It is an axiom that we will be misunderstood. “All the world old is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer” [Robert Owen 1771–1858]. It is chiselled in stone that our writing will be misunderstood. In every “literate” nation, approximately 50% of the population is not literate enough to properly decode a newspaper, and in Australia apparently only about 16% of people can compare the ideas in two newspaper editorials. Therefore, if the topic is controversial, millions are guaranteed NOT to decode the writer’s meaning, but to insert their own preconceptions. Given all this, perhaps what follows is not surprising:
letters@thehindu.co.in
Dear Sir,
On 24 January 2012 the Brisbane Times ran an Australia Day speech by a well known and liked Australian of Chinese ancestry, Charles Teo (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/turning-point-to-a-greater-australia-20120123-1qdyl.html). It happened to deal with racism – a very difficult and complex topic. As usual the topic attracted many comments. However, the comment I made was rejected. Perhaps there is a kind of cultural censorship at work in this discussion. Anyway, here is my “bad” comment re-quoted, since it has some relevance to Indian-Australian relationships: “Shortly after Christmas I returned to the house where I rent a room in Brisbane, Australia, and found the place deserted. Eventually I learned that the lessee was in hospital. He had collapsed, hemorrhaging, passed out, come to and tried to call 000 and failed. He called to the Punjabi girl in another room for help. She refused to come out. He managed to text her a help message. She refused to come out. He passed out, then two hours later, barely alive, was able to phone an outside friend. As the ambulance took him away, he learned later, two Indian people rushed in the open front door and helped the Punjabi girl to flee with all her belongings. By my personal code, that Punjabi girl is a totally failed human being. As an ordinary Australian it would be normal for me to have a very dim view of “Indians” after something like this. As it happens however, I have spent my entire career working across cultures in Australia, and decades in Oceania and Asia – long enough to learn that racism is nobody’s monopoly, and a very complex phenomenon. It takes an effort to cross the boundaries of your group, and individuals everywhere vary greatly in their willingness and courage to make that effort. We can encourage tolerance, but we can’t legislate courage or even decency.”