Indian community leadership in Sydney

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Amitabh Bachchan Ji: we need your assistance!

Amitach Bachchan photographed by Studio Harcou...

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We have a great admiration for Mr Amitabh Bachchan AKA Amit Ji. I have even more admiration for him because “CHHORA GANGA KINARE WALA” is from Allahabad and I am from Banda which is the adjascent district in Uttar Pradesh. He has some relatives in Banda too. I was in class 6 or 7 when he visited Banda. I was a kid then but I remember this very well. He visited a school called “Arya Kanya Intermediate College, Banda” whose principal was Mrs Indira Rajan who I believe is his relative. The function was huge and I remember almost whole Banda district [few lakhs] came out to see him. That is how popular he is!

Amit Ji is popular all over the world. He is an icon and we all are genuinely proud of him. We were very happy to know that he was going to be awarded a “Doctorate” by a Queensland University but unfortunately he could not accept it. We understood his reasons. We even agreed with him then. We know he is a great man and his heart beats for our great motherland, India and its people, irrespective of where ever they live.

Indian international students have chosen Australia for their training/education and we have around 97000 students in Australia. They are spread around the country but most are in Melbourne and Sydney. They have several issues and some of them have been assaulted/robbed. Things have quietened down to a large extent but their problems have not disappeared completely. Some of our Indian students have to go through  very stressful times which could be due to so many issues. It is often not very easy to find jobs here either. Worst of  all this is the fact that some of our own Indians exploit them by under-paying and sometimes, not paying them at all. Some of these rascals then try to project themselves as the “leaders” or “NETA JI”. On top of all this, it is not unusual to find out that the school they were in has gone out of business, leaving them in lurch. They thus end up in a hopeless situation. It is these times when they need all the help they can get.

I should know their predicament as I am a medical practitioner and have been involved in providing such support. Some of the students of a Flying School in Australia are having a horrendous time. I have been with them, sometimes right up to midnight, talking, counselling and keeping them in a positive frame of mind. Their stories are indeed heart-moving. We are working through the system here which, akin to the system in India, some times does not work fast enough.

To be able to help our students in all sorts of situations and to provide the emergency assistance, we need “DHAN” or money. While we can collect some money from ourselves which is what we did when we were requested by the Indian Consulate to help arrange accommodation for the relatives of Mr Rajesh Kumar[Petrol Bomb victim in Sydney], we need lot more money to do these things effectively. That is where we need a generous help from every one in Australia and India. Some of this money, thus generated, could be used for something like “India House” which would not only function as the centre for the social/cultural activities for Indian Australians but also as the place for emergency accommodation for those who are in desperate need for such help.

It does not have to be money only. It could be the help in the form of their presence in a function, encouraging Indians to open their heart and purse. While “purse” is the right approach for our Indian Govt of PM Mr Manmohan Singh which would allow the Indian Consulate to have some money to help the students, the “Heart” would be sufficient for our Icon, Amit Ji.

It would be wonderful and helpful if Amit Ji were to agree to visit Australia, not only to take the “Doctorate” but more importantly, to participate in the Indian community functions in Melbourne and Sydney to help generate money for “Indian students’ Emergency Assistance and Benevolent Fund”.

Knowing Amit Ji for what he stands for, I am quite hopeful that he would respond quickly and positively. 

 Amit Ji, we need your help, counselling and encouragement!

We hope you would not disappoint us!

Dr Yadu Singh

Sydney, Australia

singhyadu@gmail.com

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Dear Indian Community leaders in Sydney,……….

Dear Indian community leaders in Sydney

With the exposure of rorts/scams through the Australian media recently, a significant damage has happened to the image of our community. We can not be happy about it as it is about us.

For obvious reasons, we will have to do something about it.

A beginning has to be made to mend/repair the harm to the image and standing of out community.

I propose that;

1. we do not encourage the participation of those members of our community who are known to be involved in the exploitation of students or are parts of the scams/rorts, in the social functions/gatherings.

2. we do not support the business owners who fall under the category 1.

3. we have a meeting of community minded people and those who have impeccable integrity with good reputation soon. I propose the UIA president to preside this meeting.  

4. we identify those people quickly who are operating as the leaders but have a clear conflict of interest in those matters and ask them to take a back seat.

5. we help establish the system which is there to help our students and other people when they are in desperate needs for the help. This should include the establishment of a Benevolent Fund.

6. we support UIA to grow and become an effective organisation by discussing, debating, reforming by bringing out the required changes. UIA Constitutional review is long overdue.

7. we encourage UIA to become a more open and inclusive organisation by co-opting well-meaning and capable people from outside UIA in its committees.

8. we take a stand against the rorts/scams and ask Australian Gov authorities to stamp out these activities quickly.

9. we start identifying people with leadership qualities and help them reach the places of influences including political offices ie MLAs/MLCs/MPs.

10. we re-energise the leadership by taking a back seat voluntarily if we have been leaders for a long period and have not been contributing meaningfully and encourage others with abilities to take the leadership roles in our associations.

11. we work actively to promote the pan-Indian identity of Indians and discourage the regional identities in Australia.

12. we do everything to promote a better understanding/integration among Indian Australians with themselves and with Australian community in general. The distrust has to to go.

