Project Penguin: Why the music has stopped playing for Australia’s own Happy Feet

They may call Australia home, but for a small colony of Little Penguins the risk of residing on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has never been more real.

A Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) waddles towards the waters edge at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary, Sydney. IMAGE CREDIT: Hannah Plummer

On a winter’s day at Collins Beach in Sydney Harbour National Park the air is fresh and salty. Small waves, of remarkably clear water, rhythmically roll onto untouched grains of sand and the almost deafening onshore winds drown out the sounds of local birdlife as it whips through the surrounding eucalypt forest.

At a glance, one could be forgiven for thinking they were on a deserted island, albeit for the boats seen anchored in the distance, the occasional jogger pounding the shoreline and the subtle webbed footprint indentations in the sand. In fact this secluded piece of pristine coastline is part of the Critical Habit belonging to a colony of Little Penguins, who have taken up residence in the backyard of one of Sydney’s most sought-after postcodes.

At 30cm tall and weighing in at less than a kilogram, Little or Fairy Penguins (Eudyptula minor) are the smallest species of penguin in the world and those found within this Critical Habitat form the last remaining mainland colony in Australia.

The Critical habitat is divided into two zones, with Area A starting from the eastern side of Little Manly Point and includes Collins, Store and Quarantine Beaches to the northern side of Cannae Point. Area B begins and winds around the foreshore at Manly point. Potential areas of habitat have been identified on the southern side of Cannae Point, along Dobroyd Point and on the eastern and western sides of Little Manly Point.

Declared Critical in 2002, the habitat provides ongoing protection and recovery of the Little Penguin colony and allows for restricted access and targeted regulation of activities that threatened its sustainability. IMAGE CREDIT: Built using ArcGIS software.

In 1997 the colony was listed as endangered under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 when their numbers had declined to a concerning 35 breeding pairs. Over time and with the help of the National Parks and Wildlife Service recovery project, breeding programs at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary and charitable organisations such as the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife the colonies numbers increased to an estimated 60-70 breeding pairs.

That was until last year.

In 2015, the colony suffered a major set back with the loss of 27 penguins from a fox attack and according to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Ranger Melanie Tyas the outlook for the Little Penguins does not bring music to the ears.

Sydney Harbour National Parks and Wildlife Ranger Melanie Tyas looks out onto Quarantine Beach in Sydney’s North Head at Manly. The site bore the brunt of Little Penguin deaths during the fox attacks and numbers are yet to recover. IMAGE CREDIT: Hannah Plummer.

‘At our most recent count there were only 40 breeding pairs,’ said Melanie, ‘the numbers are extremely worrying as these are the worst figures since monitoring began’.

‘The poor results will hopefully improve in the coming years, but it is likely to be a slow increase,’ said Melanie.

To make matters worse, Melanie reveals that aside from the threat of fox attacks, the rise in ocean temperatures and plastic pollution, the Little Penguins are now faced with the threat of habitat destruction.

Autopsies of recovered penguins indicate that the main culprits responsible for the demise of the Little Penguin colony are in fact, us, humans.

‘We have penguins that are presented with blunt force trauma consistent with boat strike. Many private landowners continue to garden regardless of the legislation and people are often found fishing within the critical habitat regardless of signage advising them otherwise,’ said Melanie.

The odds of happy feet ever returning to the shorelines has became even less favourable in recent months, as a property development company applied to the Department of Planning and Environment to amend planning control of the Critical Habitat at Quarantine Beach and remove the National Parks and Wildlife Service as co-proponents of the site.

‘The council has tried to prosecute for an illegal structure in the critical habitat and lost,’ said Melanie, ‘the law seems toothless when it comes to protecting penguins’.

Help is only a flipper length away

In a sea of big fish, it would seem that the aptly named Little Penguin faces a goliath-sized challenge that threatens to evict them from their native home. But they are not alone in battle.

The Foundation for the National Parks and Wildlife is ready to defend the pint-sized animals and have been since 1999. The national not-for-profit organisation works collaboratively with corporate partners, community groups and key stakeholders to save Australia’s native species from extinction.

Felicity Harvey, a communications officer from the organisation, revealed that the charity provides necessary funding to the Little Penguin Recovery Program to aid in their fight for survival.

‘Our projects successfully bring together communities, government, business, landowners, scientists and National Parks to raise awareness of the issues the Little Penguins face’, said Felicity.

‘We provide annual donations to the National Parks and Wildlife Service through fundraising initiatives and donation drives and we acquire and purchase land for conservation, which is incorporated and protected by the National Parks’, Felicity explained.

If their fundraising efforts are anything to go by, the Little Penguins have found a ‘fairy’ godmother. In response to the devastating effects of the fox attacks last year, the foundation raised over $24,000, which was put towards the purchase of new surveillance cameras, nest boxes and vegetation as part of Landcare Australia’s Green Army rehabilitation program.

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While it all sounds positive, Felicity recognises that the penguins are not out of hot water just yet.

‘The biggest challenges we face are from private landowners who are not aware of the Little Penguins presence’, said Felicity, ‘Sydney is a growing city and we need to find a balance where urban development can happen without impacting upon endangered species’.

‘The plight of the Little Penguin is an ongoing debate, one that comes down to a lack of education’, said Felicity.

Melanie, the National Parks and Wildlife Ranger, could not agree more.

‘The colony would have been lost many years ago,’ said Melanie, ‘the penguins are very appealing and there is a great deal of community support for them. The amount of protection work is staggering which is why it is totally depressing to have such low numbers’ she explained.

‘To protect a species is something that the whole community needs to get behind if it is to succeed,’ said Melanie.

From the look of things today there is a community trying to save them. They may not have flippers, but together, they will help the Little Penguins of Manly find their happy feet.

How can you help Manly’s little penguins?

Become a National Parks and Wildlife volunteer penguin warden by calling (02) 9960 6266 or visit Manly Sea Life Sanctuary and sign up.

Hannah Plummer | 305134418 | Word count:

 

“Mum, where’s the TV?”: How Social Media is reshaping our lives

[Zihao Mai 450280991]

#socialmedia #socialtv #television #tv #istvdying #90s #livetweeting #mobiletechnology #bigscreen

 

Do you still remember what was it like in the living room back in the #90s? Back in the 90s, #television was pretty much the only #screen in the living room. When the #TV was on, everyone just gathered around and watched it. We did not have smart phones, tablets or laptop in our hands to distract us.

With the development of #social media and #mobile technology, we now have all these devices, which makes us a little bit preoccupied when we are in the living room. As the television is not the only screen in the living anymore, our attentions and focuses keep getting distracted when watching TV. Now we become more active about getting and receiving information. Instead of simply sitting in the living room, watching TV and reading the news, we now become #active audience, because we are looking for the information we need.

