Warning: Immigration screening at Melbourne, Australia.

[+evenstar]

Really sorry to hear that and I think your holiday mood must be dented before you even started.....me too was body searched and shoe removed a few times...initially I felt a little angry because out of so many, they randomly picked and when you are a minority, thought like racism will submerge...but then you can't help it...unless you don't travel at all....just thread it as part and parcel of air traveling now and you will feel better....going forward I don't see this system is going to change unless they are more efficient and better method available.

On side note, my company subscribed to "world check" for Terrorist list and Money Launderer list.....there are hundreds of thousands of names in their database and so many carried the same name.....so if you are one of those then good luck....you will definately get special attention and threadment......I am just wondering are immigrations also subscribed to the same kind of services :think:

what kinda "threadment"?

 

[micah4]

I wonder if those who are booked on tour groups get any of these kind of 'threadment'?

 

[CantikFotos]

Melbourne very racist............At immigration, only a few asians and lots of ang mohs. All ang mohs went thru no problem.

Many people feel the term "ang moh" is racist.

 

[yanyewkay]

Hahaha...
Racism disguised as countering terrorism.

i have to agree with this statement to some extend. Even though Aus is portrayed as a neutral non-racist country, we (less those that choose to ignore its existence) know that it exists. Where the terms such as "yellow fever" and "rice king" would not be as common as as "SPG" and "gwai loh" in sg had racism not existed.

As long as it's backed by the govt, it's ok.
.

this part not really so, just that their bosses laid the guidelines while those in the field play along the rules with an added "personal touch".

 

[yanyewkay]

We have made ourselves one of the major targets, and I am happy for your country that you have not.

according to our leaders, we are one of the targets on terror's hit list. :dunno:

 

[jsbn]

haha ya lor..you never see jsbn before??

Not everybody seen me before. Even those early days Canongraphers one, I think most would have forgotten my face liaoz. ;p

 

[jsbn]

Many people feel the term "ang moh" is racist.

Corey

_______________________________
http://flickr.com/photos/cantikfotos/

How abt stuff like "Chinks" & "Bloody Asian" amongst others? ;p

 

[jsbn]

Melbourne very racist. super bad experience at immigration. any asian going to australia prepared for a beating.

I went to Australia with my wife for 3 months for tour. The immigration officer was damn rude and when I said we were there for 3 months for tour. Immediately, ushered to a special lane. At immigration, only a few asians and lots of ang mohs. All ang mohs went thru no problem. After going into special lane, 2 of us kenna the pasar malam seperately! Kenna search bag, luggage and even read very personal details of my wife diary! asking who is this and that.....i stood up and protested to the immigration officer how can u read people's diary and this ang moh immigration officer yelled at me "SIT DOWN!".

I asked is this required?, they said they wanted to be sure that I did not steal jobs and work as a fruit picker! . I asked them to look at my hands (i am a fat chap) and asked them if i look like a picker - i never even heard of such jobs! even after opening my bag with 2 d70s, 28-70 and 70-200. a few other lenses. They went thru my wallet and saw my gold citibank visa card. asked me how $$$ much on the card.

finally, it was a australian doctor fren who they called and vouched that i was NOT WORKING in australia then they allowed me thru after 2 hours at pasar malam. When i left, another fellow singaporean chinese still there kenna pasar malaam. Damn sad because we are thought to be terrorists!

we were treated my criminals. seriously bad experience going to the down under. unforgettable.

Warning to all going to melbourne australia!

:nono: :nono: :nono: :nono:

Hmm.... So bad? Makes me think twice abt going there for a month or 3wks.

 

[CantikFotos]

How abt stuff like "Chinks" & "Bloody Asian" amongst others? ;p

Exactly the same. One can't very well complain about racism if one uses racist terms oneself, right?

 

[laker]

Melbourne very racist. super bad experience at immigration. any asian going to australia prepared for a beating.

I went to Australia with my wife for 3 months for tour. The immigration officer was damn rude and when I said we were there for 3 months for tour. Immediately, ushered to a special lane. At immigration, only a few asians and lots of ang mohs. All ang mohs went thru no problem. After going into special lane, 2 of us kenna the pasar malam seperately! Kenna search bag, luggage and even read very personal details of my wife diary! asking who is this and that.....i stood up and protested to the immigration officer how can u read people's diary and this ang moh immigration officer yelled at me "SIT DOWN!".

I asked is this required?, they said they wanted to be sure that I did not steal jobs and work as a fruit picker! . I asked them to look at my hands (i am a fat chap) and asked them if i look like a picker - i never even heard of such jobs! even after opening my bag with 2 d70s, 28-70 and 70-200. a few other lenses. They went thru my wallet and saw my gold citibank visa card. asked me how $$$ much on the card.

finally, it was a australian doctor fren who they called and vouched that i was NOT WORKING in australia then they allowed me thru after 2 hours at pasar malam. When i left, another fellow singaporean chinese still there kenna pasar malaam. Damn sad because we are thought to be terrorists!

we were treated my criminals. seriously bad experience going to the down under. unforgettable.