13. we work effectively and collaboratively to encourage SBS TV to have the programmes on India/Indian people, based on our numbers, as is the case with other communities.

14. we and Indian Govt Missions work collaboratively to have a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a prominent place in Sydney and Melbourne.

Let the seniors guide us in our goals!

The community has to grow and we have to grow with it!

Let the debate begin!

Kind regards

Dr Yadu Singh

Sydney/04-09-09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community members will be able to write letters, suggesting what our leaders should or should not do.

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New thinking and new beginning for the Indian community in Australia in the aftermath of Indian students’ troubles and media exposure: a time to show true leadership!

Hello every one!

We all know what was happening and who was doing what in regards to the International Indian students. We know about the rorts/scams. We know how our students were exploited by many including Indian people. We know how they are having a horrible time after some of the schools have closed down or about to close down. There is a general uncertainty around them. It is a very difficult time for them.

Indian Australians have had a great reputation for their standards and conducts. Recent exposure of the scams/rorts in regards to international education has undermined our reputation to some extent.

We all know that the overwhelming majority of our community members are decent people with impeccable character. After a conference recently, I and some of my friends went out with some of our Australian friends. We had the usual banter but the discussion did go to the students’ problems. Someone did mention that they were surprised with the rorts/scams involved in the international education and our people. These comments were quite mild and did not make me feel targeted. They were all friendly people.

When I returned home, I did think about what was said. It is obvious that our reputation has had a hit. Out professional people ie doctors, accountants, lawyers and bankers and also business people are the ones who will probably suffer to some extent.

We do have to take a stock of the situation and do have to do something about it too.

Many things can be done but my suggestions are listed here.

1. We make our voices loud and clear about our condemnation of rorts, scams, rorters and scammers.

2. We demand from the Australian and Indian authorities to deal with these issues with a heavy hand and stamp out such activities.

3. We do not associate with those who are involved in rorts/scams socially or in business matters. Most of us have a fairly good idea who these people are.

4. We ask our Indian Gov agencies in Australia to not associate themselves with these people, directly or indirectly, in any shape or form. They must remain Persona Non Grata.

5. We demand from the Indian Media to not support/promote or do business with people who are involved in rorts/scams. The community and the media have to work together to cleanse ourselves from the activities of some of us who do not have a qualm about doing anything to make money.

6. We start questioning our leaders about what they are doing and be willing to help them in a constructive manner.

7. We expect from the Indian media to question our leaders about their productivity, vision and “conflict of interest”. Shonky leaders need to be exposed, discouraged and excluded.

8. We support the largest Indian association [UIA] after it has set its house in order and reformed itself.

9. We encourage our people by recognising their work, commitment and genuineness and not criticise them for the sake of just criticism. Constructive criticism is good but we need to chip in with our support too.

10. We promote our pan-Indian identity vigorously, instead of getting ourselves too much  into our regional Indian identities. 

11. We do some genuine charity work for general Australian issues/projects to make a statement that we are as Australian as anybody else.

12. We network effectively among ourselves and general Australian community in regards to issues which are of significance to all of us, not only as Indians but also as Indian Australians.

The Indian Australian community has to show leadership.  We have a challenge and this is about our name, image and reputation in this country.The time has come for us to stand up and be counted for the challenge. 

Regards

Dr Yadu Singh/08-09-09

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Is Australia a racist country: Yadu Singh on Channel Seven’s Sunrise

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=1341467&cl=13804821&src=y7lifestyle&ch=
Please have a look at the video which has my interview in SUNRISE/Channel 7.
 
Regards
 
Yadu Singh

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Indian Consul General’s Community committee on Students’ Issues-What we did?

Information

yadu singh1

Indian Consul General’s Community Committee on Students’ Issues, Sydney, NSW was formed at the Indian Consulate on 6th April 2009. It did intensive work and completed its task in a very efficient manner. After accomplishing its mandated task, it dissolved itself at the end of June 2009 and communicated this to the Indian Consulate on 1/7/09.

The committee had Harmohan Walia,Vish Viswanathan, Shubha Kumar, Stanley D’Cruz and Dr Yadu Singh as its members. I was its co-ordinator.

This committee had done following activities;
#met students numerous times.

#organised a students’ forum on 16th May at Strathfield.

#co-organised a students’ forum with UIA in Strathfield on 6th June.

#arranged help to a woman student who was a victim of domestic violence.

#arranged help to 2 women students who were stalked by another Indian co-worker.

#arranged meetings with minister of education, NSW and her senior advisers and students from an aviation school-Work in progress.

#arranged a meeting with the president, NSW upper House [Mr Peter Primrose] and Ms Helen Westwood MLA and students.

#arranged meeting of an aviation school student with consul General [this student gave him his papers].

#arranged a meeting with a community minded lawyer and aviation school students.

#met the mother of a student of an aviation school. This lady’s husband had died only 4 weeks ago due to the serious stress involved in losing the money with the school in Sydney without the required outcome.

#arranged and participated in TV coverage of students’ issues on Channel 7, 9, 10, SBS TV, ABC TV, and Bloomberg.

#participated in the coverage on ABC radio, SBS radio, SBS Hindi radio, 2UE, JJJ, Indian Link radio, Radio UMANG, 2GB radio and SBS Kannada Radio.

