and vomiting which then is spread towards other surrounding birds that are clustered in the same pen or shelter. When humans come in contact with this bird, there is a high risk of infection within this bird flu.

Why the craze

According to the Seven News media reports and world news from the net, the bird flu craze began in the Republic of China where incidents of certain deaths and a record of three dead (according to World Health Organisation) – there is a high chance that this epidemic flu could be spread around the globe! But scientists say that these transmission of mutated viruses could not be easily spread from human to human as there is no evidence to prove this in the world today.

The most concern for me is that the poultry industry around the globe. Many poultry industries have shut down due to the ‘threat’ of this virus, limiting the world’s supply of protein and increasing the costs of poultry meat in our supermarkets in the short term.

H5N1 in South Korea, Culling and strict controls after ducks found to be affected by the virus.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald January 18, 2014.

Long term concerns

However in the long term, would our chickens be more genetically modified to meet the demands of our hungry nations for chicken? We are starting to see that scientists have been pumping up hormones to provide more meaty dishes. The reality is that these modified chickens would not taste as nice and silky in comparison to those free range and natural upbringing of chickens.

This would obviously become an issue for Animal Rights Activists seeking to demand a stop in these cruel modifications and yet cause another political debate on what is right for us.

How can we stop such spread of the flu? We can’t hunt down and kill all these wild birds – this is will become a war against humans and its mother nature. And a threat for our future generations who may miss the opportunity to understand and learn different kinds of species that existed in this world. Like the Dodo which has become extinct and now many other birds we see today are becoming extinct.

What can our society do to help nurture these wild animals and at the same time, populate more domestically fed poultry farms to avoid these virus from spreading around the globe?

Would the World Health Organisation set standards for the poultry industry to take measures of handling these birds in order to avoid future epidemic viruses?

These two questions are constantly being asked around the world in order to seek possible answers that will help us treat from the Bird Influenza and provide assurance in future that the virus would not be spread around the globe. What we see now in the News, can be something that our future generations can build possible solutions and treatments to end this craze.

Reference:

Belov T., 2014, ‘Nature’s Nightmare: Human infection with Avian Flu’,Pravda.ru, 20^th January, accessed on 19^th January, 2014, < http://english.pravda.ru/health/20-01-2014/126621-avian_flu-0/>.

Better Health Channel, 2014, State Government Department of Health Victoria, accessed on 19^th January, 2014, < http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Bird_flu>.

Kelland, K.,  2014, ‘Increasing toll of H7N9 bird flu demands constant vigilance’, 7News, 17 January, accessed on 20^th January, < http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/20830589/increasing-toll-of-h7n9-bird-flu-demands-constant-vigilance/>.

Thistleton,J.  2014, ‘Farmers say bird flu will affect free range’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 January, accessed on 20^th January, 2014 < http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/farmers-say-bird-flu-will-affect-free-range-20140112-30oqr.html>

LinkedIn around the globe.

LinkedIn image: The Associated Press 

LinkedIn as the largest professional networking site is now allowing users to search for volunteer positions in addition to professional paid jobs (Associated Press, 2013). As a long term user, I have been using the site as a way to connect not only to Australian employers but also other countries such as Hong Kong, Europe and America.

What I have found interesting is that now LinkedIn is providing a larger opportunity for those who would want some experience as a volunteer in non-profit organisations as global citizens. We can learn about the world from experiencing different workplaces, cultures and strengthening our knowledge in terms of what is happening around us that was once unknown or never been experienced. Volunteering in a way, allows global citizens to really experience about how the world works for instance, how charity funds are being processed to different countries through aid funds or how the Government can assist refugees find a better home to live in through their Immigration and Citizenship Departments.

As this networking site develops, I personally believe that LinkedIn has allowed direct communication with employers and employees to help me understand more about the people and the corporation itself. Instead of cold-calling or sending a resume and cover letters to the Human Resource managers, the application was just a piece of paper that did not offer a sense of familiarity, no sense of relationship being bridged between the job seeker and the employer. Now as at present, with this particular form of communication, we as global citizens or active global job seekers are being introduced with such technology that can allow us to learn more about the corporation and its culture just within a few clicks. Furthermore, information is being poured into our knowledge about what exactly are these corporations providing to our communities around the world.

The information provided to us are not only for job seekers to understand what the corporations are and what they do, but also the active participation through news and blog updates by these corporations. They educate both employed and unemployed about what is exactly happening. From processes of mergers or buy outs of another companies to updating on the latest technology for a greener work practice, the constant updates on LinkedIn educates us global citizens about matters that we cannot learn from the education system. Such valuable information from this primary source will help those future leaders to understand more about how the economy operates and what motives we should take to prevent any future issues such as environmental impacts or depleting human rights on child labour. I personally believe that this opened network really shows a lot about how companies can actively be global citizens through the engagement of blogging their activities or just communicating out to those who wishes to learn more about the company itself.

The Associated Press 2013, January 15^th 2014, LinkedIn adds volunteer marketplace to job sites, USA Today A Gannet Company, accessed 16^th January 2014, <http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/15/linkedin-volunteer-marketplace-jobs-site/4490853/>.