Moreover, as a result of the help of social media platforms, we can be able to engage with the TV content while watching it. For instance, live TV Shows ABC’s #‘Rising Star’, they are asking TV audience to vote for their favourite participants in real time. In addition, drama shows #‘Hawaii Five-O‘ allowed TV audience to choose their favourite ending in the live broadcasting time.

So, the question I am going to explore here is:

• Do we need TV as much as we used to?
• Is #TV slowly dying?
• Will there be still a TV in our living room in the future?

In order to answer these questions, I went to interview three people whose expertise and knowledge in the field of #digital media. However, before I go to explore these questions, let’s take a look at how social media is changing their behaviours of watching television.

According to The Hollywood Report, it is said that 88% of respondents in his study considered social media platforms, such as #Facebook and #Twitter, to be a new form of entertainment. More importantly, in terms of weekly hours spent on different social media platform, people spend 8 hours on visiting social networking website and listening to music, 7 hours on television shows, 4 hours on movies and video clips.

More significantly, the report also pointed out that almost 80% of people check their Facebook while watching television, more than 83% of people visiting the websites at the same time, and 41% of people do the live tweeting about the show. Such data and figures show us a strong engagement between audience and social media on a regular basis, as well as the strong connections between social media and television.

 

In terms of interviewees in the video, it is consisted of Dr Kathy Cleland who is a senior lecturer and director of Digital Cultures Program at University of Sydney, Stephen Ayad who is a founder of IREK, and Bruno Rodriguez Armesto who is a digital communication postgraduate student and a social media enthusiast.

According to the interviews, all of interviewees have a television at home. However, Bruno, who is originally from Spain, said that he does not even have a television in Australian, as he said he and his girlfriend watch most of program on their laptop. More importantly, if even they own a television at home, they hardly use them to watch television programs.

Dr Kathy Cleland said that she watches television every evening. However, normally she just connects her apple TV to Netflix rather than watching the television program itself. The only television program she watches is the news. In other words, she just uses the television screen to connect the information that she wants to watch. In addition, Stephen said he has a television but hardly watches it. Furthermore, all of them said that they are on many different kinds of social media platform and use it more often, which indicates that the level of engagement in terms of social media is much more higher.

Interestingly, Dr Kathy Cleland also pointed out that “my partner is a very active twitter user, so he uses twitter quite often when we are watching television.” Bruno said that “Sometimes when I am not really into the show. For example, when I watch a movie, I will go to my phone and check my Facebook for few minutes and then go back to movie. My girlfriend does this a lot.” Stephen said “People even use their phones when walking on the street, so why you just sit on the couch while you can easily engage with other content.”

Such comment makes us wonder if television is still the first priority when we are watching television. So let’s back to the first few questions, will there be a TV in our living in the future?

 

 

According to Dr Kathy Cleland, she said, “I guess it depends on what you meant by television. I do like the big screen format, like the old style television instead of watching on tablet or phone.”

“Well, it will be a TV (in the living room), but it is not (gonna) be the same of TV that we have now.” Stephen said.

“Probably not, but I don’t think it’s the crisis of the TV… TV in front of the sofa, maybe we wont have that… But I don’t see disappearing. Because it can be a platform for Blu-ray, video games and stuff” Bruno said.

Maybe we won’t have a television in our living room or maybe we will, but that doesn’t mean TV is dying. Instead TV itself is changing into different kinds of form, because we do still love the big screen experience, which our tablets, smart phones or laptops will never satisfy our needs. With the development of social media and mobile technology, now we get to search related information immediately when watching TV, we get to find out the answers immediately if we want to know more, and we even get to live tweet and join the larger online conversation. Such changes enhance our TV viewing experience, as well as providing us with more options in terms of viewing platforms and contents.

In the end, my question for you is do you feel like you still a TV at home? What’s your idea about this topic? Share your thoughts!

Not pretty enough: How social media celebrity saved an “ugly” pet

Tags:  #celebrity #petcelebrity #petworking #petrescue #dog #dogs #animalwelfare #feythewonderdog #rspca #rspcasa

Fey the Wonder Dog has more social media fans than most people. From abused underdog to online celebrity, Fey’s connection with her audience gave her the happy ending she truly deserved.

Fey’s new owners believe that everything happens for a reason. “She’s our baby, we don’t have kids so Fey is it for us,” exclaimed Sonja Edwards, 36.

Sonja and Fey in the car on the way home – day 1 of adoption.  Source: Fey The Wonder Dog

Sonja and husband Dave first noticed the bull terrier cross in December when her Facebook video“I’m not pretty enough” went viral. Staunch animal lovers, the Edwards know that a dog is a commitment for the animal’s lifetime; it is a commitment they take very seriously. Initially they were not ready for another dog due the recent loss of a canine friend.

Fey’s viral video seeking adoption. Source: Fey the Wonder Dog

Two years ago the Edwards built their home at Valley View incorporating plenty of space for animals; Sonja’s 80 year old father Herbie Araszewski lives with them.

In January, Sonja noticed Fey was still in foster care, despite her many online fans. Recent trials with potential owners hadn’t worked out; Sonja realised that her family met all of Fey’s criteria.

After rigorous screening by the RSPCA the couple who adopted Fey in February; they couldn’t be happier with their little girl, seen here on her new parents’ couch.

“After losing my mum, we were a broken family unit…” said Sonja.
“Fey has completed our family unit…”

Herbie is quite smitten with his canine grandchild. Fey spends weekdays with her Opa and is never home alone.

“We all needed her in our own way” posited Sonja.

Fey’s humble beginnings

The six year old has a constructed past. She suffered repeated abuse and multiple births. Found wandering the street, Fey was taken to the RSCPA in October 2014. She had been in once before as a lost dog.

After receiving veterinary treatment for her injuries and skin disease, Fey was desexed and put up for adoption. She was emaciated, but slowly began to put on weight.

Eight months went by in a cage at the in Lonsdale RSPCA. Volunteers walked and played with her, but she remained a dog without a home. There was minor interest from potential owners but trial ‘dates’ ended in disappointment.

Remaining under the care of the RSPCA, Fey was in need of respite and went into short-term foster with the Matthewson family in August 2015. Gwen Matthewson, 32, remembers Fey’s adventures fondly. On day two, Fey bounced onto the family’s trampoline and over the fence into the neighbour’s backyard. On day three, she ran away and was found covered in dog poop! Gwen has fostered 70 animals, including birds, Guinea pigs, cats, and dogs.

