EnterTheVoid Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 If anyone is contemplating coming to Australia to study, to raise their family or like, I ask you not get spooked over isolated incidents and jump to hasty conclusions based on generalizations and pre concevied notions As an undergraduate student, I sympathsize with their position. Imagine, for a second being in their shoes. You are in a foreign land, all alone, no family, no friends, no money and no one there to comfort you in your time of need. In addition, imagine studying full time and working long night shifts flipping burgers in McDonalds, stacking coke bottles in your 24 hr convenience store and other menial low paying jobs, only to see whatever you've earned go to pay the basic necesseties such as groceries, bills, university fees etc. They really have it tough. As for living in Australia, Australia is a multi cultural society where people live together without any prejudices or animosity (to a large extent anyway). There is a large Indian community here and one is made to feel very welcome and in general, speaking from my experiences at least, there is sense of belonging. It is a lovely country and I for one, am greatful to the land, the opportunities it's provided, the quality of life etc. Truly a home away from home. To the Indian students who endured such a traumatic experience at the hands of these cowards, stay safe, those that you love, those that love you :rose: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipin Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Colonize Australia. Make it an indian colony. Come on guys :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fineleg Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 You should not stay in a place where you cant not have reasonable security for yourself and your family. You don't want to regret the decision later in your life. If racism exists and there is a general hatred against Indians in a certain section of the society, it will not go away anytime soon. May be the next generation of Australians will be better, but it will definitely not go away entirely from this generation. Police can ensure law and order to an extent. But an inebriated frustrated racist can attack anytime. If I was you, I would not make Australia my home. A hostile society (even if the hostility exists in a part of it) is not a place to raise a family. I tend to agree with Domaink. It seems like things are getting a bit out of hand there. Human psychology is such that people think that bad things happen to others and as far as possible "It wont happen to us", even if it gets a little too close for comfort. Domaink is right in suggesting that he would not want to regret later in life, of having not thought through it fully. This BS that officials say that "it is not racially motivated" suggests that they (police, officials etc) are not taking this seriously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DravidDaBest Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 There was so much noise and cry when somebody uttered a word monkey/maa Ki or few in the crowd immitated monkey. There were tons of articles on India, caste system, racism written in Aussie Media People are getting kicked, stabbed, mugged, killed and what not http://www.theage.com.au/national/train-gang-bashes-indian-student-20090511-azbq.html What does Aussie authorities do? Send a team To where? India Where did all this attacks happend? In Australia Go figure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macj Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Not a fan of Oz, know lot of ppl at work from Oz, they dont even mingle with White Americans let alone desis. I'd stick with the US anyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kumble_rocks Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Australia has always had chequered past when it comes to race relation. Having said that , few isolated incidents should not deter one from making any haste decision. Still remember "the dot buster" menace during the 80's in good old New Jersey. And what's the outcome, more Indians actually moved to the tri-state area. And the incidents in Australia is on the small scale to what MNS thugs are doing to North Indians in Mumbai ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macj Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Australia has always had chequered past when it comes to race relation. Having said that , few isolated incidents should not deter one from making any haste decision. Still remember "the dot buster" menace during the 80's in good old New Jersey. And what's the outcome, more Indians actually moved to the tri-state area. And the incidents in Australia is on the small scale to what MNS thugs are doing to North Indians in Mumbai ... Chequered is not a term i'd use to describe its history of race relations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikred Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Well there have been increased attacks on Indians in US too. About 7 murders, mostly students from AP, in less than a year. More than racially motivated I feel these people were victims due to lack of safety awareness. Unfortunately being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Two years back I visited my friend who was studying in Bridgeport, CT. That place was a ghetto, totally unsafe. He says they go out only in groups and each guy there has some personal story of mugging or assault. That place has many cases of attacks on Indians but still they have Indian students going there reason being it is one of the easiest universities to get into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipin Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Australia's racial demography is changinf very speedily. The number of indians and chinese have gone up something like 10 times over the last 15 yearsaccording to a study that was published when i was in australia for my summer internship. Its a bit natural that the whites shall feel threatened and take out some pent up frustration against indians/chinese. If we stop going to australia or settling there becuse of it, the attacks shall have achieved their purpose. But than again its important to ensure personal safety and not totally overlook these things. There are ways to overcome it e.g. in canberra there are a few desi colonies where majority of population consists of desi migrants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4te Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 you can come to the US of A :woot::woot::woot: no, seriously, just go see the 2008 election map, and come to any blue state (or heavy blue areas in red states), and you will be fine :clap: this map: http://philhardwickblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/2008_election_map-counties.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macj Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Well there have been increased attacks on Indians in US too. About 7 murders, mostly students from AP, in less than a year. More than racially motivated I feel these people were victims due to lack of safety awareness. Unfortunately being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Two years back I visited my friend who was studying in Bridgeport, CT. That place was a ghetto, totally unsafe. He says they go out only in groups and each guy there has some personal story of mugging or assault. That place has many cases of attacks on Indians but still they have Indian students going there reason being it is one of the easiest universities to get into. Last I checked U of Bridgeport is blacklisted and only those students that cant get anywhere else choose it just to get an I20 and a US visa. New Indian students tend to want to get women or weed or something else of that sort, this is what takes them to those sort of neighborhoods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ram Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 In some parts of NJ and the Bay Area, I am pretty sure it is the Whites/Blacks who are going get attacked soon by Indians... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macj Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 A Mallu friend of mine is the only Desi I know who actually beat up a few Black guys who tried to mug him. Enormous chap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViruRulez Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Desi man, you cannot make a decision to leave or stay in a country based on some isolated incidents. Are these racially motivated attacks the handiwork of a few deranged, drunk individuals who have some sort of axe to grind against immigrants? Or are they a part of a definite pattern where immigrants are systematically targeted? If it is the latter, yes, you should probably consider moving away. If it is the former, you should stay (if you like staying in Australia that is... ) If it is security you’re worried bout, I’d say the best thing to do is to stay in a Western country. In all honesty, the threat to life from a few mental specimens is far lesser than the threat to life from terrorism in places like India. So, you’re better off in Aussie land itself. If you want to move to another Western country (US, UK), that’s a different issue altogether. I agree that a few incidents cannot be the judgement of Australia being safe or not.. but I completely disagree that threat to life from terrorism in India is high.. yes there was a few attacks but a lot more people died when 9/11 happened in US .. bhai India is completely safe except a few stray incidents.. I dont know but you may be saying about Pakistan as there are bomb attacks almost everyday there.. but there is no major terrorist threat in India as of now and it is completely wrong that it is unsafe in India Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graphic23 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 It is not whether statistics show India is unsafe relative to western countries. In India, I feel safe when I go for a walk to get something at 11:00 PM or 12:00 AM or even 1:00 AM. Ask me to do the same in Chicago, and I'll hesitate - I'd still go but I'd feel less secure. It is about my psychology being more important in judging whether one place is safer than another. In the US, there have been a number of attacks on Andhra Pradesh based students in the recent past (I can recall at least 10-15 times when I've read students getting killed, shot, stabbed, or died in a car accident). But I haven't felt more or less unsafe after reading about those incidents. Unlike macj's suggestion about weed-wanting or women-wanting that is leading to these deaths, what I feel is a much more plausible reasoning is that students who have been killed have been from relatively lower-middle-class families, who are looking for cheaper places to live. They are sacrificing safety for cost. I've been to a LOT of students' places (who have come from AP and meet the aforementioned requirements) and it is true that they live in really remote areas (away from the city, cheap studios/apartments in shady areas). Re: OP and desi, I think you would know best whether this is a newly developing phobia (due to the recession or whatever), or if it existed since you arrived in Australia. If you're thinking about the US, you'll still read frequent stories about Indian students dying due to murder here as well, but it depends on the area where you choose to live. Metropolitan Chicago, all of California, NYC/NJ, etc. have a high Indian population concentration, and it is unlikely that you'll have the same problems. (h4te's map is actually quite accurate in describing where the attacks have taken place, and where they haven't). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desi Cartman Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 I was talking about this with my wife yesterday and for us we probably will move to the US later or sooner since my brother lives there , good for our careers and it will be easier for our parents. Racism is one thing which has stopped me from feeling at home in Aus. Like I said in OP that I got attacked 4-5 years ago and since then I haven't been comfortable here. when I came here I had a phone which was worth $20 , I never had cash on me , I didnt have a laptop and I dont wear jewelery. Compare this to today's students and you would find that most of them have iphones , laptops , wear jewelery and above all they dont mind flashing it. Yes they work late and are often in unsafe situations , to make it worse they live in Bad neighborhoods. Most of these incidents have happened around footscray, around 7-8 years ago I was at my friends place for dinner in that area and I called a cab , it took more than 2 hrs for cab to arrive and when I asked the driver he said "No one wants to come to this suburb "... I always had a low profile as a student ... some of u might call me a loser but the first time I ever went to a disc in Aus was after finishing my course (yes 2 years after arriving in Melbourne). I used to work at a KFC in the city and I worked long and late hours but while on the tram/train I never felt threatened in those days. There is ofcourse some resentment since people believe that Indians are taking their jobs .. more and more Aussies are losing jobs everyday to Indians in Australia and in India. The reason being cost (offshore) and better training/exp/education for Indians in Aus. But according to me the biggest reason is that in Aus its ok to crack borderline racist jokes even at work. I dont know how is it in the US but here its ok to make fun of one's background openly. IMO the kids grow up watching their parents talk about other cultures and they pick it and hence u will see that some of these attacks were carried out by youngsters ... they then supress this hatred and it only comes out when they are drunk. They know that at work place they cant be rude or racist and hence it all comes out during cricket matches , bars , discs , trains , trams etc and this is what worries me the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rajiv Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Those skinheads still exist? Desi - you can't bring down entire population for bunch of fools - I mean its not that whites don't beat up whites, they don't get any attention. But if there was a %, AUS with sorta disconnected from the world so they maybe less resistant to immigrants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macj Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Those skinheads still exist? Desi - you can't bring down entire population for bunch of fools - I mean its not that whites don't beat up whites, they don't get any attention. But if there was a %, AUS with sorta disconnected from the world so they maybe less resistant to immigrants Popularized by the Russell Crowe movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shehezaada Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 desi, take care of yourself b. Pack some heat if you need to.....how are the gun laws in Aussie land? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rajiv Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Popularized by the Russell Crowe movie. Popularized in the 60's Britain, then amalgamated into Punk Rock Culture >> USA >> WAR ( White Aryan Resistance ) / KKK Objective: If you ain't white, yo ain't right Started from Middle Class kids who dress sense matched their working class daddy's ( steel boots = factory boots, clean shave = hair doesn't get stuck in machine, red suspenders = blue collar class ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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