So our friend Pauline has made a comeback. I've been surprised (not really) at some of the things she has said so far.
Anyways, AMA!
[AMA] My Parents Were Refugees from SE Asia - Arrived in The 80's. AMA
Lsahh on 04/07/2016 - 21:40
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Surprised that she has more supporters that I thought and keen to understand their thought process.
THANKS! Been a historic lurker!
Older generations are far more likely to be less tolerant of immigrants for a plethora of reasons. This is by no means limited to Australians. I know for a fact that many Asian nationalities are head and tails racist beyond what you'll get here. Chinese people living in Malaysia, for example, despise Malays …
I wouldn't get too worked up over it (not saying you are) as it will blow over before the next remix hits YouTube.
It goes both ways. Malays "tolerate" the other races
What I'd take from this is "you're one of us" … we got your back.
If only everyone thought the same
Please be respectful of a fellow human being, "Sahh" is probably feeling a little down, and wanted to discuss it with us.
SE Asia? Are they from VN?
They were Chinese descent born in Cambodia, escaped to Vietnam and stayed there for 10 years before making their way to Australia
@Sahh, how are you mate?
How has life been for your parents integrating into Australia?
What languages do they speak fluently?
And what do they do for a living and contributions have they made to the country?I think it was tough in the beginning, not knowing much English trying to find a job etc. My dad ended up working at some sort of steel factory and my mum was a stay at home mum (but had odd jobs sewing clothes when clothes was still made in Australia). They are retired now.
Tbh financially, my parents probably claimed more social benefits than the tax they paid but I guess they contributed 3 working age and tax paying adults to society (i.e. my siblings and I).
Fluently I'd say Cantonese, Khmer and Vietnamese.
Thanks for answering.
That is a lot of languages. Is there any particular reason they are not fluent in English having come here in the 80s?They can get by but heavy accent, they got here in their late 30's and haven't made too many English speaking friends since they've been here.
I could take over this AMA! lol My parents and I came to Australia in 1980 from Cambodia via Thailand.
We also have a Chinese background.
Most Cambodian Chinese or Cambodian Chinese (whichever you prefer) speak Teochew (Chinese dialet) rather than Cantonese.
I 'speak' Teochew, not very well, however would prefer to know Cantonese as it's a more common language among the Chinese in Melbourne.
What do you tell people when they ask you where are you from? Sometimes I'm too lazy to explain all of the above so I just say Chinese haha
I say Cambodia of Chinese decent, but have been here since 1.
It's odd, I identify myself as Aussie, Chinese and Cambodian (in that order).
Life would be very different if we never left Indo-China.
Hi Sahh. I was telling my son the other day that lately the "Pauline" and the "Trump" seem to make a come back…..
I would say it would to be due to the perceived or otherwise crime and welfare issues with Muslim and African of late.
Benjamin Franklin once said “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
I found the quote quite interesting and googled it up. Not sure how a quote about land taxes (or as this author puts it: "effective self-government in the service of security as the very liberty it would be contemptible to trade"- https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-ben-franklin-really-said) has to do with refugees/migration.
@Blazecat:
Some politicians believed that's it is ok to build walls/ use covert surveillance on their citizens, put blanket ban on certain group of people (eg Muslim) in the name of "safety" for the general citizen/population , and Franklin (as I understand it) believe if you start scarifying these essential liberty in the name of "safety " , you deserve neither. (I was referring to the rise of Donald trump/Pauline Handson, not so much immigration per sec. )
Dumb question: what is AMA? (my first thought was Australian Medical Association lol). Ask me anything???
I thought it was American Marketing Association lol
LOL I think it's ask me anything - AMA
Be honest, were you true refugees or country hopping economic refugees? Why Australia? Just putting it out there.
Little history: between 1975 to 1979, almost 2 millions cambodian were slaughtered… so I can understand why people may want to get away from that hell hole (see the movie that were based on the real stories: "The Killing field") …. Vietnam has alway been an authoritarian communist country where religious/political views/belief were brutally suppressed…..things are a little better now…
Economic refugees…as a human being we obviously want to live in a safer/better place… a survival instinct I suppose.
True refugees, I was born here so I find it difficult to relate to the stories they tell me.
My parents were in a refugee camp in Thailand and pretty much accepted whatever country was offered.
I think the war back in the day was 'a war against communism' - that's why countries all over the world were (compared to now) so welcoming to refugees. They wanted to counteract Russia/China so heaps of countries took people so I now have relatives/family friends all over the world (e.g. America, France).
Yeah I got 98/100 for a maths test once, highest in the grade and my dad's like "what happened to the 2 marks?" facepalm
Is most of your family here or are they back in… (Cambodia, Vietnam etc)?
Most are actually in the US
Do you care what a backward bigot thinks or are you concerned that others share her sentiment?
edit: also Welcome to OzBargain