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An Aussie, too right Mate. But it's okay, I got better. Actually I'm a little unusual since I am 5 generations on both sides of the family. But even that pales (literally) with the 50,000-odd years of occupancy by the Aborigines. I also lived in Asia for nearly 5 years of my childhood. Australia is an extremely multi-cultural society. The European heritage of the settlers is well known, but also very significant is early contact with Asia. A great many Chinese came during the gold rush days, and contact including trade in the Northern end with Macasans (Indonesians) with Aborigines went on for thousands of years. Recently I was interviewing people for a job here, and it struck me that in the room with me were a Pakistani, a Dutch, a Vietnamese, and in my team of about 11, four are Indian (one Seikh). The growing number of Indians in the IT business is growing markedly. We have had rare incidents of race-related strife fueled, or tolerated by ignorant people, or those who think it gives them political advantage. This brings us some shame, but on balance it is a source of great pride that we have successfully built a rich and interesting society from all corners. We even think some people from Malaysia are okay! Endless rows of a single crop might offer interesting photo opportunities, but how dull a monoculture! That way lies the single minded self-reinforcing, sometimes self-deluding loss of opportunity. God knows as we pack more and more souls onto this overcrowded planet we have no choice but to live together and solve our common problems. So there. A long way of saying how much I agree with you. Except that one day I’ll visit you with my opinions about the existence of God. Or maybe just a good vegetarian curry. Mild. With beer. Cold beer. Yours…
Cherax · 2008-05-28: 18:05
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I look forward to a little tete-a-tete with you. I know some good veggie curry places here both the aussie cafe style variety and the roll your sleeves up banana-leaf kinda places. The only limitation with the latter is that oftentimes beer is not included in the deal. Happy to discuss God. By the way, have you read the Bible through?
WeeklyShots · 2008-05-29: 01:44
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I couldn't agree more : ) I can't even begin to talk about how I feel about racial tension and other racial b.s. that goes on in this oh-so-lovely country that I live in....sigh.
jenjung · 2008-05-29: 16:25
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Enjoyed this read , so sensibly right. Nice portrait
MUMMoira · 2008-05-30: 11:10
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