Thanks to Gwen, the bull terrier cross was reborn via Facebook as Fey The Wonder Dog in October 2015. She didn’t realise at the time that this would be the start of a new chapter where Fey would become loved across the world.

The inspiration for the page came from a Canadian celebrity pig .

Gwen created compelling and sometimes heart breaking content ranging from sweet photos to a poem about Fey’s attributes, including her farts!

Famous celebrity pets have millions of social media fans worldwide and trade off the commodity of cute. Fey is unlike most celebrity pets, compare Boo or Doug the Pug; Fey is not small in stature and she is not traditionally ‘cute’. Weighing almost 30kg, you can’t pop her into your handbag. The six year old canine has injuries that leave her permanently scarred. Her connection with animal lovers seems to be based on a genuine regard for her wellbeing.

Fey in foster care at Gwen’s house.  Source: Fey The Wonder Dog

In December Gwen posted a game changing video set to Kasey Chambers’ song “I’m not pretty enough”*. This simple video (see above), recorded on a mobile phone, accelerated Fey’s popularity. It showed Fey soundly sleeping whilst a flipboard explained what she could give to an adopted family. To date, it has had almost 400,000 views.

Fey went back to the RSPCA for “Fey Day” in the hopes of being adopted by one of her new fans. But no one came. Gwen took Fey home and cried that night; Fey spent last Christmas with the Matthewson family. Although Fey reached pet celebrity status online she remained a dog without a permanent home.

Facebook followers in America and Canada offered hope, willing to pay for Fey to move overseas. But Fey’s foster family didn’t want to put her though more trauma as months of quarantine and waiting are required for an international relocation. It was essential that the campaign resulted in a local adoption.

Around this time, Dave (aka comedian Big Al) found a chicken on the footpath and brought it home. In the two days the chicken lived with them, Herbie bonded with it naming it “Daisy”. But Daisy was a chook by a different name, belonging to a family who missed it. It was returned home, much to Herbie’s disappointment.

The trio had a family meeting about adopting Fey. “All big decisions happen at a family meeting” said Dave, 36.

Adoption success!

With Gwen’s blessing, Fey was adopted by the Edwards. The transition was carefully planned, with no human or animal visitors permitted for six weeks whilst Fey settled in to her new home. Sonja and Dave took leave from work to maximise bonding time.

Fey couldn’t have found a better home. With the Edwards, she is an “only dog”, lavished with attention in an environment where she is safe and wanted. She is an inside dog with beds in every room, toys and plenty of treats.

Her new family feels blessed to have her. Nowadays, when the couple arrives home, they are greeted by a welcoming committee– Herbie on his walker, and Fey fervently wagging her ‘tail of steel’; Herbie full of stories to tell about Fey’s activities from that day.

“It is so good to have new things to talk about with Herbie. It used to all be tales of the Bold and the Beautiful!” laughed Sonja.

The love the Edwards towards their pooch is obvious. As for Fey, she appears relaxed, and seems to be smiling.

Fey waited 493 days for her ‘forever’ home.

“It’s like for the first time in her life she can just sleep,” said Sonja.

Fey’s online celebrity continues with her fans ranging in age from 8 to 80 years old. Follow her adventures online @feythewonderdog.

|  460419901  |  Word count:  1095

*The author has permission from the copyright owners of the Facebook page to reproduce the video and photographs. It should be noted that Kasey Chambers has not been approached about the use of her music in the video post. The publication purpose is educational at present, using video that has been viewed almost 400,000 times and remains published on Facebook.

“Killing God”: Why one girl gave up on religion?

Name: Hanyang Zhao

SID: 440580207

Tags: #Culture & society#Religion#Australia#youth#

Alex Kwak was writing a travel journal sitting at a corner table in a quiet café. I approached to the girl wearing yellow hair and in a black coat. When she saw me, she stood up and gently smiled. Everything around her seemed peaceful and at ease when she sat down.

But, she had struggled against her faith.

The girl, 26, born in a Buddhism family and was converted into a Christian at her age of 14 because of her mother’s influence, but now she said, “I gave up on Christianity and, technically I’m non religious.”

Alex had struggled against her religion life for many years until she got herself out from it. “Killing God” from her heart is a good “therapy” to keep balance of her physical world and spiritual world. She is one of many of Australian young people abandoning religions.

 

A Christian church Photoed by Hanyang Zhao

It lies in…

“Religion clashed with my thinking and views.”

As Philip Hughes, the senior research officer of Christian Research Association, says, people’s thinking and mindset clash with what the Bible and church teach people and the strict religious views such as homosexuality, premarital sex and some restriction of people’s body. Young people having modern life value are even harder to accept the strict and dogmatic religious beliefs.

“I vividly remembered I was told that homosexual people is not sinned because God made you, but the acting will be a sin upon it, but inside myself thought that was not right,” she said. Without accepting the core values it is hard to be belongs to the community.

Like other young people, Alex liked to question the existence of God and ask the clarification of meanings of Bible in the physical life. She failed to get the answers from Bible and church teaching, which gave her loads of pressure; thereby she decided to “killing God” from insides of her.

The clash seemed to be stronger to Alex along with her growing-up when she gained independent value and view towards religions. It led her to reconsider religious faiths. “I feel unfair” that her family’s traditions decided her beliefs not from her own choice.

Alex had met some teenagers whose attendance of church was out of their family’s expectation and traditions. She was not sure those young people would keep going church when they grow up and have independent views towards faiths.

 

School children are attending church on Sunday Photoed by Hanyang Zhao

 

External things dragged her out

Alex moved to Australia from Korea alone 10 years ago; at that time she was affiliated to Christianity. The different social environment of Australia from Korea was another reason that led her to give up.

She said, churches and religious organization in Korea were good at organizing people to participate religious practices and there are a lot of Bible studies going on, while religious institutions in Australia do not have as much strategic things as that in Korea.

“In Australia there are a lot of things to do in the leisure times, but people don’t have much choices for leisure activities in Korea on weekend. Many people still need to work on weekend”, she said. Going to church used to be a “good” excuse to get away from work and meet friends when she was in Korea. But leisure time is different in Australia, which reduced her motivation for going church.

Having a religion need a lot of commitment of your life, such as reading Bible every day, attending Bible study regularly and going to church weekly. Religious life could not go into Alex’s physical life. She could not handle balancing religious life and social life both in internal sides. Organized religious practices led to limitation on her social life, so religious life became a burden on her heart and life.

Church filled with elderly people Photoed by Hanyang Zhao

She was troubled with engaging with Bible study. Three-time-a- week Bible study workshops made her stressful and super tired. “I couldn’t work functionally well and it affected my working efficiency on the next day”, she said.