#arranged talk-backs on these issues on SBS radio and Radio UMANG [98.5MHZ, Fridays,8-9 PM]

#participated in coverage on SMH, The Australian, Daily Telegraph, other newspapers and AAP.

#participated in the coverage on Indian newspapers in Australia [The Indian, Indian Link, Indus Age, The Indian Sub Continent Times, Indian Down Under].

#participated in TimesNow, NDTV, CNN/IBN, Headlines Today, AajTak and other Indian TV Channels.

#participated in the coverage on main Indian newspapers and PTI.

#involved with some top-grade Australian media programmes with wide audience in getting students’ issues covered.

#arranged funds for the accommodation for the relatives Mr Rajesh Kumar [the petrol bomb victim from Harris Park] within 24 hours.

#met commander Robert Redfern , Parramatta Local area Command of NSW Police several times.

#did what we could do to persuade/help the students when they were on the Harris Park streets for 3 nights.

#participated in the community leaders’ meeting with chairman, Community Relations Commission [CRC] at CRC HQ

#participated in a CRC organised meeting with Indian students at Parramatta RSL.

#participated in the community leaders’ meeting with the Premier, Mr Nathan Rees

#Met Indian Consul General and Consul several times

#helped a prominent Indian TV channel with a documentary on true situation in Australia. One of us [Yadu Singh] was the citizen Journalist.

#discussed and formulated the strategy to solve the problems of our students.

#submitted our strategy to the NSW task force and other relevant authorities.

#provided leadership in the matters relating to Indian students.

#gave our after hours and week-ends for students’ work and provided pastoral care to the needy students.

#provided/facilitated medical help to the needy students/their family members.

#met the visiting Indian journalists at the Consulate.
The committee members were all hard-working people with top-grade integrity. They did not have any conflict of interest in the matters relating to Indian students. None of them were involved in the students’ placement in a school [after taking a commission], running of any such school or running of any business which could have a potential conflict of interest in any manner.

All members worked with full dedication, cohesion and team feeling without any undermining of one another. This itself is a rare thing for an Indian group. We are proud of our work and ourselves.

We appealed to every person from Indian background to stay away from any leadership role if they were involved in any activity which did/could create a conflict of interest in these matters but we did not succeed in this matter.

We raised our voice forcefully against the exploitation of Indian students by some Indian employers.

We also appealed to the Indian newspapers and Radio programmes to ask questions from every leader [on students’ issues] about their involvementin any activity which  created a conflict of interest in those matters. We suggested that the  media should start with the questions on conflict of interests when interviewing those leaders.

Dr Yadu Singh
Co-ordinator

Reply to:  singhyadu@gmail.com

PS: The committee had completed its task and dissolved itself at the end of June 2009 by informing the Consulate officially on 1/7/09.

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Committee’s Strategies for Indian Students’ Issues in Australia

No doubt, our students have several significant issues and these issues have been raised with Governmental and Police authorities here. We are very confident about serious actions in these matters. There is no choice here because the International education industry in Australia worth $16 Billion [about $2-3 Billion from Indian students] is at risk if prompt actions are not implemented.

As you may know, a community committee has been formed in consultation with Indian Consul General, Sydney to help tackle these issues. The committee members are Harry Walia, Vish Viswanathan, Stanley D’Cruz, Shubha Kumar and Yadu Singh [Coordinator].Following is a brief description of issues and proposed action plans by the committee.

These issues are;

1.                     Safety and Security:

 

Brief Details:

Several cases of robbery & bashings of Indian Students in Sydney.

 

Proposed Action Plan

 

  • Educate students to REPORT the incidents to NSW Police. Reporting does not affect their VISA.
  • Lobby with Councils for a better lighting around Railway stations, car parks and  alleys etc
  • Lobby with the local councils for the installation of CCTV for surveillance of crimes
  • Liaison with NSW Police re under-cover policing, more visibility and patrolling in hot-spots
  • Educate the students  to be street-smart and be aware of their  surroundings
  • Employers have a duty of care and must arrange them to be dropped off at their apartments if it is beyond 10 PM
  • Explore the issues involving “Work-cover” matters in case of injury/assaults

 

2.                     Accommodation for Indian Students

 

Brief Details:

No assistance on arrival. Many students forced to share crowded apartments and Poor treatment by rental agents

 

Proposed Action Plan

 

  • Lobby with authorities re the provision of 3-6 months accommodation which must be organised by education providers at the market cost

 

  • Lobby with Immigration regarding  this requirement [Visa must not be issued unless accommodation confirmed]

 

3.                     Quality of training:

 

Brief details:

 

Many students are exposed to poor quality of training by educational service providers & shady, shonky or bogus institutions.

 

Proposed action plan:

 

  • Accreditation authorities/bodies to audit the quality of training randomly and frequently
  • Lobby with respective Govt. Agencies to take proper actions on proved cases
  • Surveys from the present/past students re the quality issues [anonymously]
  • Effective and prompt action by DEEWR/ACPET re alternate placement in schools/institutions or refund of the tuition fees if the educational provider goes out of business

 

4.                     Exploitation of Indian students:

 

Brief details:

 

Indian students are exposed to exploitation of all kinds & bullying in part time employment or by educational service providers. They are getting below-award wages in many cases. Some Indian employers are also involved in this type of exploitation.

