It's the Chinese year of the dog. Who gives a rat's? Presumably the Chinese. SBS (Should Be Shit-canned) Television tells us Chinese New Year has now been celebrated in Australia for over twenty years now. Given that the Chinese first arrived here lured by gold in the 1850s and 1860s, this can only mean that for over twenty years CNY celebrations have been fueled by public money - your money. Before this eventuality, when the event was dependent on Chinese money alone, it evidently was not all that important to them judging by its being so low key as to be almost invisible - perhaps a lion dance and a few fire-crackers exploding in Chinatown.
SBS also tells us, boasts actually, that the CNY in Australia is the most celebrated (probably meaning most costly) outside of China. This is extraordinary. It means we outdo Chinese strongholds such as Singapore, Malaysia (where the Chinese are officially discriminated against), Indonesia (where they are simply hated), Brunei (plenty of money here for fireworks) and Thailand which hosts the largest of any overseas Chinese communities. Thailand, however, being a rigidly monocultural country even though home to a host of ethnic minorities would not be impressed by any of them becoming overly enthusiastic in celebrating their differences. This is of course the polar opposite of the situation in Australia. "You're holding a celebration of your own unique culture? Fantastic! How much money do you need?" In 1991, Stephen J Rimmer, a senior economist working for the Federal Government, calculated the annual cost of multiculturalism to be at least $7.0 billion. The current figures are probably locked away in drawer somewhere marked TOP SECRET.
An old truism has it that you can tell who holds power by noting who can't be criticized. Similarly, it's easy to tell which competing ethnic group in Australia holds the most power by how much money it sucks from the tax-payer. By this measure, Aborigines, with the billions wasted on them year after year via exploitation of our pathological White guilt, and of course being special, are streets ahead in the game. The Chinese, although being a million strong thus out-numbering the special group at around three to one, are behind, but not be far. As just one example, ever seen the "Chinese Garden" at Darling Harbour? Which other ethnic group gets its own obscenely expensive garden in one of the most prime locations in the country?
Another highly impressive Chinese Garden exists in the NSW town of Young, once known as the gold-strike area of Lambing Flat. It was "established to recognise the contribution of the Chinese community to the settlement of Young in the 1860s and to the ongoing contributions of the Chinese community to Australia as a Nation." [italics mine] (www.visityoung.com.nsw)
The Chinese contribution to Young was no more than their flocking to the area maddened by gold fever, and the real reason for the garden is to permanently apologise to Chinese in Australia ("Australian Chinese" not being used because it is an oxymoron) for, according to the official narrative, the heinous way in which they were treated by White gold-miners, essentially in a series of six anti-Chinese riots in which many were injured. It is presented as an early example of vile Australian racism notwithstanding that racism hadn't yet been invented. If a tree falls in the forest and there is no-one to hear ...
Conveniently dropped down the memory hole is the real reason for the riots which was that the White miners were incensed at the Chinese practice of picking over areas where the spade-work had already been done, essentially stealing their labour. A major plus though came out of the riots; they led to a Chinese restriction act being passed by the NSW colonial government. A similar act had already been passed in Victoria, reeling under an invasion of gold-hungry Chinese although the initial efficacy of these acts were at best marginal as the Chinese simply sailed to South Australia from where they trekked overland to the gold fields. It was long term that the demonstrated antipathy and open conflict between Chinese and Whites proved their worth. Being in no doubt of the time-bomb being created, one of the first acts passed by Australian parliament prohibited all non-white immigration - the White Australia policy which however never existed in name.
For evidence for the amount of money being thrown at the the CNY, one only has to look at the justification being given for it, which is that it is an investment. It's argued that the money spent is more than repaid in tourist dollars. A similar argument is made for the amount of money incinerated every New Year's Eve in Sydney. Both are specious, The fireworks loving tourists would probably be here anyway or have timed their trip, especially from the icy north, to coincide with the over-the-top display. The CNY argument is even loopier, as loopy as hordes of Aussie tourists trooping off to the People's Republic to watch the Melbourne Cup on television. If anything, the Chinese visitors here have timed their trip to include the celebrations foolishly provided from the public purse in sunnier climes.
Another possible reason exists for our lavish spending on the beginning of the Year of Whatever, and that is too remain sweet with our big Asian customer and even bigger provider of most of the junk we consume. A little cosying up can never go astray. But it would not be straying outside the realms of possibility to nudge this argument one step further by asserting that our progressive ramping up of our love of the CNY is a form of tribute, given that our relationship with China is one of growing suzerainty. For those not familiar with the term, here is the definition given in the Concise Oxford Dictionary: "Sovereign or State having some control over another State that is internally autonomous". In the days of China being the Middle Kingdom, it was the suzerain of many states in its sphere of influence. As a way of preventing that influence becoming too interfering, the stood-over states would regularly make tribute in the form of treasure.
In our modern version, we don't have to transfer the treasure; we just throw it around here in a way that causes our suzerain to smile.
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