Alex experienced being left out her my friends. She had to reject her friend’s invitation after work or that on weekend, going for hiking, camping or a drink, because of attending regular Bible study workshops every week. “I hate being lonely. It badly affected my social life”, she said uncomfortably.

Alex’s brother also had the same situation with her, wavering his religion. And many Australian young people shared some same reasons that lead them away from religion.

Spiritual but not religious

The religious affiliation, either Buddhism or Christianity, pressured her. And she could not keep participating in the form of organized religion as her parents do. She would rather embrace an inside spiritual aspect instead of being associated to organized religious practices. “Being quiet with my thoughts and praying myself whenever it is needed are easier for me”, she said. The vague and unsystematical spiritual world, she believes, is comfortable with her.

As Hugh Mackay in his book Beyond Belief reveals, young people who are turning away from God, are fond of other forms of spirituality instead of being restricted by religious institutions and practices. Hugh Mackay call them as “Spiritual But Not Religious”.

“Will God revive among the youth?”

“It is hard to say so, but I will never give it up bringing young people back to church,” said John, a Bible teacher in Sydney.

He has made a lot of efforts to improve church life to make religious life fit in today’s young people.

It is not uncommon that some people are struggling with the Bible teaching, because they think it is repetitive, unrealistic and meaningless to daily life. John thinks churches should provide more opportunities for young people to explore faith instead of expecting them to attending the religious rituals or asking for commitment.

Young girl listening to sermon in church

To improve it, he is engaged in a Bible study group with young people exploring some issues of everyday life, which will open more opportunities for questions and discussion, rather than passively listening to sermon.

2011 census reveals 28 per cent of Australian young people aged between 15 and 34 have moved away from religion. It is still hard to say God will revive among the youth.

 

Lockout Laws – Robbing Sydney of Its Vibrancy

Name: Wen Cai  450457135

#Sydney #Lockoutlaws #entertainment #assault #nightlife #protest #reclaimthestreets

Reclaim The Streets Protest Festival Hit Sydney’s CBD

It was a lovely sunny afternoon, hundreds of young people were waiting at the Town Hall Sydney for the huge protest festival – Reclaim The Streets. Instead of a serious protest, it was much more like a festival. People were chatting nicely with each other and meeting new friends. DJs were preparing for the mobile music stages, making loud inspiring electronic music. At three o’clock, the protest began. The crew members were holding a huge banner “Reclaim The Streets” and leading the march towards to the Star casino. There was another more attracting banner said “Welcome to Sydney” hold by some protesters who were wearing funny colorful dinosaur and unicorn suits.

Everyone was happy and enjoyed the moment. As people were walking towards the Star casino, everyone was so enjoyable holding drinks and shaking with the music. People on the road couldn’t help stopping and took photos for such a huge movement. And of course, lots of them joined in the march. People were singing and dancing in the sunset. When arriving at the Star casino, the crowd started to cheer up and threw tissues to the casino. Even it was a little bit messy, but people were still immersed in a relaxing and fun atmosphere. The happiness made Sydney even more charming and vibrant.

Protesters wearing funny suits. Photo by Wen Cai

Reclaim The Streets is a huge protest festival in Sydney since 1997. In 2005, Reclaim The Streets Protest Festival was hold at Hyde Park at William Street Sydney. More than 1500 people attended to protest against the lockout laws. This year the theme was to protest against the lockout laws and the casinos which have been the exemption of the lockout zone.

The spokesperson of Reclaim The Streets, Mrs Vicki Melson said,

“ The lockout law has been a long-going problem in NSW, it’s time for the public to make a difference for themselves. We feel that there is a lot of corruption in the city. And that we are being hemmed in ridiculous laws and not allowed to take responsibility for our own actions. And as grown-ups, we have the right to live in a responsible way as we choose.”

One of the protesters Matt Gortty told the reason why he came to protest,

“I want to be able to go out until 3 o’clock. Whether I want to or not, I want to have that choice. And I feel that this new law’s stopping me from doing that. Sydney shouldn’t be one of the only major cities in the world essentially to have its lockout laws for people not to be able to express their freedom, but also just be able to go out and have a good time without being told what to do and what they can’t do.”

Reclaim The Streets Protest Festival. Photo by Wen Cai

People were nicely ordered by the police car and the crew. There were ten mobile music stage in the march, making people enjoyed the music while walking. As a participant who joined in many other protests before, Mr Ryan Coltman thought that Reclaim The Streets was special from the others,

“It’s definitely different because you’ve got  the mobile music stages and that sort of thing. It’s different people, you know, coming from different places. Everyone just comes together and has a good day. And yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

However, although it was not the first time that Reclaim The Streets takes place, the public still doesn’t have much awareness on this issue. Mr Matt Gorty said,

“It’s put out there as much as it possibly can, but it’s also shut down by a lot of media outlets because you know the government doesn’t want us to really know about it and protest against it.”

Lockout Laws in Sydney and Casino’s Political Donation

Lockout laws were launched by New South Wales government in 2014 on the purpose to reduce the alcohol-related assault in CBD area including King Cross, Surry Hills, the Rocks and Cockle Bay. According to the laws, entertainment venues such as pubs and clubs should not accept new customers after 1:30 am as well as no service of drinks after 3pm. Take-away alcohol is not available after 10pm. However, the lockout laws are controversial among the public and raised concern on the freedom and vibrancy of Sydney.

However, although the lockout laws are strict to most of the entertainment venues, casinos have been exemptions to the laws. A strong voice raised in the public that the exemption of the Star casino and Barangaroo casino which is under construction is due to the millions of political donation to the party from 1998 to 2011 when donations from gaming and tobacco companies were still allowed to the government.

The Influence of Lockout Laws

Since the lockout laws have been conducted for two years, the effect is questioning. According to Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research’s crime statistic, the number of assaults related to alcohol has declined by 40% at King Cross. Another apparent drop is at Sydney’s CBD which reduced 20% in assaults. Nevertheless, it is believed that the reason of lower assault rate in King Cross is rooted in the reduction of visitors at night in this area according to the lower foot traffic. The lockout laws are restricting assaults by driving people away from the CBD in Sydney.

Source:New South Wales Record Crime Statistic 2015 (BCSR,2015)

Photo: Wen Cai

In contract, however, the number of assaults in Star casino was largely increasing by 88% between 2014 and 2015 since the casino is not included in the lockout zone. However, the spokesman of the Star casino told the ABC News that the Star casino have millions of customers every year, thus the rate was not high based on the huge quantity of costumers.  The Star casino also claimed that they have a strict safety concern for their clients.