Week 6: Fireworks burns money

So after having a massive celebration of the New Years Day here in Sydney, I thought it was interesting to research on 2014 most brilliant fireworks display around the globe.
Dubai ranked as the Guinness world record to have spent US$6,000,000 to display a long six minute spectacular show on the world's tallest building- The Burj Khalifa.
With this hyped up fireworks display and good cheers to celebrate the  New Year, there always a downside to these celebrations. This reminded me of the picture posted on Facebook where the graphic illustrates that the Government has been 'wasting' its money on firework displays rather than investing money into those who suffer under the poverty line. The graphic shows a person in Africa who seems to lack in nutrition as the caption says 'while they are starving to death'... 'something is really wrong in this world'. This made me think about how globally educated some of the well developed cities are to use such investment for their own people to celebrate with happy cheers and not think about those who would have at least a home, or some food being sent to them as these people's new years resolution.
A lot of globally educated people don't see, is that there are way more people living in poverty and only a few percentage of us 'lucky ones' to have lived well in the developed countries or at least have a roof above our heads - and yet these countries are spending way more on silly fireworks that don't create value in human life.
If Dubai has the desire to attract expats or tourists to come and visit the country, would the six minute fireworks display be the trigger for them or would a long term investment in helping out third world countries be more touching to those around the globe? All in all, the answer is that capital is well spent if it looks good on the outside. The fireworks looks spectacular along with symphony around the Burj Khalifa is just the cover of a book. Once the displays are gone, the money spent will never be gained. And that's why the Dubai Government seems to have attracted many tourists around the globe to have set a world record of its New Years celebration- whilst the people who live in the poorer countries suffer more and more as less money has been spent on food, water, shelter and education for these people.
We do live in two very opposite worlds and that in my hope that by understanding and learning the differences between the rich and poor, will enable a bridge connecting about the global awareness of some situations that I do not get to experience with.



References:

ABC Net, Jan 2, 2014, 'Dubai 2014 fireworks display breaks world record: Guinness', 2013, accessed 9th January, 2014, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-01/dubai-2014-firework-display-breaks-world-record/5181456>.

Week 5: Some thoughts during the holidays

As I was watching ISAtv Asian Level Up with the Fung Bros, this was a particular cultural clash issue between how the Western and Chinese people celebrate the 'white Christmas' that made me write this blog post.

As the Fung Bros asked different people about how they celebrate the Christmas holidays, there were a few different traditions in which Americans and Asian Americans celebrate the day. A handful of Asian Americans claimed that they did not celebrate the traditional Christmas turkey or roast chicken whilst others that celebrate the day would go out to Chinese restaurants. This made me think whether the Christmas tradition has become more modernized within the different cultures- in terms of the food and idea of exchanging gifts.
Rather having Christmas in a Western family way, the answers seem to align with family gatherings that include Chinese, Vietnamese or Filipino food. Whether our cultures have clashed because Christmas day was not that important compared to the Lunar New Year. 
Of course, being raised by the traditional Asian family, there is always a pass on to the festive seasons to younger generations. Like in my family for example, Christmas is not a festive season for us. No presents exchanged, no family gatherings for dinner. So why don't we celebrate Christmas?  

Well as I’ve explained from above, Christmas is not important in the Chinese culture – particularly in my family. Although being raised in a Catholic school, I did celebrate Christmas as a belief that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and participated with the Christian way of going to Church back at school. In a way, the religious belief is not strong within the family.
However because I grew up in a Western society, with friends and relatives that are engaging with the festive season, there is a bit of exchanging gifts to bring in the festive mood. 

In conclusion, there is a little Christmas spirit within my family, however because of the religious beliefs and that the Christmas was not a tradition in our culture, our Christmas day was just another day.

How Do Asians Celebrate the Holidays? LEVEL: ASIAN Ep. 6, ISAtv, December 30,2013, accessed on 2^nd January, 2014, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-EGo8Ecqjw>.

Week 3: Perspectives of Globalisation

During my Global Citizenship class, we were assigned to a task where we articulate on the ten perspectives of globalisation. Here this one in particular allowed me to think about whether globalisation is in fact a negative trait in the development of economies.
 Referring back to my last post on the trade and how it affected the morals of slavery, this picture with the two hands being cuffed- a white male and a black male hand, could articulate on whether the 'united colors' does benefit the society as of today. The quote here says that

' We live in a global village, where people just like us engage in production and consumption to get the things they want and need. They may use different resources , foods and listen to different music. Nevertheless from American to Zimbabwe we rely on each other in one big global market place (imagine life without tulips from Holland, Cocoa from Africa and clothing and textiles from Asia).'

The key assumptions of globalisation as of today defines that our economy is made up of globalising the trade routes, production and even knowledge shared between the developed countries. We see that to gain niche markets or use of our scarce resources are due to the globalisation through free trade.

What we do not see in the practices of free trade are the misuse of power by multinational corporations and the misuse of 'free trade.' From my previous blogs, I mentioned about the ABC report on the Bangladesh clothing manufactures. The political debate about poor working conditions and the mistreatment of the mass labors had caused a huge gap between the developed and third world countries. We see that these corporation 'don't give a damn' about the scarcity of resources or the working conditions of the labors, it is all about profiting from our pockets when we purchase the branded clothing. This leads to me thinking about the powerless Governments or 'relaxed restrictions' on labour in some developing countries- like Bangladesh. If the Government does not intervene with such powerful corporations of course, there is such unjust conditions implemented into the lives of those who are struggling to earn such living. But if the Government intervenes, there would be no money inflow to that particular economy and such welfare for those who need it cannot even afford to access the basic needs of life.

Corporations are ruling the lives of those in these societies and therefore there is no way to stop them. It is all about the resources that these corporations hold that makes Governments stand back and provide whatever resources they have in the economy to produce the dollars.