 

Proposed action plan:

 

  • To advise & educate students about their RIGHTS in Australia
  • To educate them re the appropriate agencies to deal with such matters
  • To encourage/facilitate genuine students’ associations which are largely run by students themselves, not business people with hidden agenda and purposes.

 

  • Indian community leaders to understand the “conflict of interests” concept when taking the leadership role in students’ matters. They must stay out from a leadership role if they are involved with any business involving students [schools or consultancy].   
  • To lobby for establishing an  overseas Students’ Ombudsman

 

5.                              Health Cover, other appropriate insurance matters and  emergency insurance:

 

Brief details:

 

Lack of proper/current Insurances and coverage by some students, particularly when they are on bridging Visa

 

Proposed Action plan:

 

  • Pre arrival Information package-in India
  • Lobby with government agencies re the need for the medical cover and emergency including death insurance.
  • Proper medical insurance including death insurance must be a condition for the Visa and such cover must be current at all times during the stay in Australia

 

6.                Social issues:

 

Brief details: poor communication, insufficient participation in local community events & meetings and poor public behaviour in many cases

 

Proposed action plan

 

  • Communication/education through community Radio, TV, newspapers and website.
  • Encourage participation of students in community events
  • Accept that we are the ambassadors of India
  • Know what is expected in every situation.
  • Encouraging and promoting “when in Rome, do as Romans do” policy for our students
  • www.indianstudents.net.au will be launched very soon with info on Australian rules/regulations, Australian ways, expected behaviour and rights/obligations [There is now sufficient information in these matters in High Commission of India, Canberra and Australian Gov websites]

 

7. Brief details: Indian students are unaware how to deal with emergency situations

 

Proposed action plan:

 

  • To provide information packages on service providers and counselling services
  • Look into possibility of a Community Helpline for non-emergency matters
  • Set up a website and link it to the Indian High Commission/CGI

 

8.   Develop the Indian media leadership group for students’ and community issues. This would give an opportunity to exchange views, form strategies and execute them effectively. India Media group will help in dissemination of the information. We recognise that we need a good relation with Indian and Australian media to be able to do an effective advocacy of Indian students’ issues with various Gov agencies and relevant stake-holders.

 

9.   To set up an INDIAN Students’ Emergency assistance and BENOVALENT FUND

 

10. To seek actively sincere and genuine community members and students for the continuation of the outlined tasks. Most times, Indian community members are aware about the exploiters from our own community. We must take it as our social/community responsibility to do a social boycott of such exploiters. We believe that exploitation of Indian students by Indian community members is the lowest of low and a despicable behaviour.

 

11.  To lobby for some transport concession.It is available all over Australia except NSW and Vic. It would encourage more use of public transport which might also reduce the assaults/robberies of students.

 

12.  To bridge the gap between Indian students and established Indian Australians by reaching out to Indian students, inviting them to social gatherings, mentoring them and providing help whenever practicable/possible.

 

 

 

 

Dr Yadu Singh

Co-ordinator

singhyadu@gmail.com

 

**PS: 29/8/09

[1]. The above mentioned committee had prepared its report and forwarded its recommendations to the relevant authorities.

[2]. After completing its job, the committee had dissolved itself at the end of June 2009 and communicated its decision to the Consul General on 1/7/09.

[3]. This report is being published with the purpose of making the community aware of its contents.

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Media Grandstanding would not help Indian students in Australia:comments on FISA’s 10 point charter.

MEDIA grandstanding must stop: FISA is making impractical and irrelevant demands.

We are concerned about impractical and irrelevant demands which FISA seems to be making. We have seen their 10 point charter and considered it carefully. We see some serious problems in their thought-process and offer following response point by point;

1)  Free two weeks board to welcome Indian students:
If Melbourne’s 100,000-strong Indian community gave each student 2 week’s free boarding it would help them find their feet in a new country. (Note: the City of Darwin has launched borders without borders program with the general Australian community along these lines. Sure the Indian community can help with free accommodation). Together we can help students settle easily as many professional Indians have large homes with empty rooms.

 

OUR RESPONSE:  It is not practical and realistic to expect established Indian Australians to provide boarding for any number of weeks to Indian students. How can one provide such boarding when they do not even know them? There is no justification for such a ridiculous suggestion.   FISA’s suggestion is nothing but media grand standing. This type of suggestion is not going to solve the accommodation issues which students face in Australia.  It is our belief that education providers who make money from these students must arrange accommodation for the initial 3-6 months at a market cost. This would allow these students to get used to the system here and give them sufficient confidence to be able to find the appropriate rental accommodation.

2)     Donate to the FISA victims of crime fund
Indian migrants are one of the richest migrant groups in Australia. Indian businesses and professionals can afford to donate generously to the FISA victims of crime fund so that victims like Sravan Kumar who was savagely attacked in his home in Glenroy are looked after properly.

 

OUR RESPONSE: FISA is not able to think beyond media grand standing. Any Victim of crime fund will never have sufficient money to cover the medical expense of the nature which Sravan Kumar needs. The ICU fees for one day could be something like $5000 and it could go for more than $100000 for one victim. No community can and will be able to arrange funds of this nature. Making such suggestions is completely unrealistic. Expenses on the treatment for a Victim of crime must be covered by the Gov/Medicare which is the case with the Victim of petrol bomb attack in Sydney. We believe that every student must maintain valid, appropriate and current medical cover insurance for a situation when they need treatment due to injuries or illnesses. This is not the case with many students presently. Ongoing and current medical cover insurance must be a condition for the continuation of the VISA.

