On Camden, Australia

I died when I heard this on the news.

People in Camden, New South Wales, have come out in full force protesting against the construction of an Islamic school on the fringes of the town because it will “change the character of the town”. In one particular open-air town meeting, people vented their anger against Muslims, uttering unbelievably uninformed and frankly bigoted remarks:

“Why hasn’t anyone got any guts? They’ve got terrorists amongst ‘em… They want to be here so they can go and hide in all the farm houses… This town has every nationality… but Muslims do not fit in this town. We are Aussies, OK.”

And then there are people claiming that these complaints are clearly based on town planning grounds:

“I have said all along that this is an issue that’s not a religious issue, it’s not a nationalistic issue. It’s an issue to be based on planning.” – Chris Patterson, Mayor of Camden

“This is not a nationalistic issue, it’s not a religious issue, it’s a planning issue, and it will be addressed on those merits.” – Chris Patterson, Mayor of Camden

First of all, Muslims are practitioners of Islam, which is a religion. The word “Muslim” does not designate a person of being a particular nationality, it simply designates a person as a practitioner of Islam. Secondly, how can this issue be based solely on “planning” grounds when the people clearly against it are simply anti-Muslim?

Did it really have to matter whether it was an Islamic school or another type of school being built there? I mean, don’t Australians (regardless of whether they are Muslim or not) have the right to educate their children wherever they want them to be educated?

I lived in Australia for two years, and for a country that advertises prides itself on being “multicultural”, I’m very disappointed. Yeah, there were a few times where I encountered racism during my stay there, but overall I perceived (and continue to perceive) Australians as friendly people – not bigots like the people of Camden. Yeah, I called them bigots. Sorry, I know its wrong to generalize all the people of Camden as bigots, but honestly I really can’t restrain myself right now – if the issue of building an Islamic school in Camden was being debated solely on “planning” grounds, why were a significant portion of its residents getting angry of “being taken over” by Muslims and wearing hats saying “No to Islamic immigration”?

I hate to say it, but in a way I’m glad I’m not moving back to Australia. Clearly racism has become an issue in Australia.

Sources: BBC and Sydney Morning Herald

The lost man

Everyday I travel to school by car. I leave the house between 6:50 and 7 am. It usually took between 10 to 15 minutes to get to campus – depending on traffic conditions. I’ve been sleeping through my morning car rides the last few months, but whenever I’m awake enough, I always look out the window, observing the hustle-bustle, commotion and chaos of the morning rush hour.

Every few months – sometimes weeks – I see a man just walking aimlessly. I’m not talking about any man walking around aimlessly, it’s the same man. The last time I saw him was around August of last year (I think). He has an unkempt beard, he carries a light backpack that looks as though there’s hardly anything in it. Every time I see him from my car window, he’s always wearing the same thing: a blue shirt and pants. And I usually see him at around the same area, on the route going to school. But one time I saw him walking outside of the mall, which was odd.

At first I thought seeing this man from my car window every now and again was funny, but as time passed my insides churned every time I saw him. He always had that same expression of being lost on his face, as if all he could do was just walk with his backpack, and occasionally smoke (yeah, I saw him smoking one time. I caught this tiny detail during a traffic jam, caused by the rainy season last year). Whenever he walked, he would always be looking down, but then he’d look up, side-to-side for a few moments while still walking, and then go back to looking down on the ground again (this I observed during a traffic jam, caused by someone who decided to park their car in the middle of the road). It’s almost scary, how I remember his face, and how every time I look out into the window of my car, I don’t seem to notice anyone else – people who walked to the local school everyday, commuters who waited for the bus there everyday – but I always seem to spot him out of the crowd. Perhaps he’s meant to be a sign, a recurring image, or a warning of some sort.

Lately, I haven’t seen this homeless man. Maybe it’s because I’ve been sleeping on my way to school every morning.