Looking up at ‘down under’

By Ransiri Menike Silva

Some years ago I had a six-month vacation in Australia with my son and family, which I found not only enjoyable but greatly educational as well.

The first surprise I had was its unimaginable vastness, it appeared to stretch far beyond the horizon, a concept I, from tiny Sri Lanka found difficult to grasp.

Experiencing it at grass-roots level with ‘settled’ Australians (as opposed to the indigenous native community), all the preconceived notions I had carried with me were discarded.

I discovered that it was a country of mixed races and religious faiths where each practiced his or her own religion without hindrance or condemnation. Here equality was practiced by all in their daily lives socially, ethnically and culturally. The Labour sector had its rightful place in society, elevated to a top level and revered as it should be.

Soon after my arrival I was relaxing on the porch with my son and his wife, when they asked me what I thought of that particular furniture set. I told them that they were comfortable good quality stuff and would have cost them a packet. They grinned at me delightedly and said “Nothing! We got them free!” Then they indicated the computer table, the children’s book-case, their trampoline in the garden and other items around the house and told me that they had all been hauled home from a ‘dump’!

The next evening they took me on an educational tour of the various ‘dumps’ around the city.

I could not believe what I saw. Different ‘dumps’ were reserved for specific items. Enormous containers lined the highway at permanent locations, bearing labels; clothes, shoes, household linen, bags, books, glass-ware, utensils, etc, in which people placed (not dumped) used items in good condition, not throw-aways. Others took away what they needed for themselves after diligently rummaging through them.

(During an earlier holiday in England, I had found the same routine in practice there. At a busy intersection I saw a large wire-netting basket affixed to a lamp post into which one could deposit unwanted footwear or take from it what you wished to have. There was absolutely no ‘shame’, Sri Lankan style, in doing so. The open air OXFAM outlet in the nearby public market square also offered the same service.)

Now, back to Australia. Here one ‘dump’ was reserved for furniture while another housed cookers, ovens, refrigerators, washing machines, dish washers and other costly electrical gadgets, all of good quality with little or no damage. No unusable items infiltrated these places, as they were discarded at legitimate garbage dumps.

When an Australian wishes to dispose of an item he does not wish to keep (perhaps to invest in a newer model) he simply deposits it in the appropriate ‘dump’ and drives away unconcerned as to who will retrieve it, because he has cut all ties with it with finality.

So unlike our ‘Sinhala Buddhists’ who are so saturated by ‘Thanha’ (Greed) that they will sell even a hardly usable item for a measly sum than give it away free. Donations to charity is an indulgence aimed at gaining something else in return like publicity, promotion, etc.

I was once helping a Children’s Home by teaching English to a batch of enthusiastic girls (my Australian trip called a temporary halt to it). We would organize an annual sale to collect funds for its upkeep for which we appealed to the public for donations, in cash or kind.

We would sit together, chatting animatedly, to sort out the stuff dumped on our door-step, which was a discouraging task as most of them were unusable and unsaleable – like worn women’s underwear!

Once we opened an enormous cardboard carton to find it teeming with White-ants (Termites), “Kadiyo” and other varieties of vermin that had made their respective homes among the layers of tussore suits packed inside. We learned that they had belonged to the father of the ‘donor’, a retired Government officer, deceased a decade or so earlier and stored forgotten in an unused garage. We did the only thing possible available to us, drag it to the roadway outside the gates to be hauled away by the garbage truck.

I have written about this here, to emphasis the difference in attitude between the ‘westernized’ Australians and the Asian oriented Sri Lankans. ‘Impermanence’ is apparently not a word that exists in the vocabulary of Sri Lankan Buddhists, though the realization and understanding of it has been deeply absorbed by the average Australian. I found this of particular significance in their house-building which I observed on my walks.

One day I would find an unoccupied block being cleared. Next the basic house plan was marked out; porch, sitting room, bed rooms, pantry-kitchen, dining area and toilets, leaving garden space all round. The ‘foundation’ was then raised (not dug as in Sri Lanka!) with brick or stone and cemented or tiled. The dividing walls were of pre-fabricated sheets, only the outer walls being of brick and the roof of tiles to ward off the scorching Australian summer sun. When they moved out they left it in tact, no denuding it of hinges and locks or uprooting plants.

What a contrast from what usually takes place in Sri Lanka. More Australian qualities impressed me. One of the most effective deterrent punishments in practice are the exorbitant fines imposed on even the smallest of misdemeanors. As this is a drastic financial set-back, people are careful not to commit or repeat them.