 

 

 

3)    Free medical checkup from Indian doctors
The local Indian community has thousands of medical doctors and medical specialists. By offering free medical checkups to students we can ensure they are looked after health wise while they are here. This will also ensure a point of contact that is badly needed.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Medical doctors will/do provide free medical check-ups in some situations but this is not going to be the solution which FISA seems to be suggesting. Medical doctors cannot provide free treatment in case of admissions in ICU etc and cannot provide free medicines. As before, FISA’s suggestion is completely unrealistic and is indicative of media grand standing.  Again, we believe that every student must hold a valid, current and appropriate medical cover insurance while in Australia and this must be a condition for their VISA. If they have this cover, they do not need to depend on the charity from anyone.

4)    Free legal advice from Indian lawyers
the local Indian community has thousands of lawyers. By offering free legal service the established Indian community can help students on critical issues. Indian lawyers could also join together to lodge human rights cases against Victorian and Australian governments, education institutions and immigrations agents who are ripping off many students with false claims and promises. Lawyers could also help lodge disputes for unfair treatment and discrimination at work.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Free legal assistance from Indian Australian Lawyers and free service from every Indian Australian for our students would be great but is not going to happen. This suggestion is completely impractical and unrealistic. Our students are getting ripped off by so many and they include agents in India, some education providers  and some immigration agents but we cannot see that our lawyers or other professionals would provide free services at all times. We believe that Federal Gov must establish an Ombudsman immediately to deal with these issues. Decisions from the Ombudsman cannot be challenged in a court. FISA must stop media grand standing. 

5)    More student Hotlines in all Indian languages
we need all community groups to chip in and establish hotlines in all Indian languages. These need to be staffed with qualified counselors. Most students look to the Indian association that speaks their language. Few have heard of FIAV or other umbrella groups.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Helpline should be in English language and not in Indian languages. All students are able to speak and understand English which is a condition of their VISA. Our students need to integrate. Nobody is going to start help lines in all Indian languages. It would be impossible to arrange funding for such ridiculous ideas.  We leave FISA and FIAV to sort out their turf war in Melbourne. What is the stand of FISA in Sydney where they are part of an umbrella group but not chairing the students’ committee of that umbrella group? They were nowhere to be seen when our committee and that umbrella group held a combined meeting recently. Despite FISA and that Umbrella group’s public stand against the Rally in Sydney, they did not follow their words.

6)    Safety watch committees 
Local established Indian groups could adopt a station to provide community or neighborhood watch committees. If middle class and educated people are at stations at night then the risk of attacks will be reduced. Police are more likely to listen to wealthy professional Indians than students. In addition these safety watch committees can report back to Police and work to reduce poor lighting and other hazards at stations in the poorer suburbs.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Safety watch by established Indian Australians is not the solution. This suggestion is ridiculous. FISA seems to come out with immature, impractical and inappropriate suggestions. We do not need a parallel security apparatus for Indians in Australia. We are part of the same Australian community and our problems will need to be solved within the holistic approach to safety/security issues. We do need to put sufficient pressure on the Governments/Police to intensify the patrolling, under-cover policing and adopt proactive measures to stop the crimes against our students.

 

7)    Political power – the great Indian vote boycott
Established Indians have huge political power given that they live in large numbers in marginal seats in the Melbourne’s more affluent east. By refusing to vote for the major Liberal and Labor parties until action is taken to ensure students safety they can send a powerful message to state and federal government. Established Indians should boycott voting for major parties until students’ demands are met and their security assured. Politicians are power hungry and will meet our demands if they know established Indians are boycotting their parties. By boycotting both parties, we will also stop the state and federal opposition’s ‘political play acting’ and get them to vote for real changes in parliament for Indian students.

OUR RESPONSE: The suggestion of boycotting the main political parties is a crazy idea. We, in fact, need to join them and participate in the political process in Australia. We will be more effective if we join them. FISA guys, please get real. Indians in Australia do not subscribe to a victim mentality and we do not want any of us to adopt a victim’s mentality. We need to analyze, debate and formulate a proper strategy to stop the crime against our students. We must accept that some crimes will continue to happen as they happen against non-Indians.

8)    Public shaming of community rip off merchants
in many cases landlords, bosses, immigration agents and education institutions are ripping off our Indian students. Indian community groups need to name and shame these people who are bringing the reputation of Indians in to disrepute and exploiting Indian students. Each community groups could publish the name of ‘rip off merchants’ on their websites so that students know exactly who they should avoid.

 

OUR RESPONSE: Public naming and shaming of the “rip off merchants” from our or other communities is again an impractical suggestion. It would lead to legal cases and unnecessary legal fees and damages. No individual or association with sane mind will do the public naming or shaming. FISA guys, please get real. Yesterday, the committee of education ministers and federal education minister has announced a helpline which students can call if they have a complaint and they can do so anonymously. They will also be doing a rapid and effective audit of the “Fly by night” schools which have mushroomed in every suburb in Australian cities. These schools need to be audited effectively if Australia wants to continue growing the $16 billion education industry.