Although there is not much people can do about the policy, the public has drawn more attention on this issue. The large-scale opposition to the lockout laws are also happening on the Internet as over 12,000 signatures were submitted on the petition asking for a more sensible solution on this issue. It also rose a heated discussion on Twitter and Facebook with the tag #Casinomike on Twitter for the Mike  Baird, Premier of New South Wales. Moreover, the number of protesters is growing every year, making more pressure on the government and the casino.

“We are out there. We are not gonna be quiet. We are going to make difference. And this is automatically our city not theirs,” said Mrs Melson.

Comments from twitter users on this issue. Source:Twitter

Professional or rookie? It doesn’t matter – Fu linfang’s life as a vlogger.

Lin Chen | 440555788

Tags: #vlogger #vlogging #fu linfang #social media #bilibili

14th February 2016.

Streets are full of love birds holding hands together, shops are crowded with gentlemen buying flowers for their beloved ones, even the smell of chocolates is flowing everywhere.

Why?

Because it is one of the most romantic days in a year, the valentine’s day.

While in Tintagel way, there is a house, inside this house, there is a men staring at the screen, watching a man, which seems to be himself, in video, cooking a meal,  without chocolate and without a valentine.  

Is he lonely? Surprisingly, no, he is not lonely.

Why?

Because he’s a vlogger, he has thousands of valentines online. Oh, I mean,  thousands of friends he considers as lovely as valentines online.

Vlogger Fu linfang

This man is ‘Fu Linfang’, an English vlogger, who lives in UK, shoots video for Chinese audiences, on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo, Bilibili, Youku and Sohu.

A few days before 14th February, Fu Linfang cooked himself a meal, recorded the process of cooking. Then on the night of 13th February, he uploaded the video to those Chinese social media.

After a long nice sleep, on the morning of valentine’s day, when he opened his laptop on the bed, with messy eyes,  he received tons of comments from his fans under that video. By that time, even as a single man, alone in his bedroom, on valentine’s day, he felt cared and loved by others.

“To me, they’re friends more than fans” says Fu linfang.

Vlogging has become a part of Fu linfang’s life. He uploads video every single day, reads every comments and messages under his video, does livestream on social media, he even creates groups on instant messaging apps like Wechat and QQ to talk with his fans, to listen to the suggestions his fans has for him.

Fu linfang started this whole vlogging thing by making videos about teaching English. He used to live in China, back then, a lot of people came to him, asked him to teach them English on Wechat. Then instead of answering questions one by one, Fu linfang started to make videos to answer those question all in once.

Later, when he came back to England, he continues making videos.

Time pass by, more and more people watch his video and he started to make videos in other genres

cultural difference video

language video

make up video

game video

cooking video

travel video

(Fu linfang doing other genres of video including gaming video, culture difference video, language video, react video, cooking and travel video, click here to check the full video, source: bilibili.com) 

Fu linfang says, different types of videos take different preparations, but in general, being a vlogger doesn’t need high technology. For him, he just uses his phone, his laptop and, occasionally, when he is shooting for travel video, his camera, and then, most important of all, his brain.

Most of my video starts with an idea, then I write down the idea, come back to it on another day, write down more ideas and jokes, create a script, write tips about how to film, then the next day,,says Fu Linfang go do it, it’s an easy 4 step process.

The equipment is easy, the process is easy, as long as comes up with ideas.

Fu linfang making vlog in 4 simple steps, source: Lin Chen

For Fu linfang, sometimes ideas come to him gradually, sometimes ideas come from his fans. In the future, Fu linfang wants to move out of the small town his living now so that he’ll have more things to film and his life itself could be interesting enough to present in his video.  

But is it for real that with an interesting life or an interesting mind is a potential vlogger?

A professional Vlogger?

Well, sadly, I’m afraid the answer is no.

Take Fu Linfang as example, in some way, he considers himself to be a professional vlogger. Which means not as a rookie, not a someone with a little bit interesting going on in his life.

“I earns money by doing it.” Fu linfang says. “I does promotions and  the advertisers on video platforms like Youku and Sohu would pay me to have their ads appearing in my video.”

However, dose that really counts for “professional”?

 Dr Jonathon Hutchinson from Sydney University points out, a professional vlogger needs to have media productions skills. Besides knowing how to shoot and edit video, a professional vlogger should also understand his audience, be good at using his language and know how to communicate with audience well.

Dr. Hutchinson says “a professional vlogger is a vlogger of vloggers”.

Usually, among those professional vloggers, there are 2 models of working as Dr. Hutchinson said. One is vloggers working with vloggers to achieve massive audiences. Two is vloggers partner up with organisations, brands, services and so on to increase their visibility and exposure.

Judging by that, perhaps, Fu linfang as a lone wolf, is still a semi-professional vlogger?

Fu linfang says, one of the greatest part about vlogging, is that “I don’t lose control over things and I’m making things that I’m proud of.

I guess, in the end, professional or rookie, it doesn’t really matter.

Vlogging, for Fu linfang, is all about sharing life, making friends and doing thing’s that he felt proud of.

Vlogging is just a work full of possibilities.

For those who wants to share their life as a vlogger, just be brave, vlogging isn’t rocket science.

For those vloggers who has an ambition for massive audiences, then,  be ready, for change and for collaboration.

Sugar tax could save thousands of Australian lives?

Name:Xiaoyang Liu  SID: 450012978

Key tags:  #Obesity  #Sugar tax  #Health  #Soft drinks  #Heart disease

# Diabetes  #Junk food

 

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in many western countries, and Australia is no exception.

As some people argue that there is a direct link between sugar intake and obesity, in a result, sugar tax has been proposed in Australia, is this necessary?

Lily, a 13-year-old teen girl, being overweight makes her self-conscious and daunting.

As a teenager of this age, Lily is very sensitive about appearance, but her Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a simple guide used to measure obesity, is already over 24.

“I did not make it into the ballet class.It is hard for me to walk or run like my classmates, I feel everyone make fun of me.” Lily said these sentences frustrated while put a chocolate biscuit into her mouth.

“Doctor said BMI should be 16 to19 at most. Unless Lily loses weight, her life quality will be vastly diminished and she will face many health related problems.” Lily’s mother Katherine explained, her face was careworn with anxiety.

“I eat McDonald’s two or three times a week, 5 cans of Coca Cola a day.Now I didn’t like my body at all, but I love snacks.” Lily has been obese for about five years, and her case is not uncommon.

Her 3-year-old younger sister Emily is nearly 23kg, “It is 6kg that over upper weight limit for a child at her age, as professionally prescribed.” Katherine said.

Nowadays, almost a quarter of Australian children share Lily and Emily’ problem, the figure has doubled over the past 15 years.

