21
June 2015: My personal journey in Australia ended and it was time to return
back to Qatar. I have encountered many events, analysed the place, people,
situations and the services in general what Australia had to offer. Whilst
there may be many more intricate details available or to be explored in the
future, I have written and shared my thoughts below based on my stay of nearly
one month in Australia.
Government Services:
Our
first trip mandated that we register and enroll ourselves in various government
services. Contrary to my experiences of visiting government offices in India
and the Middle East, Australian experience was “EXTREMELY POSITIVE”. Everybody
listens to you, treats you with dignity, accords respect and most importantly
gives a sense of belonging. At first, most of the government offices we visited
were paperless. Ipads were the norms for personnel working in the reception
area. They carefully enter the purpose of visit, enquire the details and
request you to be seated for the name to be called up. Then, a courteous
government official coming out of the chair, calls up your name and greets you
with respect. Subsequently, we are escorted to his seated area and ensured that
all requirements are completed. What drew me was the fact that these officials
went out of their way to help, assist and ensure there were no hassles in
domain areas not related to them as well. We could have easily been directed to
another department, but then as we lay seated, the official went up to
altogether a different department, enquired the status and was worried that we
were not onboard the medical system despite being 3 days since submitting
applications. The official finally had a sigh of relief when he was told that
the centre in which we registered for medicare was very busy and had a lag of
applications that were supposed to be entered on the system. A week later, we
were up there on the system. I could have easily cribbed and complained about
the slow system, but this is a testament of the fact that human touch in
customer service overcomes any minor negativity. Lack of adequate staff is
visible and, therefore, everyone is encouraged to enroll online for the
services that are offered online. An interesting notice board on all government
offices is - “Aggressive behaviour is not tolerated”. Wow!!! Good for me atleast J else I would have been lost amidst aggressive
humans.
Banking Services:
By
now, we got to know courtesy and politeness are key in dealing with people in
Australia. Please, sorry and thank you are very common words used, for very
basic and simple things. The process was easy too, as I had opened my bank
account from overseas. All I had to do was activate my account and grab my
debit cards. The debit cards experience seemed creepy. Not going further,
considering the security aspect for banking in India and especially the Middle
East, I guess Banking security in Australia needs a lot of improvement. So, my personal rating for this service is –
NEUTRAL. Unlike in other countries, banking is a very costly element in
Australia. Account holders get charged (monthly) for maintaining accounts in
Banks (apart from one bank which doesn’t charge the account holders). There are
no free transactions for with drawls from ATM. Every transaction is charged.
Interest rates are very low for savings accounts. I was wondering if this is
the reason for the ‘no saving’ culture J
Shopping Malls:
Shopping
Malls in Australia is an interesting subject of my Australia visit. As a Middle
East resident, I am used to shopping malls being open till 1am (late night!).
However, Shopping malls in Australia are shut down by 5.30pm in the evenings. I
was surprised to note that the malls are open for only two days till late
night, that too, the late night being 9pm (on Thursdays & Fridays only). The
reason I have been told by some Australian Residents is that it is part of the
Health & Safety Culture (read – Crime Prevention). Oh, gosh! It took me a
week to took me out of this shock. Whilst I still cannot come out of this weird
mall culture, I guess I will have to leave with it.
Entertainment:
As
an avid cricket fan (former), I have heard that Australia is known for Beer.
Rather, Australians are known for their love of Beer, BBQ and the Beaches.
Summer times in general are known to have beaches crammed with people
sunbathing, surfing, swimming and many more! We were there in winter and
obviously the beaches were empty. I guess not the right place to be when
temperature hovers in the range of 0-12 deg Celsius during the day. The little
penguins though were a sight to watch.
Well,
all that is left for the entertainment is the scenic natures beauty, pubs and
the clubs. I am wondering if there is anything else for entertainment except
for seeing, eating and drinking. A paradise for the tourist and avid nature
followers, I must admit.
Society:
Australian
society in general encourages people to be ‘Independent’. Nobody bothers about
what you do, as long as you don’t come in others way. They are helpful when you
seek help though. The numerous helps we received when we were lost in our
navigation to the desired destination was an example.
For
those, especially from India, who are often used to hearing that beggars exist
only in India. Well, be aware that they do exists in Australia too. Again, they
are classified in different terminologies. If I am not wrong, they are called
as ‘Buskers’ in Australia. I have witnessed talented buskers with impeccable acting skills, street dances, musical
abilities – drums, guitar, saxophone, key boards etc performing in an effort to
seek money into the hats they place in front of them. I guess the singers on
the trains or the street performers in India are equally talented. The only
difference lies in the way people behave. The request for money is not assertive
or forceful in Australia.
The
homeless exists too, often accompanied by the trusted dogs. Many of them have
their names and reasons for begging written on cardboards and placed in front
of them. These guys do not perform or even open their mouth. All they do is
show the cardboard expecting a few coins in their hats. I did notice though few
gentlemen offering them food and exchanging words with these homeless people.
The other jobs:
The
lure of the dollar often encompasses the human feelings and strives to
strengthen necessity of earning to sustain a living. Australia, in general,
does not alter the respect to human kind irrespective of the nature of job you
perform. BE it laundy or the cleaning jobs or the waiter jobs in pubs, clubs or
hotels, you are respected in the society for being human. This in the basic
reason for people to take up these jobs irrespective of the education
background possessed.
Competition
is intense, irrespective of the nature of jobs. Voluntary jobs are equally
fierce, as these serve as a stepping tool to gain local experience for the
often job hunting immigrants who are skilled but lack local Australian
experience.
Conclusion:
The
first personal opinion is that it is not AUSTRALIA. It is just Australia,
another country in a different hemisphere on this planet Earth. From an Indian
perspective, Australia offers a diverse range of options just like India. The
cleanliness and the orderliness apart, the only difference between touring Australia
and India would be the Kangaroos. I guess India has Royal Bengal Tigers in lieu
of the Kangaroos. Jokes apart, Australia has varied versions of flora and
fauna, true to its regional existence in the southern hemisphere.
One
major factor noticeable in Australia has been the existence of “Human Values”.
I guess most of the world has seen human values being diminished. But for some
reason, Australia still possesses in my personal opinion a very high respect
for human values.
The
value of dollar is very high in Australia. Every dollar is highly valued. I
guess this is related to the fact that dollar is actually drying up in the
hands of people, with not enough jobs and of course not being paid enough. The
cost of living is noticeably high, but the salaries are strikingly low. This
makes me feel scared though!
Finally,
what did I achieve out of my Australia trip? Well, I seem to love India the
more I explore the world (Incredible, isn’t it!) Second, I have begun to love
Qatar for what it has to offer (Yep!). Third, I did decide though, irrespective
of all my observations and opinions, the ten thousand dollar bill spent
immigrating to Australia can only be recovered by accomplishing the ultimate
objective of Australian Citizenship (Hurray!!!)
So……well;
the Australian journey continues!
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