 

9) Free food kitchens across Melbourne to help students survive
many students are now unemployed or working for as little as one quarter of the legal minimum wage. (Note: The Sikh Temple in Blackburn in Melbourne’s east currently feeds thousands of students seven days a week and is happy to extend this to other suburbs. But we need more Australian Indians to help in southern, northern and western suburbs.

 

OUR RESPONSE: FISA should remember that they are students and not refugees. Temples should not be converted to Vincent de Paul societies. While community members are able to help on a case to case basis for any genuine or temporary situations, long term free feeding of students would result in too much burden on the local Indian community and might lead into negative effects.  Students are expected to have adequate financial capabilities for their stay in Australia according to student Visa conditions. It is not a bright idea to expect the Indian community and temples to provide free food seven days a week for the rapidly growing student population. In addition who is going to fund this type of “free kitchens for students?” and for how long?

 

 

10) Local Indians to support FISA demands
Established Indians can call their local MPs and lobby them to support FISA 10 point plan for better student safety.
Many Australian MPs are not scared of students because they do not vote and will not take FISA’s demands seriously. These MPs are more likely to address FISA’s student demands if the local voting Indian’s call, email and write to politicians demanding action on student safety. If Premier John Brumby receives 100,000 letters and Kevin Rudd receives 200,000 letters from local voting Indians then they will both act swiftly on Indian student safety.

 

OUR RESPONSE: This is nothing but a cheap publicity stunt and a copy cat of typical Indian politics carried out in Australia in the name of student issues. Both Australian Government and the Indian Government have agreed at the Prime Minister level to take immediate measures addressing student concerns including safety related issues. FISA seems to have run out of ideas in getting the local support for their “10 point” demands and it is a joke to think that Kevin Rudd will act only after receiving 200,000 letters. The Indian community will be a laughing stock even if a few members support this funny idea of sending mass mail.

 We urge FISA guys to think through anything before jumping with suggestions which are laughable and unrealistic. FISA guys need to discuss with others before going on media grand standing with half-cooked and ridiculous ideas.

 

Indian Consul General’s Community Committee on Indian Students’ Issues

Sydney, NSW

PS:[1] This was the response we gave to Indian Link newspaper which asked the committee to provide its response/views in regards to the FISA’s 10 points charter.

[2]Please note that the above-mentioned committee had completed its job and provided its reports/recommendations to the relevant authorities. It had then dissolved itself at the end of June 2009. The committee had communicated its decision to the Consul General on 1/7/09.

Dr Yadu Singh, Sydney, Australia

Welcome to my site!

Let me introduce myself. I live in Sydney, Australia.  I am also a Physician or Internal Medicine specialist with MD. I obtained my basic medical degrees and training [MBBS and MD]  from the prestigious medical institutions in India. My specialist training as a cardiologist was in Australia which led to FRACP [Fellow of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians].  I work as cardiologist in Sydney, NSW.

In addition to being a doctor, I have a keen interest in any matter which has anything to do with Australia, India and Indian-Australians. I consider myself well-informed about what is happening in Australia, India and the World. I love my community, which includes not just Indian Australians, but also all Australians, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion and gender. I am in the community work and leadership because I enjoy doing it and wish the best for the community. It is definitely not for any personal benefit.

This Blog is not about medicine. This is all about my political and social views on a variety of relevant issues. I urge you to not drag my profession while debating with me on political/social views. I am not a member of any political party. I am a keen observer of politics, however. I am often a social and political commentator, and my comments are often sought by the media.

Australia is my home since 1991. I live in Australia physically, mentally and socially. Australia is my “Karm Bhumi or Place of work”, but India will always remain my “Matra Bhumi or Birth place”, with a significant emotional bonding, and a place deep inside my heart. I love Australia and India both. I support Australian cricket team in every match except when they play with the Indian team. When that happens, I become neutral and rejoice with either winning team! [Just kidding!].

I identify myself as an Australian when choosing between Australian and any other identity as I share my value system with Australian value system and Australia is my home. When dealing with regions, religions or languages from India, I am an “Indian” first and anything else much later. I love India dearly as it is the place of my birth, but I love Australia no less because it is a great country and it has given me so much. I have no doubt that Australia is a great place to live and work, and Australians are fantastic people. Australia has my total loyalty!

Unlike some, I do not believe that Australia is a racist nation, although I recognize that there are some people who hold racist views, just like some people in any other country of the world. Such people are however a tiny minority. Vast majority of Australian people, like any other country, are fair-minded people. Systems, rules, Laws, regulations and Governance in Australia are not based on racism or racist agenda.

I wish to see Indian-Australians to be well-integrated among themselves and within Australian general community socially and politically. I want to see Indian Australians in the state and federal parliaments. I will not support an Indian Australian politician however if he/she is not a good person, lacks ability and if there is a better alternative candidate in the contest, irrespective of race, religion or gender of that candidate.

I am a strong advocate of good Australia-India relations. I want to see these relations go to newer heights.

I am comfortable with people who have integrity and decency, irrespective of their race, religion, gender or political views, but  I detest those who exploit vulnerable people like students and new immigrants. I am not a fan of those who do not have any idea or understanding of “conflict of interest”.

