Ellen's Post

Posting on behalf of Ellen: 

During my first week in Sydney, I noticed how the local cuisine is influenced by the large population of South Asian peoples that are also visibly very present in this city. Walking down the street in Sydney, it’s easy to notice the multitude of Asian-style restaurants, shops and markets. For an American, this isn’t necessarily unusual; having such a mix of cuisine options in a city is expected in our melting-pot of a country. What I noticed to be so different here is that the Asian restaurants are so varied in the countries they come from. While in America, we have endless Japanese, Chinese and “Asian fusion” places, Sydney has everything from Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Pilipino, Indonesian, Thai, and so on. It is this range and specificity of food origin that I found to be so different from America. This observance led to conclusions beyond the types of food Australian’s like to eat. It is also reflective of their culture because it reflects the countries that have influenced Australian norms, more than with cuisine but in regards to their own racial populations. It is through this that I began to seek out ways in which Australia’s geographic location influences its culture. By talking to some locals, I heard about the Chinese Garden of Friendship, located in Darling Harbor Australia. After further research, I learned this garden was a product of Australia’s 1988 Bicentenary celebrations—or 200-year celebration of the founding of Sydney in 1788— that honor the close bond between Australia and China. Initiated by Chinese communities present in Sydney, the garden was designed by Sydney’s “sister city” in China, Guangzhou in Guangdong Province. The garden embodies the Chinese values of life, energy and balance, incorporating “Yin-Yang” and the “five opposite elements” of water, metal, wood, earth and fire (“Chinese Garden of Friendship”). To me, this is a testament to the large population of Asian-Australians living in Sydney and the culture that they bring here to share can be seen all over. Moreover, we visited today the United States Consul General here in Sydney, and he talked at length about the important trade and business relations that Australia has with China and the surrounding islands. With such open proclamations about the positive relationship between Australia and its nearby Asian countries, I had to wonder if race relations inside Australian boarders are as good as they seem. In the United States, our people and our government over like to say all the positive things, reiterating ideas about race relations that we so much wish to be true but often, in reality, are not. Is it similar here in Australia with its immigrants and their families? Or does Australia have it figured out? The answer to these questions, however, requires a bit more research. According to Adrienne Millbank in her 1996 briefing on Asian immigration in Australia, the recent flux of immigrants from Asian countries is considered the “third wave” of immigrants to the area. The third wave started in the late 1970’s as refugees flocked to Australia following the Vietnam War. The number of Asian immigrants has grown dramatically since, and as of 1996 about 10% of the Australian population was of Asian descent. Millbank also brings up the growing unemployment rates for recently arrived Asian immigrants, as well as the decreasing moral and support of Australian citizens to continue allowing so many of these immigrants to live in Australia. Australian citizen opposition has largely been from the concern of unemployment if immigrants continue to come into the country. Though Millbank’s brief is over 20 years old, it set me up with a good background to dive into this issue more. I can only imagine how opposition may have intensified over the past two decades as the number of Asian immigrants has inevitably increased. As an America, this concern of immigration limiting jobs for citizens is not a new issue, but one that we have heard about repeatedly in regards to our immigrants specifically from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Over the next two weeks, I’ll be continuing my own research as well as trying to talk to Sydney locals to better understand the continuing Australian views of immigration and race relations—both positive and negative. 

Works Consulted
“Chinese Garden of Friendship.” Monument Australia, monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/landscape/settlement/display/101631-chinese-garden-of-friendship.
Millbank, Adrienne. “Asian Immigration,” Current Issues Brief 16 1996-97. Parliament of Australia, 
www.aph.gov.au/sitecore/content/Home/About_Parliment/Parlimentary_Department/Parlitmentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/CIB9697/97cib16