Being an ABC ie Australian Born Chinese - I have experenced both racism and non racism in regards to the Corona Virus. Here are just some of the mixed reactions I have experienced travelling on public transport between home and work on a daily basis.
1. I am sitting on the train snacking on some corn chips and a bit gets caught in my throat enough for me to slightly cough. There is a group of Indians sitting opposite me and they immediately wrap their scarf and hands over their faces to shield them from my cough ( which I had covered with my hand) - is this pure racism or what? I would hate to know what would have happened to me if I was actually choking to death from my corn chips! That poor man who died suffering from a heart attack - no one came to his aid because people thought he had collapsed from the Corona Virus. Just because I am Asian ( and not necessarily Chinese) it doesn't mean I am from China in fact I actually haven't even been back to mainland China since 1984 - I don't want to and don't intend to ever go back!
2. I was sitting at a bus stop waiting for my bus at Chatswood (just one of a number of suburbs heavily populated with Asians) when a stranger sitting next to me suddenly asked me why I wasn't wearing a mask? I had to explain that initially I did but have given up as it does get hot and not many people are wearing them now whereas initially almost everyone around here was. He was telling me that he comes from Hurstville ( another suburb South of Sydney also very populated with Asians) how people were wearing masks. This stranger's reaction to the Corona virus was the opposite to the Indians on the train and he was happy to chat away with me at the bus stop and on the bus. I actually told him ( which he found quite funny) that I wasn't even a mainland Chinese and even joked about how a customer from mainland China told me straight out in what I can only describe as Manadanese ( it was either very poor Cantonese or very poor Mandarin) that my Chinese was VERY bad. How dare he when he could not even speak either of his native dialects properly nor could he barely speak English.
3. Walking along the concourse of the train station again on my way home from work I was wearing a mask and another stranger suddenly walks upto me and asks why I was wearing a mask. I was feeling a little allergic that day ( not only that day but most days) so put one on as my eyes were watery and my skin was a little itchy. I had to explain how I live on the Pacific Highway and wear a mask as I am quite allergic particularly I have noticed from extreme heat waves and extreme thunderstorms or heavy rain - NOT just because of the Corona virus. I do in fact wear a mask throughout certain times of the year ( I should wear one at all times when I am in Canada as I feel sick waiting around public areas from people smoking cannabis). All my senses are affected by my allergies year round and it has become increasingly worse in the past 2 years so I take precautions.
4. For all I know I could have already caught , carried or had the Corona virus but did not know it as I have no symptoms. Why? because there was a customer who had a school aged little boy with her weeks ago and when I asked him why he was not at school he told me that he had just came back from a holiday in China and was on the school's 14 day recommended self quarantine period - oh great so he goes out shopping and could be a carrier of the Corona Virus infecting the whole of St Ives! There was also another customer whose husband was sick at home and they just returned from an overseas cruise and were suppose to be in self quarantine for 14 days but decided to sneak out to do some shopping - gee thanks for spreading the infection around - how inconsiderate! There is a large population of mainland Chinese living in the lower and upper Northshore so I would not be surprised if I was carrying or am carrying the Corona virus but as I said I have no symptoms to date and fingers crossed I don't get any. I am more concerned about my allergies - the itchy skin and watery itchy eyes and weekly grocery shopping is a challenge for me as I am really allergic to certain supermarkets - I still have not figured out what it is that causes me to have coughing fits in certain large supermarkets but suspect it is the chemicals used in cleaning or the air conditioning hence I have to wear a mask almost year round when grocery shopping.
So Mardi Gras is on tomorrow night and I have decided not to attend the event this year but instead watch it live on tv as I have to work the following day.
Not many people around Bondi Junction wearing masks due to the Corona Virus but Mardi Gras is a big thing in the Eastern suburbs and today I had to travel to Bondi Junction to pay a few bills and pick up a few things. Each year around Mardi Gras, Bondi Junction goes to a bit of trouble to promote it especially the Westfield Shopping Centre there. The rainbow colours representative of the LGBT (or to be really correct and what a mouthful LGBTQIA) community are displayed in all shapes and sizes in and around the shopping centre ( Eastgate the other smaller shopping centre down the road in Bondi Junction a lot more conservative - which maybe due to their current incomplete exterior facelift). I loved the coloured floral arrangement on top of the Westfield Concierge Desk ( sorry forgot to take a photo of it this year again) but here is a photo of just one of the colourful Mardi Gras displays around Westfield Shopping Centre Bondi Junction.
Post Script - it was great coverage live first time on SBS ( How does Courtney Act stay such a glamourous and classy drag queen and as they said " with not a hair out of place", loved what she was wearing & great voice too!) straight after the news around 7 pm but I fell asleep as the live coverage of the Mardi Gras parade finished around 11 pm. I think I fell asleep after 9 pm and woke up just before it ended around 10.45 pm in time to hear the last live duet performance by Conchita Wurst ( Eurovision ) or an
impersonator.
It is not only the Corona virus nor is it the recent bushfires or floods that Australia has experienced that has made me rethink places and events I plan to attend this year but other incidents such as the recent derailment of the Sydney to Melbourne XPT train which killed 2 people and injured 11 others. As a regular passenger on this train service back and forth between Sydney and Melbourne - I am a little scared to use the service now. I know how this popular train service is neglected and about 90% of the time delayed or replaced by a coach service. It is a really scary ride overnight - to make up lost time the train speeds up and at times I feel it is travelling at an uncomfortably fast speed and it is not the smoothest train ride and there is always a blackspot where there is a signalling issue and the train is delayed for anything between 30 minutes to 3 hours. The whole service needs an overhaul - new trains and new tracks with regular maintenance. These trains as I have mentioned in quite a few of my previous blogs are 1980's trains with no charging points or wi fi on board and are diesel trains which are way past their useful life. The government needs to put funding into this sevice and fix it not just patch it up until an accident happens - too late it already has.