I am a strong believer and a supporter of the multiculturalism and Multicultural Australia. To put it simply, multiculturalism to me is about freedom to practise and enjoy my own culture, enjoy other cultures, let others enjoy their own cultures and to integrate with the general Australian culture, ethos  and values, which must always remain supreme. I believe in integration, not segregation. I like good and decent people from all sections of the Australian society, irrespective of their race, religion, beliefs, culture or political persuasion.

I have been active  in the community over the years. Details of my community work can be found here.  http://tinyurl.com/7opu4tv

ABC Radio National Video about me is here. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fradionational%2Fvideos%2F10154646233077378%2F&show_text=0&width=560

ABC Radio National Audio “How one immigrant fell in love with Australia” is here: http://ab.co/2f9zQfe

ABC article is here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-25/indian-doctors-immigration-experience-he-learnt-about-a-fair-go/7960734

I encourage you to go through my Blog posts and make comments, if necessary. I want to network with you and encourage you to join me via Twitter, Facebook or  this Blog.

I recognize that you may not agree with every thing I say, have said, do, or have done. Irrespective of that, I encourage you to join me in debating on these matters, provided you have something positive to contribute. I am reasonably open-minded and have learnt to see merits in a well-argued point of view. I value your views, as long as you identify yourself while making your comments. I respect even those views which are not aligned with mine, provided they are advancing a debate on a topic. I believe that diversity of views and opinions is a positive thing for the community. I believe in the concept of “agree to disagree” when we are unable to have the same view on a subject. 

I am keen to network with people from wide spectrum of fields, using face to face interactions and social media.

I can  be reached via Email  dryadusingh@gmail.com, Twitter  www.twitter.com/dryadusingh, Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/DoctorYaduSingh, Facebook personal profile www.facebook.com/dryadusingh and Linkedin http://au.linkedin.com/pub/yadu-singh/52/581/864.  

Thank you for visiting my site.

With best regards

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/Australia

www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

http://www.facebook.com/DoctorYaduSingh

www.facebook.com/dryadusingh

http://www.linkedin.com/in/dryadusingh

(Edited 11 May, 2021)

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Indian students in Australia:Fix the ills of international education!

There have been several reports about the assaults of the Indian students in Australia. These attacks have been called “Racist attacks” by the Indian media in India and some people in Australia. I do not agree with the “racist tag” for these attacks. I, like others, however condemn them and have asked the Police authorities to take effective actions to stop these attacks. 

The students’ issues are multi-dimentional and the stategy to tackle them has, by logic, to be multi-dimentional.

Following write-up will describe what should be done.
FIX THE ILLS OF THE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA
 
31/7/09
 
You would have seen what was in the INSIGHT [SBS] and FOUR CORNERS [ABC] about International education recently. You would have also seen what was published on this matter in SMH and The Australian recently. Whatever is there is not pretty in regards to the International education. Rorts and scams are aplenty. Exploitation of students is the rule rather than the exception. Exploitation is happening in multiple fronts, starting from the agents in overseas countries and going to the schools and employments in Australia. There is no guarantee which certificate is genuine and which is worthless. International education schools have been called “Visa factories”. It has attracted headings of the nature ” A racket no one dares name”. It is really shocking and bringing a very bad name to Australia. Anybody who has a conscience must be getting agitated. I certainly am.
 
 It is about the time that we say “Enough is enough”. Not only the Aust Gov and its regulatory bodies must act but we the Indian community must act too.  If nobody acts, we risk the good name of this country itself getting a serious beating. It is not at a stage yet , I hope, that it can not be saved if the Gov agencies act decisively. We chose to live in Australia because we love to live here. If we love this country, then we ought to do everything which will not allow anyone to tarnish the good name of “Brand Australia”. We can never forget that this is the country where we have enjoyed and are enjoying our success and it is the country which our children will enjoy in future.
 
For our children’s sake, we do not want to have a situation that our education is looked down upon as useless when our children go for jobs all over the world. Some of our children would go and work all over the world as the the world has become a global village. Australia is a great country and we must not allow anyone to make it otherwise.
 
I have been in discussions with a large number of people from our background in recent days. I have also been talking with non-Indian Australians on these matters. It was gratifying to note that there was a general consensus about what needs to done in regards to International education.
 
In summary, it is about us including Aust Gov agencies, doing everything to maintain the good name of Australia and its brand recognition. It is also about maintaining the integrity of the Australian education and Immigration systems.
 
We will be able to do so if;
1.Australian Gov and its regulatory agencies do their jobs in exposing, investigating and prosecuting those who are involved in rorts and scams

2.Australian media exposes the rorters and scamers vigorously irrespective of who is involved

3.International students are guaranteed the education which they were promised when they signed the contract after understanding our system from authentic sources, before getting the Visa at the Australian embassies/High Commissions which is further followed by a verifiable and mandatory orientation here at the schools about Australian systems, ways, rules, regulations, what is On and what is not On

4.International students are placed in other relevant schools or refunded their money ASAP if they are unable to receive the quality education

5.Australian Gov and its regulatory agencies work ruthlessly and systematically in ensuring a good quality education for international students

6.Australian Gov works closely with Aust Universities and Overseas Governments in regulating the conducts of the education agents, operating on behalf of the educational providers

7.Australian Gov and its regulatory agencies consider the issues of infra-structure and capacity before giving permission for schools to enrol students and then monitor these issues randomly and frequently

8.International education and permanent residence visa are de-linked in an effective way by reversing some ill-advised changes brought in by Howard Gov around 2005

9.We have an international students’ ombudsman system for these students to go to if they have a problem with the schooling or employment as the legal system is very expensive in Australia.

