Personal point of view of Chinese impact on Sydney from an Egg (Chinese on the inside, White on the outside)
I love celebrating Chinese New Year and try to get together with friends and family to go to yum cha and attend festivities around Sydney, especially given the prestige of it’s Chinatown.
My father looks Chinese and sounds Australian – Australian born Chinese – but I look Caucasian and have always liked being able to say I’m part Chinese. I even had a Chinese themed wedding.
This year my husband is part of the crew constructing installations around the city in reverence to this year’s Chinese Year of the Dog. So we feel particularly connected to the event.
Interestingly, currently China is high on the agenda in Australia for other reasons.
The latest impact of the Chinese boom economy is apparent with the influx of foreign investment and the increase in the number of top-end cars driving the streets. Housing prices are ridiculously out of reach for locals and even if you are in the market then you can’t move because of the cost of upgrade.
Some might call this paranoid except that it has been reported in the newspapers that the Chinese often don’t appear to know how to bid at a property auction or care, leaving their hands raised while the price goes up to millions over the reserve and the rise is set to continue (SMH).
Since starting a family in Sydney, we have been pushed progressively west in search of affordable housing. This has not facilitated purchasing a property but merely to stay in a rental where we would like to raise our kids but not quite with enough space to grow. That would require another shift further west, which is further from work and school.
Talking to other families who managed to purchase homes before the big boom, they are now tied to their places. Even if they sold up to realise the incredible gains, they could not purchase in the area nor upgrade to supply space for the family to grow.
When people protest about this, people may be quick to judge and claim racism. As a colleague of mine so eloquently said, (paraphrased) ‘The job of the government is to act in the interest of the local populous’ which doesn’t seem to be happening.
I can’t claim to know how to fix it but the current climate is not helping the generalizations of anti foreign sentiment. This is affecting all Australian residents.
Do we really want to clog the roads more with commuter traffic so we can go to work or work longer hours to afford to stay where we are, all the while spending less time with our families? Or do we need to uproot families in order to have affordable living instead?
I’m lucky in that I re-trained to a profession that will help to pay the bills. But even with that prospect, a close family member recently commented, “You’ll never own a house in Sydney!” I, of course, rejected that idea but what if that’s the reality?
Many would say ‘Why do you want to live in Sydney?' and it’s a good question. There are always pros and cons to living anywhere and we made our choice, maybe when we were more optimistic long before the latest boom. Now that two of our children are in high school, this limits our options for the moment, but I actually love aspects of what Sydney, including Chinese New Year.
So I am going to focus on the fun things that city living can provide for now.
Gong Hey Fat Choy! ...ironically means 'Happiness and prosperity!'
In Mandarin: /gong-sshee faa-tseye/
In Cantonese: Kunghei fatchoy /gong-hey faa-chwhy/
image 1 © EK Wills - installation to be part of this year's display in Dixon St, courtesy of Pink Cactus and City of Sydney
image 2 real estate agent sign in our suburb
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