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JAKARTA
POST, 30 Januari 2013
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I remember arriving at Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney 30
years ago amid hysterical Italian-Australian women dressed in black, who were
waiting for the arrival of a relative and yelling out “Maria, Maria!” There
was hardly an Asian face in the crowd.
Back then, one was conscious of the segregation of those of English and Irish descent and those of Mediterranean origin. When I visited Sydney last December, the wave of Mediterranean immigrants had well and truly left its imprint on everyday Australian life. When visitors step out of the arrival hall, the smell of brewing coffee from the coffee stall fills the air. At the same time there are now many more Asian faces, not just as visitors but also in the crowds, awaiting the arrival of friends and relatives. In the 1970s only Mediterranean people drank coffee in Australia. The first wave of Australian settlers, the English and Irish, had drunk tea. Another influence brought about by the Mediterranean culture has been the use of garlic. The traditionally baked dinners of the English and Irish back then were devoid of garlic. For someone like me, coming from the Indonesian culinary tradition, eating without garlic was like just swallowing a meal and not worrying about taste. Yet today, looking at the vast number of restaurants and food stalls around Sydney, it seems that garlic farmers are the pulse of culinary Sydney. On a recent trip I watched a little blond girl standing in front of a Japanese food stall at Bondi Junction in Sydney. She was explaining to her elderly Anglo Saxon grandmother that it was safe to eat sushi. Her grandmother replied: “But it is raw fish and you will get a stomachache.” The little girl answered: “No, grandma, the whole of Japan eats sushi and they are all OK.” Old grandma shook her head and said: “It really needs to be cooked!” Nevertheless she pulled out a AUS$20 note to pay the Japanese seller. In a way this little girl sums up Australia’s historical multicultural journey. The tolerant, multicultural Australia has not always been there. The White Australia policy, which permitted only people from England and some European countries to remain in Australia, was revoked only in 1966. It was first implemented in 1850 when Australian miners clashed violently with Chinese rivals in Victoria and New South Wales. In 1901, the Australian government passed the Immigration Restriction Act, while former prime minister Curtin in 1941, during World War II, pronounced the philosophy of the White Australia policy. The Australian Census of 2011 shows that 26 percent of Australia’s people were born overseas and that they originated from more than 25 countries. Asians, as the last wave of immigrants, still account for only 9 percent of Australia’s population. Asian immigration remains a sore point with some as there are still a small number of conservative Australians who are worried about the threat of the so-called “yellow peril” from the north of Australia. Most of Southeast Asia, however, is also grappling with the growth of China up north as a superpower and with its economic domination in the region. It is not a uniquely Australian problem. There have always been Australian leaders who have stood fast, determined that Australia must be a tolerant country and insisting that the White Australia policy must not return. Australia does, however, still face challenges with its indigenous population, the Aborigines. Multicultural Australia has not managed to absorb them. Indonesia on the other hand, known to be multicultural and tolerant for centuries, is going through a stage in which this long tradition of tolerance is being tested. It was this tolerance that produced the national motto “Unity in Diversity”. Yet it also produced a diversity in unity, a crucial part of the consolidation of Indonesia in 1945 when the Republic of Indonesia was declared. It is ironic that it was the authoritarian New Order period that insisted we all be tolerant of each other, respecting our differences in culture, language and religion. It is worrying that incidents of intolerance, many leading to conflict, have been on the increase in Indonesia recently. I for one, having been based in Australia for 16 years as a Kompas correspondent, never thought I would find myself acknowledging the presence of a strong tradition of tolerance within Australian society. The reason for the change is simple. Australian leadership has been forced throughout the years to take a stand and advocate tolerance; those who advocated otherwise have lost in elections. There are still many issues that need to be addressed between Australia and its Asian neighbors. Perhaps the quality of political communication still needs fine tuning. A change of government in Australia usually means that the incoming government needs time to get acquainted with the right “Asia literate” language. It does not come naturally. But people-to-people relations between Australia and its Asian neighbors have been going from strength to strength. An important sign was the way in which Australians and Balinese dealt with the tragedy of the Bali bombing. It was an important learning process for both Australia and Indonesia as it acknowledged that the threat of terrorism was a global problem and a threat to mankind everywhere. Sane and peaceful people should always band together, no matter what their race or religion might be. ● |
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