10.Visa conditions are effectively policed as many work for far more than what is allowed

11.Australian police does effective policing in regards to crimes against international students by following the culprits/criminals vigorously and by being proactive rather than reactive

12.we, the Indian community approach and encourage international students to mix and mingle with the general “established” Indian community and by being the mentors to them in the new environment

13.we, as the community, take the initiative to establish an Indian international students’ benevolent fund to provide assistance to these students in certain well-defined emergency situations. The contributors for such funds must include students themselves, schools/universities, Australian Gov, Indian Gov and Indian community, knowing that there are no free lunches

There is some significant justification for a separate ministry at the federal/state levels for International education when this is generating more than $15 Billions which is number 3 earner for our economy. It is worth thinking about.

Assistance by the education providers in locating the appropriate accommodation for the initial 6 months and some subsidy for the transport would be other issues which should be considered.

We also need to make it mandatory that every student is maintaining the valid and current medical cover during his/her stay as the medical treatment is very expensive in Australia.
 
As far as we the Indian Australians are concerned, we must resolve to not socialise with the rorters and scamers from our own community. It should not be difficult as they are tarnishing the good name of our community and we do not want that to happen.
 
We also need to show leadership and tell our Indian media off for calling every assault on Indian students as racist attacks because 1. it is not a true and fair commentary and 2. it is potentially harmful to us. Australia has been projected as a racist country by the Indian media which is completely baseless. Indian media’s coverage has been hysterical, unprofessional and anything but objective. We, the Indian community do not believe that we are living in a racist country.
 
We need to project ourselves as a fair and caring society which we are but we also need to project us as a system which will not allow rorts or scams to succeed irrespective of who the scamers or rorters are. Jail is the right place if the rorter is an Australian resident/citizen and deportation is the fate if that person is a student.
 
Can we do it? Yes, we can. We do not have any other choice because anything else is going to harm the image of the very country which we love. I would even go to the extent of saying that anything else would be “Un-Australian”.
 
I hope that more would be ready and willing to join me in this……. A time has come when we join together and name this racket for what it is. After all, $15 billion dollars [out of which $2-3 Billion is from Indian students] is lot less than the long term harm to Australia and Australians if we do not do something effective to root out the rorts and bring in the fairness in the system for all the parties.
 
Regards
 
Dr Yadu Singh
Cardiologist
Baulkham Hills, NSW

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Indians in Australia:what we must not do?

Hello friends

Please let me introduce myself. I am a cardiologist in Sydney. I am a patriotic Indian and a loyal Australian. I care deeply for our great Indian values and heritage. I also believe that we do need to introspect ourselves from time to time while believing in our great value system. We must learn to criticize ourselves in a constructive way if we wish to achieve greater goals.

I attended a meeting of senior Indians in Hornsby area of Sydney today. Mrs Mira Raheja was the chairperson of this meeting. She is a great lady who must be in her 70s but she is very active. I spoke about the “know your heart and look after your Heart”-basically a cardiac health related talk for our elderly people. It was a well attended meeting. They asked me lots of questions. I enjoyed answering them. It was a fun being there. Thank you Mrs Raheja for inviting me.

We both raised our concerns about the division of Indian community into language and region based groups. We believe it is wrong. There is only one India and we ought to get rid of our narrow identifications. We ought to take the pan-Indian identity. When Dr Death [Dr Patel from Qld] was reported extensively in Australian papers, no body was calling him a Gujarati doctor. He was called an Indian doctor. When the whole world calls us Indian, then why are we promoting the regional identifications rather than the Pan-Indian identification. Our current leaders must think about it. We must not encourage division of our community then pretend to unite them by having something like UIA [United Indian Associations] in Sydney. This is clearly a wrong model for our community. It can remove its deficiencies by opening its membership to all Indian community members and then having the annual and genuine elections. It should encourage such membership and not discourage it by asking $250 membership fees. It can not represent our community by including small pocket associations of some “players” from our community who have been in its governing council [GC] from the day one with not much to show as the output. It is not sufficient to have photographs with ministers and a “mela”. They need to do lot more substantial and get out of the GC after 4 years.  Will they listen? I doubt it.

I believe quite strongly that we have to learn from our history and not make the same mistakes which our forefathers made. Our divisions allowed the foreigners to rule over India for centuries. We must unite and take our due place in Australian political establishment. I and hundreds of my friends in Sydney feel that we must have a genuine “Indian” association which is above the region, language and religion. It must have the representation for whole India and all Indian community. We are “Indians” first before anything else. We would achieve this if we have a good leadership. I do not believe we have a good leadership for Indian community in Sydney because they are too interested in being “Kannada”, “Bengali”, “Telugu”, “Tamil”, “North Indian”, “South Indian” or any other leader for that matter rather than  true “Indian” leaders. We must change this. I hope it happens soon.  If it does not happen, then we must create a true “Pan-Indian” association. More on this later……. and yes, I am interested in your views please. Regards Dr Yadu Singh, Sydney