Although adult obesity rates are higher, it is very important to prevent and manage childhood obesity.

As obese children will have a high risk that the problem will persist into their adulthood, obese children have a 25 to 50 per cent chance of adult obesity.

While sugar is not the only reason of increasing obesity rate and other health problems, it definitely is not helping.

Sugary drink consumption in Australia

In terms of supermarket retail sales, Australians have spent $2.2 billion on 1.1 billion litres of sugary drinks in 2011 to 2012. Fast food outlets, cinemas, vending machines and convenience stores are also provide soft drinks.

The proportion of consumers aged 2 to 18 (47 per cent) who buy sugary beverages is higher than adult consumers (31 per cent).

Also, 67 per cent teenage males aged from 13 to 18 consumed sweetened beverages, compared with 50 per cent teenage girls.

According to Senate Estimates, in Australia the consumption of sugary drink is particularly high in Indigenous communities. 1.1 million litres of sugary soft drink have sold in Indigenous community stores in the last financial year.

Sugary drinks are very popular, while obesity is a leading risk factor for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancers. Therefore, from a population health perspective, it is time for Australia to decrease sugary drink consumption.

How many sugar in your favourite sugary drink？Source：http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/news/sugar-tax-what-does-it-mean-and-who-will-be-affected/

Sugar tax worldwide

The WHO identified a tax could be a part of a program that promotes a healthier diet in ‘Ending Childhood Obesity’.

In recent years, many countries have already recognised that taxing sugary drinks could improve population health potentially.

France introduced a €0.075 per litre tax on sweetened drinks in 2012. Mexico As the fourth biggest sugary drinking country in the world, Mexico  set a one peso every litre charge in 2014. In 2015, Chile, Barbados and Dominica followed the steps, also 34 states in the US now taxing soft drinks at an average about 4 per cent.

In 2016, the UK Government has put a levy on sugary beverages which will begin in 2018, in order to reduce childhood obesity. The tax will be used on fitness programs, and the UK will also extended school hours for children to take part in more outdoor activities.

By then, drinks with sugar content over 8g in every 100 ml will be taxed at a higher rate than those with less than 5g per 100 ml.

Lin, a Phd in Health Sciences said “Any strategy aims at reducing the consumption of sugary beverages a government set up, is a move on the right track for improving the health level of the society.

Data from the British Medical Journal reported that in Mexico, sugar tax did result in a reduction in sugar sweetened beverages consumption.

The introduction of sugar tax worldwide is supporting public health measures, while encouraging the global community to take excessive soft drink consumption  into consideration which deserves attention and action.

Coke has 10.6g sugar in every 100ml. Photo by Xiaoyang Liu

Impacts and High public support in Australia

A 2012 survey found that 65 per cent of Australian would support a sugar tax if the revenue raised was spent on programs to prevent childhood obesity.

After sugar tax carries out in Australia, the decreases in consumption might lead to 0.3 per cent in female and 0.7 per cent in male in the prevalence of obesity decline.

When health benefits bring to the whole Australian population and over their all stages of life, the sugar tax will be called substantial strategy.

“The research estimates that there will be 800 new type 2 diabetes cases be diminished every year, if Australia implement sugar tax.

“25 years after introduction of the tax, incidence of heart disease and stroke would drop by 4,400 and 1,100 respectively.” Dr Lin said.

He also explains that “Sugar tax in Australia would save about 1,600 people’s life, at the same time, the the health care system would save up to $609 million.”

Even though we taking declines in sugary drink’s consumption into consideration, the annual revenue that collected from the tax would be over $400 million.

It would lead the government to work on childhood obesity-prevention programs, subsidise healthy food for low-income Australians with a significant funds , and support the promotion of a healthy diet.

Liya who is a Phd in nutrition and dietetics said “ A large number of health organisation in Australia has advocated the introduction of sugar tax for many years, it has been a recommendation within government reports.

“Almost every major Australian health non-government organisation and medical and health professional organisation support the tax.We saw evidence like Mexico reduces soft drinks’ consumption by the tax.” said Liya.

However, due to the Australian Government suggest sugar tax are inappropriate and not feasible that it would not raise revenue,the government have failed to act.

Dr Lin explains that “In Australia, the detailed plan of introduction of sugar tax is all that is needed. If it is currently deemed to be appropriate, feasible and justifiable, in other countries, then it might work in Australia.”

 

 

Discussion of racism on Australia

Keyword tags: #Racism  #Australia society  #Chinese  #immigrant

Australia, as an immigrant state, is frequently labeled of racism in recent years. What’s reason cause this phenomenon?

Arthur does the master in the university of Macquarie in Australia. he loved this country, because the environment and culture for learning and life.

One day, he was smoking outside the shopping mall with friends (it was marked as smoking area). A female dressed in uniform came to told Arthur and his friends they can not smoke in this area.

‘I immediately stubbed his cigarette, I thought there might be some rule I didn’t know even though it is labeled ‘smoking area’, Arthur said.

At the same time, there were a few white people with smoking next to Arthur. ‘the staff ignored these white people, and gone’ Arthur said. He was very unhappy to be discriminatory treated.

Arthur expressed that he never experienced racism before that, and the only way to know this are from media.

Chinese (immigrants and international students), as a main part of extraneous population of Australia, is the main objective of discussion in the topic of racism.

Chinese people waiting for the train in Eastwood station     Photo by: Yanxi Li

Historical, geographical, cultural… when we are careful to distinguish the internal factors of racism, what is the primary cause leading to racism? Maybe due to cultural diversity lead to different behavior.

After several-year development, immigrants from all around the world, headed by white people, flocked to Australia where is becoming a typical multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country.

As an immigrant nation, Australia is very tolerant to different races. In fact, since the reports from the media, the problem of racism is often concerning by the public.

We can consider of these reasons:

The first one is related to real estate. For example, in Sydney, due to overseas buyers are flooded with Australia real estate market, many communities have built a large number of real estate: Asian people are mainly part of buyers, especially Chinese.

In recent years, there are many examples related to Chinese investors who spent a lot of money to buy property in Australia. According to analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics and Foreign Investment Review Board data by Credit Suisse showed in 2014: $24 billion was spent by Chinese buyers on Australian housing in the past seven years.

Many natives think that is one of the reasons causing house prices rising. Objectively speaking, housing prices has brought huge life pressure, including increasing rent and housing price for ordinary people who are living in Australia.

Therefore, the phenomenon of Chinese people who crazy to buy houses leads to rising housing prices, which maybe become the reason why Australian have a negative impression of Chinese.