Warning to all going to melbourne australia!

:nono: :nono: :nono: :nono:

I really feel for you to have gone through this, considering you were entering their country to boost their economy through tourism or education (for others studying there).

Tight and stringent security check is essential but basic courtesy should be in placed.

Bottomline is, be firm but be nice.

I have never been to Australia but from this thread I can get a feel of how yaya papaya the custom officers are and can be.

Is there no one we can turn to for unfair or ridiculed treatment ???

 

[pl4nx]

i've been in and out from melbourne few times, always travel alone, and i've never encountered anything like this or even saw one
but believe it or not, i've seen same 'people profiling' happened in changi, and heard few stories about this in changi
i guess, it's not only ang moh who is rac*st huh
lucky for you who can go to US without any need to apply for visa,for some people who need to go through the procedures,it's not easy at all

 

[gclaudiu]

ang-moh for westerners in singapore , nigro for afro-americans in america, orang cina for chinese in indonesia... all are rasist expressions however you turn it...

is not only in australia. it happened to my gf when we've been together to new zealand in a trip few months back. they question her and check her bags and everything... they didn't ask me anything. were also several asians on the queue...

btw, for "ang-moh"s is not easy to diferentiate between chinese, japanese, koreans, indonesians, etc unless they spend years in asian countries...

 

[gclaudiu]

OTH, I can give you examples how I have been treated within Singapore, but I still stay on.

racism is a point of view, you can choose to ignore it and lead your life.

hehehe.... join the club i'm "ang-moh" and if i tell u how many bad experiences i had in singapore or even "western" countries... but i'm still here and i learn to take everything as a challenge and here i am after quite few years

 

[Sion]

Melbourne very racist. super bad experience at immigration. any asian going to australia prepared for a beating.

I went to Australia with my wife for 3 months for tour. The immigration officer was damn rude and when I said we were there for 3 months for tour. Immediately, ushered to a special lane. At immigration, only a few asians and lots of ang mohs. All ang mohs went thru no problem. After going into special lane, 2 of us kenna the pasar malam seperately! Kenna search bag, luggage and even read very personal details of my wife diary! asking who is this and that.....i stood up and protested to the immigration officer how can u read people's diary and this ang moh immigration officer yelled at me "SIT DOWN!".

I asked is this required?, they said they wanted to be sure that I did not steal jobs and work as a fruit picker! . I asked them to look at my hands (i am a fat chap) and asked them if i look like a picker - i never even heard of such jobs! even after opening my bag with 2 d70s, 28-70 and 70-200. a few other lenses. They went thru my wallet and saw my gold citibank visa card. asked me how $$$ much on the card.

finally, it was a australian doctor fren who they called and vouched that i was NOT WORKING in australia then they allowed me thru after 2 hours at pasar malam. When i left, another fellow singaporean chinese still there kenna pasar malaam. Damn sad because we are thought to be terrorists!

we were treated my criminals. seriously bad experience going to the down under. unforgettable.

Warning to all going to melbourne australia!

You know what your problem might be? Your itenary was too long. If you had a few weeks of holiday in a group tour there would not have such a hassel. They probably thought that for someone to stay that long in Australia he might need to resort to work to sustain himself. You fit an illegal immigrant suspect profile.

One of my friends had the same problem. All she wanted was 2 weeks of holidays. But she applied the visa through her husband's firm and got 3 months of visa. She kenna intergoration and had to show how much money she carried and my address.

Another one applied for a visa for a private visit. She didn't even get it as the local Australian consulate considered her as overstay suspect. I think middle-age people may fit this category. Some of them ended up overstaying and working illegally in Chinese restaurants.

I don't know why Asians seem to be single out for such screening at the airports as statistically UK tops the list for illegal immigrants to Australia. But we don't hear so much about them being given such screenings in the airports. I know you want to say Ang Mohs also mah. :bsmilie:

As someone who lives in Australia, all I can advise is put on blue-tinted contact lenses, bleach your skin and dye your hair blonde. :bsmilie:

Australia Tourism Authority is speding millions promoting tourism to Asia. But when visitors arrive at our airports we treat them like some sort of criminal suspects. Some Asians
returning home to Australia are not spared of such treatments too. :sweat:

 

[deadpixel]

Melbourne very racist. super bad experience at immigration. any asian going to australia prepared for a beating.

I went to Australia with my wife for 3 months for tour. The immigration officer was damn rude and when I said we were there for 3 months for tour. Immediately, ushered to a special lane. At immigration, only a few asians and lots of ang mohs. All ang mohs went thru no problem. After going into special lane, 2 of us kenna the pasar malam seperately! Kenna search bag, luggage and even read very personal details of my wife diary! asking who is this and that.....i stood up and protested to the immigration officer how can u read people's diary and this ang moh immigration officer yelled at me "SIT DOWN!".

