COVID-19, Asian-Australian Racism And Media: What This Pandemic Says About Us

Posted on 23 April 2020 by Mabel Kwong

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With COVID-19 racing across the world, it’s become a different reality overnight.

Some of us feel fear hearing COVID-19 cases rise in other countries. Feel uncertainty as toilet paper disappears from the shelves at the grocery store around the corner.

For some of us Asian-Australians, we feel the slap of racism once again amidst this pandemic.

Melbourne Central (MC) 2020 (1)

Being an Asian-Australian who once aspired to be a journalist in Australia, it’s disappointing seeing recent anti-Asian sentiments in the media and racist incidents on the streets. It’s undoubtedly disappointing seeing certain cultural groups get accused of spreading coronavirus.

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Australia’s National Colours: Green, Gold and More

Posted on 17 January 2019 by Mabel Kwong

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If you’ve been to Australia, you might notice the colours green and gold stand out quite a bit around the country.

That’s because green and gold are regarded as the national colours of Australia. Both colours arguably symbolise what it means to be uniquely Australia and Australian on different levels.

Green and gold, the colours of Australia.

There are a few reasons behind how green and gold came to be the colours of this country, and these reasons are tied with history and events of today.

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Australia’s Coffee Culture: How We Drink Coffee

Posted on 16 August 2018 by Mabel Kwong

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Coffee and drinking coffee is something Australians are all too familiar with. Australia’s coffee culture is unique, with different ways of drinking coffee and different kinds of coffee drunk throughout the day.

No doubt Australia has a strong love affair with coffee. Melbourne has time and time again been voted as having the best coffee in the world. In 2017, the quest to find the best coffee roaster in the world was held in Melbourne. Coffee is a favourite non-alcoholic beverage for many Australians among most age brackets, even more popular than tea.

Some of us love coffee | Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #7: Everyday Moments.

Although I’ve lived in Australia for half my life, I don’t drink coffee. Certainly I’m no where near a coffee connoisseur and my tastebuds aren’t fined tuned to suss out the finest of coffees and Arabica beans.

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Australian Greetings: ‘How’s It Going’ And More

Posted on 18 January 2018 by Mabel Kwong

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When it comes to saying hello, Australians have a few typical greeting phrases and choice slang words.

Usually greeting someone in Australia is a casual, informal affair regardless of whether or not we know that person, whether we are close to them or not.

There are so many ways to say hello | Weekly Photo Challenge: Variations on a Theme.

When I moved back to Australia about a decade ago, the typical Aussie ‘hellos’ confused me. When someone greeted me in Australian-speak, it always took a moment for me to realise that they were actually saying hi to me.

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Why Do Australians Call Each Other ‘Mate’?

Posted on 18 May 2017 by Mabel Kwong

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If you live in Australia or have travelled around Australia, chances are you’ve heard the word ‘mate’ a lot here. For instance, you might’ve heard, ‘G’day, mate’ or ‘How ya doin’, mate?’

Living in Melbourne, I’ve friends from different backgrounds, different ethnicities and different age groups living different lifestyles. Western, Asian, Indian, hippies, hipsters, corporate business types, baby boomer types – so many of them say ‘mate’ all the time.

Are we all ‘mates’ in Australia? | Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflecting.

The idea of ‘mateship’ goes hand-in-hand with the word ‘mate’. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, very broadly ‘mateship’ is ‘an Australian code of conduct that emphasizes egalitarianism and fellowship’. Throughout Australian history and up until today, saying ‘mate’ is a mark of Aussie culture:

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8 Common Stereotypes And Misconceptions About Australians

Posted on 12 January 2017 by Mabel Kwong

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As someone who was born in Australia and has lived here for many years, some stereotypes, myths and perceptions about Australians ring true. And some don’t.

Australia is a diverse country, with the outback and city side by side as I wrote in this blog post about the geographic land of Oz itself. Naturally, Australians are a pretty diverse bunch in general, diverse in terms of what they like, the way they choose to live their lives and who they chose to be.