RACIST AUSTRALIA?

Is Australia racist? To a certain extent, quips Anwar Ibrahim...

Was taking a train from Perth Station to Joondalup late last February...

Witnessed a Caucasian boy in uniform taunting a girl...

Might be mistaken, but she looked African by her skin tones, and Muslim by her headscarf...

You live on trees! Yeah, you live on trees!!

No, I don't! I don't!! She responded while shaking her head...

Yes you do!

No I don't!
So, it goes...

Then, riding on a Melbourne city tram along Swanston Street a few days later, I became a witness to a similar antic...

A tall Caucasian looking student, again in uniform, performed an incomprehensible mimic of, purportedly, a Chinese language...

The target of his goading was a shorter Asian looking student... crew-cut, and even a little cocky looking...

I don't speak Chinese... he spewed through clenched teeth, his face, smiling slightly ...

The Caucasian boy persisted...

Shut the f*ck up! The Asian looking boy hissed clearly, still half smiling, teeth clenched, and not looking away...

And to think that they were standing just beside me in a pretty crowded tram along a busy thoroughfare in the city...

Well, on a personal front, I think Australia is fine place to live and work despite these occasional, minor hiccups...

And while we are at Australia, my thoughts switched to an article I read some time ago...

It argued that Aussies are increasingly looking outside their country in search for a university education...

A 'compelling' reason being, Australia's finest university, Australian National University is still only ranked 16th in the world, followed by the University of Melbourne at 22nd by the Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings.

Woah... sitting pretty at number 16th in the world, on top of a massive heap of faceless universities... and still, Australia is feeling uneasy?