Anglo-Saxon culture to Diversity
Australian society began in the colonial era, with colonists not only from Britain, but also from other European countries to a lesser extent. However, the British naval presence in 1788 made these colonies the property of the British Crown, and they remain so to this day. Before the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, there were many Chinese settlers in Australia due to the Gold Rush. However, after the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia, the first immigration law was passed, requiring immigrants to pass an English language proficiency test, which opened up Australia to a predominantly British society. Australia then implemented the White Australia Policy. However, this policy was not based on skin color and race, but on language. Therefore, the discriminatory ethnic groups in Australian society at that time also included white Europeans who did not speak English. With the development of the society, Europeans who were culturally close to Britain but did not speak English, such as Greeks and Italians, were also accepted. These European immigrants lived in close proximity to the British culture, and it was not difficult for the second generation to integrate into the mainstream society, thus building the foundation of today’s white-dominated but respectful multicultural society in Australia.
As a result of the white Australia policy, Chinese and Pacific Islanders who originally spoke Chinese were excluded from Australia, resulting in Australia becoming a virtually British society before 1975. However, after the Second World War, due to the post-war reconstruction of Europe, immigrants from Europe gradually decreased, and with the British colonies around the world became independent, the number of young people from these emerging countries studying in Australia and immigrants increased. The Commonwealth’s Colombo Plan allowed African and Asian English speakers to stay in Australia, and the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 removed race as a factor in the selection of migrants.
Asian immigration increased in the 1980s, and today there are more Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, Nepalese and other Asian immigrants than there are traditional Greek, Italian or Eastern European immigrants, making Australia the most multicultural country in the world.
How Australians see themselves
Before the 1980s, when Australia’s population was not growing at a high rate each year, Australians did not have many opportunities to meet people of different ethnicities at school or in the community. As a result, older Australians nowadays, although accepting multiculturalism, seldom participate in community activities of different races and cultures. For them, they live in an English-speaking society with Western values, and their concerns are about Australia, the UK or the US and European world. Many of them are now in leadership or senior management positions in the society and community. They recognize that Australian society is not the same as it was when they were young, but they have little exposure to or understanding of multiculturalism.
Those who were born and grew up around the 1980s had the opportunity to meet immigrants from different parts of the world during their school years. Their interpersonal or social networks also include different ethnic groups, so most of them are open to multiculturalism, and they occasionally come into contact with and connect with it in their lives. However, they may not necessarily be enthusiastic about multiculturalism or hold a positive or valuing attitude towards it. As the society is moving towards accepting and respecting multiculturalism, they recognize that different ethnic groups should have the same opportunities to develop in the society, and they are willing to accept that different ethnic migrants are all Australians.
For those born after the 1990s, they have grown up in an Australia that is already quite diverse. They are also from a wide range of backgrounds, so they are more positive about diversity in Australia. They have a wide range of social networks and many of them have lived abroad, so they see Australia not necessarily as a British culture, but as a society that embraces cultural cohesion. This generation of Australians will play an important role in promoting the future development of a diverse Australia.
For these young people, Australian society is not an isolated continent, but can be connected to any country through the Internet. The social life around them provides them with opportunities to engage with the world. It is fair to say that they see Australia as a microcosm of the world, and Australians are uniquely placed to see themselves as living amongst the different peoples of the world.
Chinese immigrants after the 1990s
There were not a lot of Chinese immigrants to Australia before the 1980s as a large community as in today. These early migrants are now old and mostly retired. Their life experience in Australia and their English proficiency determines their different paths in integration. For those who did not speak English, many of them have lived in the Chinese community in Chinatown. For those who can communicate well in English, many of them are professionals and most of them will integrate into mainstream society. However, the Chinese who settled in Australia in the 1990s due to the June 4 Incident or the 1997 return of Hong Kong, because of their large numbers, lived in selected suburbs and formed large regional economic communities. Today, they are still very active in the society and have great social influence.
For them, they recognize Australia as a place to live and work, but at the same time they feel that culturally they have retained their Chinese values and customs. They recognize that they are part of the Australian community, but at the same time they see themselves as different from other Australians. They like freedom and democracy, but at the same time they think that China can achieve economic success in an authoritarian society, so they are not enthusiastic or supportive of the democratization of Chinese society or the freedom of the Chinese people. It can be said that they actually enjoy the freedom and democracy that they have in Australia, but they also believe that the totalitarianism in China can also bring about economic take-off and strength. Such contradictory values exist in many middle-aged and older Chinese immigrants, reflecting their pride in being Australian, but at the same time valuing their identity as Chinese.
Chinese immigrants who came to Australia in the last decade or so, on the contrary, are more sure of themselves as Australians and do not emphasize their Chinese cultural background. Perhaps it is because these immigrants, whether they grew up in Hong Kong or China, are certain that they are Hong Kong people, or grew up in China in contact with the foreign world, and do not necessarily accept the totalitarian rule of Communist China.
Engaging in Australian society
From the above observations, Chinese immigrants who came to Australia in different generations, due to the changes in Australian society and China’s entry into the world stage, their attitudes towards their identity as Australians and towards China are very different. As a result, the Chinese community has gradually split into different parts, and there is not much contact among the different communities as there is space for each.
This is also the case with other immigrant groups.
However, these differences do not affect their need to integrate into the community, but they all follow different trajectories to become part of Australian society. In this process, we can see that the Australian government has seldom taken the initiative to reach out, understand or intervene. Therefore, the various life and social problems encountered by the Chinese in these communities have long been ignored by the community, and the government has failed to deal with them proactively.
The Scanlon Foundation, which studies social cohesion in Australia, has pointed out that it is not easy for Chinese immigrants to integrate into the community, and this has become a social concern. We will continue to explore these issues in the next issue.
Mr. Raymond Chow, Publisher of Sameway Magazine