I asked is this required?, they said they wanted to be sure that I did not steal jobs and work as a fruit picker! . I asked them to look at my hands (i am a fat chap) and asked them if i look like a picker - i never even heard of such jobs! even after opening my bag with 2 d70s, 28-70 and 70-200. a few other lenses. They went thru my wallet and saw my gold citibank visa card. asked me how $$$ much on the card.

finally, it was a australian doctor fren who they called and vouched that i was NOT WORKING in australia then they allowed me thru after 2 hours at pasar malam. When i left, another fellow singaporean chinese still there kenna pasar malaam. Damn sad because we are thought to be terrorists!

we were treated my criminals. seriously bad experience going to the down under. unforgettable.

Warning to all going to melbourne australia!

You must have been really lucky...actually, to complete your experience you should have demanded for a cavity check from a fat, drooling, male immigration office with thick fingers. I had a smart-mouthed friend who fitted the profile of a druggie who can vividly describe the sensations of a questing finger to you. :devil:

I've been to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth dozens of times each, for stays ranging from a couple of days to a couple of years, and the longest I've ever been in any line at their immigrations and customs is an hour. Just in case you think it may be because of the color of my skin, you should know that I am considered quite dark and many Aussies think I am either Indonesian or Filipino.

Whether in Oz, UK, Canada or the U.S., I always have a ready smile for the officers and speak to them in friendly tones, no matter how sour their faces or how gruff their voices may be. I find that it helps "disarm" them and it makes them a little more friendly, especially if you chat them up, tell them your plans and ask for advise, to hell with privacy, they're not going to remember your face or what you're planning to do 5 seconds after they start checking the next person. When they go through my stuff, I answer all their questions and even offer them additional information. If they need to do more thorough checks, I jump through the hoops for them.

What happens after all this? I get out quicker than smart-ass-idiots who abuse the officers, make things difficult for them, put up pissed-off faces and try to lecture the officers about the state their tourism industry is going to be in just because they are performing their duties.

This isn't about racism (btw, if we're honest to ourselves, we'd know that we're all raciest in some ways) or about how one group is being treated differently from another, it's about us wanting to get into another person's home and getting all worked up because that person is asking us to take off our shoes or telling us that he/she needs to be sure you're not carrying any harmful stuff into their home.

Lighten up, we'll all live longer and have less cancer ... at least that's what the new report claims. :bsmilie:

_

 

[AReality]

I feel much better that I'm living in Singapore.
Hooray to 7% GST!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


.

 

[Sion]

I feel much better that I'm living in Singapore.
Hooray to 7% GST!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

.

Now you can go to Paul Yeo's thread and vote in "Are You Happy in Singapore?" Poll. :bsmilie:

 

[jsbn]

I feel much better that I'm living in Singapore.
Hooray to 7% GST!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


.

:thumbsup: To ur uncanny ability to link everything to anything remote for anti-establishment propaganda.

*clap clap clap*

 

[jsbn]

Now you can go to Paul Yeo's thread and vote in "Are You Happy in Singapore?" Poll. :bsmilie:

It probably sounds like he's not.

Suggest he does a Superman from Westin. it will be hell of a sight to see smashed innards. ;p
I'll standby with that 28-300L

 

[Caspere]

You must have been really lucky...actually, to complete your experience you should have demanded for a cavity check from a fat, drooling, male immigration office with thick fingers. I had a smart-mouthed friend who fitted the profile of a druggie who can vividly describe the sensations of a questing finger to you. :devil:

I've been to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth dozens of times each, for stays ranging from a couple of days to a couple of years, and the longest I've ever been in any line at their immigrations and customs is an hour. Just in case you think it may be because of the color of my skin, you should know that I am considered quite dark and many Aussies think I am either Indonesian or Filipino.

Whether in Oz, UK, Canada or the U.S., I always have a ready smile for the officers and speak to them in friendly tones, no matter how sour their faces or how gruff their voices may be. I find that it helps "disarm" them and it makes them a little more friendly, especially if you chat them up, tell them your plans and ask for advise, to hell with privacy, they're not going to remember your face or what you're planning to do 5 seconds after they start checking the next person. When they go through my stuff, I answer all their questions and even offer them additional information. If they need to do more thorough checks, I jump through the hoops for them.

What happens after all this? I get out quicker than smart-ass-idiots who abuse the officers, make things difficult for them, put up pissed-off faces and try to lecture the officers about the state their tourism industry is going to be in just because they are performing their duties.

This isn't about racism (btw, if we're honest to ourselves, we'd know that we're all raciest in some ways) or about how one group is being treated differently from another, it's about us wanting to get into another person's home and getting all worked up because that person is asking us to take off our shoes or telling us that he/she needs to be sure you're not carrying any harmful stuff into their home.

Lighten up, we'll all live longer and have less cancer ... at least that's what the new report claims. :bsmilie:

_

See... Now if you are really a well-trained terrorist, you would probably know exactly what to do or not to do; to avoid the unnecessary attention, and the skill-set to get yourself out of those situations.

That's the irony... Just like spies, well-trained terrorists can move around inconspicuously. It is us, the normal people with ignorance, or our wise-ass cracks that attracts all the unwanted attention. :bsmilie:

Not that we need CIA training, just a little thought and manners should get us out of many problems.