The environment is kept clean by the civil authorities in an ingeniously effective way. Each householder is compelled to clean up and maintain properly the strip of land outside their property, although it belongs to the state, and monitored regularly by supervisors. Defaulters are first issued a warning, which if ignored invites drastic measures. In addition to being charged in courts and fined exorbitantly, the civil authorities perform the job for them and present a thumping bill. Failure to adhere to either or both punishments can land them in jail!

No towering defensive walls around houses mar the landscape. A short ridge-like affair serves as the property border, and the open gardens, beautifully designed is a feast for the eyes of passers-by. (In fact, I borrowed some innovative ideas from them, which I utilized in my own garden on my return!)

To ensure security the houses have lockable double-doors, the first of strong metal grill and padlock. Then a solid unbreakable one of wood with a sliding glass peep-hole to inspect the intruder. Further security measures advised by the Police are, to inform the local station if one is going away for a few days and also alert your immediate neighbours to the same fact, who will then be extra vigilant. Nothing is fool-proof of course and many quick day-time burglaries take place when the occupants are out marketing or visiting.

Although the average Australian is uninterested in pursuing higher studies, a slot reserved for the Chinese, Indians, Sri Lankans, children are encouraged to read right from the beginning of their primary education. Books suitable for each grade are distributed daily to the children. Those too young to read have to get a responsible adult to do it for them, who has to sign the accompanying form as a testimony to it. Older children are issued an extra one for the week-end, in addition to their daily dose, and as many as they wish for vacation.

A list of ten simple words in large print is issued to each primer to be pinned up on the family refrigerator door, which have to be mastered during a specified period. What a novel and lovely way of introducing a child to reading!

Telecasts are under supervision and control. Innumerable repetitive advertising between the main broadcast is not permitted, only three or four are allowed if I remember right, with none allowed more than once during each show. A poll is held monthly to ascertain the viewers’ opinion. The best ads receive appropriate rewards and privileges while the worst are struck off the list, and the decision announced publicly. (TV channels in Sri Lanka, please take note!)

The Australians also do not vie with each other for superiority in dress, lifestyle, profession, qualifications, wealth, etc., unlike here where it appears to be the chief aim in life.

Australians dress to suit their climate, catering sensibly to each weather change, when ordinary dress and uniforms are changed accordingly. Shorts, open shirt, mini-skirts and other appropriate attire is seen on the streets, in summer when the feet are not muzzled by suffocating socks and shoes but shod in comfortable airy sandals.

Once I was jolted to see a white Australian pounding the scorching pavement bare footed during a searing summer without any apparent discomfort! Wide brimmed hats are a must for school children along with sun screen for protecting the skin. If for some reason the last had not been adhered to when the young children arrive in school, the authorities do so for them.

Shorts and short skirts with short sleeved open shirts and sandals replace their winter uniforms. What a contrast from our own school children baking in the tropical sun in buttoned up collars, ties, socks and shoes. Child abuse is what it amounts to.

Also admirable is their concern for the environment. Nobody despoils the roadside, except in the ‘ghettoes’ housing Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc. Which crime they share with those in UK!

Garbage is stored in the different bins allotted for different items and collected regularly. There are even special sand allocations along the pavement reserved as toilets for dogs and cats. The animals obviously appreciate this concern for their welfare on the part of humans and co-operate in which-ever way they can, for I have observed from my window dogs, cats and even a stray crow using the pedestrian crossing when traffic was at a low ebb! Seeing is believing.

A refreshing sight, gangs of happy school-boy cyclists off on cycle tours during the vacation unaccompanied by interfering adults. Disappointingly the Australians in general are very shabbily dressed, sometimes even inappropriately. Once I spotted a frilly lacy party frock on a see-saw in a public park. Even church-wear is casual, and it is easy to spot them even in other countries. This puzzled me until I read, much later, in a book about Australia that this style had been deliberately created by the early settlers who rebelled and broke away from their British masters to form their own nation. A change in values, life-style and dress were the most effective retaliation against their prim and proper former ‘tyrants’. Seen in that way it is understandable, yet I found it outlandish.

I found that Australia is the only country where true Buddhism has been understood and is being practised by a majority of its people who follow other religious faiths. What a glaring contrast from Sri Lanka where even those who profess to be ordained monks indulge in preposterous behaviour in public. These frauds defame the Buddha and his teachings, destroy the sanctity of our temples and the genuine members of the ‘Sangha’. They preach a contorted form of ‘Dhamma’ revealing their unbelievable ignorance.

Australia is not a perfect place, no country is. From my family I know all about its other side, yet I admire it greatly and glad that I had a chance of experiencing it directly, even going deep down into the earth in a shaft to see an abandoned coal mine!

Have you done that? I am sure not!

So it is Three Cheers for Down Under.