However, these voices are dismissed by a senior Turnbull government minister recently, Trade Minister Steve Ciobo indicated that some Chinese buyers were not foreign nationals, but rather Chinese Born-Australians or immigrants.

house prices were “absolutely not” contributed by overseas buyers, Ciobo said.

In the context of economic globalization and cultural exchange, the second reason of racism is related to economy.

On one hand, Chinese investors contributed to economic development of Australia.

When a large number of Chinese come to Australia, their industrious attitude and willing to do hard work was welcomed by employers. But in some Australians’ opinions, this is an aggressive action: Chinese occupy their living space. Under the influence of competitive pressure, some local people have the speech and behavior of racism to Chinese.

Some Chinese people suffered words and actions of racism in Australian society, for some examples:

On Sydney train, a woman verbally abuse at young children and an Asian woman ‘Go back to China’.

A Chinese-Australian couple was shouted by a white woman in a central Sydney park.

Although these events of racism are just examples, media reports will make people produce a stereotype: white people have a racism for Chinese.

On the other hand, we discuss behaviors of some Chinese. In the aspect of employment: Chinese employers often give a very low wage, and they prefer to compensate by cash for tax evasion and save cost. Chinese employees does not care these terms and accept these works, especially Chinese international students.

The street all of Chinese restaurant, Eastwood     Picture by: Yanxi Li

These actions make most of Australians lost a lot of competitiveness who comply with minimum wage under law in Australia.

For example, trade union issued a series of warnings about cheap Chinese labor undercutting Australians’ wages.

In terms of some Chinese who live in Australia, we can find some reasons: such as legal consciousness and poor public awareness, some Chinese behavior has brought negative impact to local people’s living.

Racism is listed in the section of social issues on Australian government official website. Dr Helen Szoke said: ‘Racism does exist in Australia. We know this is a fact,’ from Australian Human Rights Commission.

Racism involved a person be treated unfairly or viciously because their race, color, national or belief. Racism is a negative phenomenon, it should be taken seriously, and be reduced in the society.

In 1966, International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) were signed by Australia, and ICERD were ratified in 1975. Also in 1975, Australia passed the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA). At the same time, Australia added commissioners for RDA, the work functions of commissioners were still increasing in 2011.

Interviewee: Sissi Xiao

Get rid of these efforts of government, we can discuss some individual attitude to racism.

We could appeal to people who had been suffered racism, do not be afraid and learn to protect themselves.

We could appeal to foreigners who came to Australia, when they decided to live, travel or study here, please respect all elements of this country: such as humanities, culture and law.

Overall, in a diverse society, we share a common humanity, all of rights should be respected and equal used.

 

How a migrant woman grew Australia’s biggest Chinese theatre?

 

Name: Xiao Chen

SID: 450433276

 

Tags: #Arts #Theatre #Cathay Playhouse #Chinese Australian #Australian society

 

 

On 30 April, peals of laughter from the Green Square Community Hall broke the originally quiet night. Dozens of Chinese people gathered together, raising their glasses to celebrate the 13^th anniversary of a Chinese theatre in Zetland, Sydney. Also, as theatre actors and staff, the improvisation is always an indispensable part of their events. Today was no exception. Even it was only an activity, every twinkle and smile of them were expressing their serious and enthusiastic attitudes towards the performance. From nine-year-old child to octogenarian, university students to businessman, despite their different backgrounds and expertise, they are all members of the Cathay Playhouse family.

 

The so-called Cathay Playhouse is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2003. The past thirteen years has witnessed a progressive growth of the theatre. Started with only three people, now it has already become the leading Chinese Theatre in Australia.Until now, the theatre has performed their productions on stage in various theatres such as Darling Quarter Theatre, Seymour Centre Everest Theatre, Tom Mann Theatre, and even Sydney Opera House. And it has successfully engaged more than 30,000 theatregoers. However, Cathay Playhouse cannot reach this far without a woman.

 

 

Wang Hui-Li is commenting on students’ performances     Source: Xiao Chen

 

There Are No Minor Roles, Only Minor Actors

 

The first time I met Cathay Playhouse off the stage was at its rehearsal field, which is located on the second floor of a small clothes shop in Ashfield. After passing through a narrow corridor, there is a not spacious place with some old tables and chairs.

 

“Welcome to Cathay Playhouse, now we are taking acting lessons”, said by Stanley Li, the theatre’s technical manager. The field was crowded with people, and in the centre of the room stood a grey-haired old woman who was training and selecting actors for the new annual drama. She is Wang Hui-Li, the director of this theatre and the leading role of our story. During the class, she gave students some topics and divided them into groups to perform.

 

At the end of the class, Wang asked how would we describe this place, this small and clouded room. The actors around her soon provided distinct answers like “a rehearsal place”, “ a stage”, “home”, and so forth. “When I was studied at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, my teacher told us that wherever there is a performance, it is a palace. I wish you could bear this sentence in mind and respect every performance. And finally, I want to cite Stanislavski’s view that ‘there is no minor roles, only minor actors’. No matter you are protagonists or not, you are significant.” Wang said earnestly.

 

Started from ten years ago, Wang opens free acting classes like this for drama lovers every year. And not only old members would come to improve themselves but also a lot of new faces would be seen. All of the new members said that they want to join the theatre after seeing their excellent performance.

 

Stanley described Wang as the beacon of the theater, “and it was her insistence as well as the high standard that brought us here”. Looking at this small but energetic woman, I could not help wondering how she could grow such an influential theatre in this strange land.

 

In rehearsal     Source: Xiao Chen

 

No Cross, No Crown

 

Born in a not wealthy family, Wang’s childhood was filled with a stall with comic books. She had to sell those books to support the family in all weathers. But this plight did not prevent her from being admitted to a top academy of arts in China. Since then, her life seemed to go on a good track. After graduation, Wang worked as a director in China Welfare Institution Children’s Theatre for thirty years. At that period, she got countless awards and honors, and her works in “WANG Hui-Li Children Play Series” has even become a major representation of children plays in China today.

 

However, a heavy blow came when she was in the prime of her career. Wang’s second little daughter died suddenly in 1989, and she and her husband went trough a tough time. While shortly afterwards, they migrated to Australia to live with their elder daughter.

 

Apart from bereavement, Wang also suffered from the adaptation to a new environment as other migrants. Due to the age and language limitations, she could only found jobs like doing housekeeping and distributing leaflets.

 

“For me, Cathay Playhouse is a newly opened window”, Wong said with shining eyes. “I had never dared to start my career again in this strange state”. Her story with Cathay House began in 2005 when three Arts enthusiasts came to visit her and invited her and her husband to direct a play. Since then, Wong concentrates her energies on developing the theatre, and her hard work finally paid off. Even the prime minister of Australia John Howard had written letters and visited her for several times, describing her as the Australian cultural ambassador.

