Tony Lavis,
It's dimwits like you who are the cause of much racism & other idiotic problems. Imagine a world without the likes of you. One can only dream.

Despite all the huffing and puffing on the illegal immigrants problem
there is no doubt that an invasion has occurred.

Where I live in probably over less than three years I am about to
become a minority.
This is a large Sydney local government area with a fast growing Chinese population.
I don't have access to the number of electors or ratepayers in the
area but it seems likely that it has increased by about 33% in a very
short time. The schools and the trains are about 60% Chinese.

Housing auctions are dominated by Chinese buyers paying prices about
$150000 above the previous level of just a year ago.
These are not poor migrants, and they have very little English.
Two recent auctions in my street were dominated by Chinese buyers.
In one case they paid $750000 for a knock down fibro house and in the
other case they paid $850000 for a 1940s two bedroom fibro house on
a less than good block.

I am beginning to suspect that the Chinese have some sort of scheme
going to get past normal immigration requirements or the government
is sponsoring them.

I don't want to live in a Chinese country.
I want my country back !

Where have you been Bazz, this is nothing new.

In the mid 60s a bloke I knew had a retail business in Petersham Sydney. Over a few years he was squeezed out of his business by his staff. When he could no longer talk to any customers, as none of them spoke English, he had to walk away.

In the late 90s I was using an Endeavor Foundation workshop in Brisbane to do some light assembly work, & to put products with instructions into boxes. For some reason they moved that type of work to their workshop in Parramatta Sydney.

My supply manager went down to sort out a few things. When he got to Parramatta & asked for directions he could not find anyone in the main street who spoke English. None of the 3 taxi drivers at the stand could understand where he wanted to go, & no one in a large furniture store spoke English. He called me to advise he may require another day to get the work done. The new game he was playing called "Spot the Ozzie" to try to get directions, was using up so much time.

I don't think they were Chinese, but they sure were not "Australians". Of course it is worse now, with many parts of our country no go areas for Anglo Ozzies.

Dear Hasbeen,

Gee whiz - poor old Parramatta.
Poor "Anglo ozzies."

When my parents settled in Parramatta around the 1950s -
they didn't have any serious trouble communicating
with anyone in the area - and they learned English very
quickly as well. It may be a question of attitude.
If "Anglo ozzies" are having problems
perhaps the problem lies with the "Anglo Ozzies?"
Just a thought. Of course I should add that my parents
did speak eight languages and not just one. Plus they didn't
expect any one to make any concessions for them - and they
were willing to meet people half-way in their communication
efforts.

cont'd ...

I forgot to mention that when we travelled for two weeks
through Mexico we didn't have a problem communicating
despite the fact that neither of us spoke Spanish and the
locals did not speak English.

Tourists travel through Europe and Asia all the time and they
don't seem to have much of a problem communicating with the
locals - if they're willing to make the effort.

We regularly go to Chinese shops and don't have a problem
to be served to our satisfaction despite the fact that many
of the staff don't speak English. So, it seems to be up to
the individual - as to whether there are problems or not.

The first generation of migrants may have difficulty with
the language, but as history has shown, the next generation
will be better educated and speak more fluently than we do.

I was in a Chinese restaurant in Singapore. There was not a word of English displayed anyplace. However, there were pictures on the wall of the items with the prices in Arabic numerals. We pointed to what we wanted and were served with a smile. It was a pleasant experience and the best meal I had in Singapore. They took my money and didn't seem to mind my ignorance of Chinese.