 

When being asked about why she could insist on doing this non-profit thing for ten years, Wong smiled and said, “ Of course, the prime one comes to my love for Arts. I really want to sustain and promote the Chinese cultural and theatre Arts in Australia. And secondly, it is due to the lovely members in Cathay Playhouse, they are just like my families”.

 

The 13th anniversary party of Cathay Playhouse        Source: Cathay Playhouse

 

Live Your Life and Forget Your Age

 

At the middle of the anniversary party, Wang gave a speech, and the most impressive part is what she mentioned about her age. “ For you guys, I only have a small request. Do not treat me like a dying old, and do not hold birthday parties for me anymore.” Wang does not want people to focus on her age all the time. “If you do not mention it, I chose to forget it”.

 

Now the Cathay Playhouse is working on its new production called Oh My Darling, which is an adaptation of the Chinese classic plot Zhuang Zhou Dreaming Butterfly. And the public will see their wonderful performance from 19 to 22 October at the Lend Lease Darling Quarter Theatre. At the time, they will also provide subtitles for those English speakers.

The Pursuit of Happiness – what is life like for a Chinese lesbian immigrant?

Name: Dongsi Liu (Emily)

SID: 440462475

Tag: #homosexual anxiety #gay immigration #homosexutality in China #lesbian

 

Yaoyao’s profile picture. Copyright holder: Yaoyao.

This is a story about Yaoyao. She is a 32-year-old IT engineer, a new arrival to Australia, and also, a lesbian from China. Her life story and immigration experience give us a glimpse of the homosexual anxiety and depression among Chinese gay community, the dilemma they are facing and the way out. Her story is ordinary but inspiring. It tells us that happiness is not about having a perfect life, but about how to make imperfections perfect and how to deal with them.

 

Yaoyao and I met at a very busy café on a raining Saturday morning. She is around 175cm tall with a clean-cut hairstyle, and dressed like a classic tomboy with the denim jacket, khaki pants and a pair of brown chukka boots.

“I already gave up my love life and married to my gay friend.”

Before moving to Australia, Yaoyao had a decent job as an IT engineer for China Telecom, but like many other gay people, she has had to pay a huge price for being together with the same-sex partner. Sometimes, the pursuit of their right of happiness means leaving family and friends behind, giving up the successful career and moving to an entirely strange country.

Yaoyao’s immigration process was quite smooth, as she applied for the skilled independent visa (subclass 189) as an engineer about three years ago. But she actually never thought about moving abroad before she was 29 years old, and was planning to spend the rest of her life in Huainan, a small city in Anhui Province, China. “But life is unpredictable,” as she said.

However, her life wasn’t that smooth back then. “I already gave up [my love life] at that time and married to my gay friend.” she paused and shrugged her shoulders, “yes, a cooperative marriage”. The sham marriage is very common within the gay community in China nowadays, as most of the gay people in China cannot come out to their families under the massive pressure. After all, homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1997 and declassified as a mental illness in 2001 in mainland China. And there are no laws protecting them from discrimination, especially in such a small-size city like Huainan.

“My last name ‘Yao’ is one of the most ancient Chinese surnames, and over 400 families share this name in my hometown. We still have this strict patriarchal family system today, and the fact that I was a woman of marriageable age without a husband aroused the suspicion of the local community. So, getting married with a man was my way to show the ‘filial piety’.” As in Confusion philosophy, filial piety (Chinese: 孝) is a virtue of respect for one’s parents, and she doesn’t want them to suffer from rumours and slanders anymore.

But we should never underestimate the human desire for happiness. Yaoyao realised she couldn’t stand it anymore because it is difficult not to open about her sexuality for a lifetime. “I like girls, you know, and I want to talk about them with my friends like normal boys do. But I can’t socialise like any other person. It was hard, and I wasn’t happy.” Luckily, she has her ‘fake husband’ as a comrade, and they decided to leave the country together.

An infographic of homosexuality and gay rights in China VS Australia. Made by Dongsi Liu.

“I’m just happy I have a choice and I’m in Sydney now.”

However, Australia is not just the heaven for Yaoyao or any other first-generation immigrants. Her life goes back to zero, and she is in a long distance relationship with this dream girl who she met two months before her visa was granted. Yaoyao’s long black has gone cold while she was talking attentively, but her inspiring story in Sydney has just started.

It took two years for Yaoyao to integrate into the Aussie society and to figure out how to make a living, more importantly, how to settle legally with her girlfriend in Australia in the future.

She worked in a restaurant as waitress for a while after her first arrival, “but I’m 32, and this job is just too much for a middle-aged women like me,” she likes to poke fun at herself, “Then I found a job at a real estate agent, it was a good opportunity for me to learn more about Sydney, although this career didn’t end too well.” Next, she took some TAFE courses and found another job at a computer store in the city. “And I met my current boss there, he was one of the clients of that store, and now I work for his company as an IT engineer again.”

When I asked her if everything worth it, she answered: ”I would say, it’s like an exchange. Going back to zero and restart a life is not easy, but if I don’t want to lie about myself anymore, then I have to accept all the consequences. And I have never, ever asked myself why was I born gay in China, I’m just happy I have a choice and I’m in Sydney now, right?” Her attitude towards life is the perfect interpretation of what we called the Doctrine of the Mean (Chinese: 中庸) in Chinese. She accepts who she truly is, and perfecting herself without much complaint.

Moreover, Yaoyao joined the Mardi Gras Parade this year, which is a huge step for her. She participated in the event as a member of the group Angel Shanghai and was in the No.135 float that day. She acted very shy during the interview, and not willing to let me take a picture of her. But she sent me several pictures of her on the float later and said it was one of the best memories and the most proud moment of her in recent years.

Yaoyao is standing on the Mardi Gras float with other members from the Angel Shanghai. Copyright holder: Yaoyao.

When life is settled down, and she doesn’t need to worry about ‘bread’ anymore, it is time for her to think more about her love life. Yaoyao and her girlfriend have been together for three years. This girl just graduated from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology last year.

However, their reunion is another long-term plan because of the realistic problems. Yaoyao is not an Australian citizen yet, even though her husband holds a skilled independent visa himself, she doesn’t want to divorce him and apply for the same-sex immigration with her girlfriend immediately to draw any unnecessary attention form the immigration department.

“For us, it is good enough knowing that Australia accepts same-sex immigration.” she said with a big smile on her face, “We never stop working on it, but who knows what is the next, maybe it’s the same-sex marriage. And I genuinely hope fewer and fewer people in China have to experience a fake marriage like I do. As you can see, it brings endless trouble.”