The Melting Pot
Page 17
I opened the letter that accompanied the dragon.
When I left the goldfields I was told remember the Chinese ways, remember your ancestors, and remember me. So now I tell you remember your Australian ways, remember your ancestors and remember your family here who are waiting for you to return.
Early Chinese rulers embraced the dragon as a symbol of power and strength. If days become hard hold fast to your dragon, draw on the strength that the dragon has provided countless Chinese for generations. And the gold that this dragon is made from, that will remind you of home, of this land where you will return and it will remind you of me, your Father who is very, very proud of his beautiful son, Edward, Chek Chee.
Saturday, 2 July
Many Chinese businessmen have returned to China. Many Chinese like me have never returned. Today Edward, Chek Chee, departs on the S.S. Empire for China. I have my papers; Father assures me they are in order. I will return.
I go to the land of my ancestors, from where part of me comes. I hope the spirits of my ancestors are smoothing the way for me. I suppose they have already because Elder Brother will be waiting for me. And this is good that I go. I will attend to my studies and learn the Chinese culture as well as I know my own. I will make Father continue to be proud of me.
Right now everyone is rushing around the store. Father has closed the store for the whole day. I am travelling with two bags. Mother packed a small bag for me and Father has filled the other with the expected gifts for the relatives. It is laden with presents that can only come from here; Arnott’s biscuits, boiled lollies, umbrellas and shoes … I didn’t know I had this many relatives—and their feet are so small! I have a package for Elder Brother and Sister too.
And Father has given me my cricket ball to travel with me, to remember where I am from.
We are meeting Rose at the wharf and then I will accompany her to China. Father has arranged her onward passage to her village. I am pleased that I am not travelling alone. I am a dutiful son, doing as Father and Mother have requested. The spirits are smoothing my way further. Still I do not want to go but I have to go. I know.
Now my final words. Elizabeth has come to the store to say farewell. Her mother is here too and she does not look well. I cannot see her father. I joked with her that maybe she wanted to make sure I left, but she is really upset that she will not see me for a long time. She has tears too. She has changed. She is my cousin. She is family.
Elizabeth gave me a gift. Oranges. ‘Remember Chek Chee, it is what is under the skin of an orange that gives it the sweetest taste. That is what is very important.’ She had the broadest smile I had ever seen. Where did she get them, even Mother could not find any?
And for Elizabeth I have a present. I will ask her now to take care of this book. When I return she can give it back to me. In the meantime if she wishes she can read my words, as long as she is not annoyed with what I have written about her. Maybe her father will read it too.
HISTORICAL NOTE
No. 17 of 1901
AN ACT
To place certain restrictions on Immigration and to provide for the removal from the Commonwealth of Prohibited Immigrants.
[Assented to December 23, 1901]
These are the words that begin one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the newly formed Government of the Commonwealth of Australia. It was known as the Immigration Restriction Act.
Prior to 1901 Australia was made up of a number of colonies, all with their own legislation. And it is with these colonies that this Act began.
In the mid-1800s the Australian gold rush was causing people of every walk of life to down tools and try to find their fortune digging for the precious mineral. Many thousands of Chinese men came here, to what they called New Gold Mountain, from what was then Canton, a very poor region in China. Many would borrow large sums of money on a credit ticket system, and villages would pool their money to send young men here for the chance of finding their fortune.
The Chinese made a huge impact on the Australian gold fields with their successful methods for extracting the gold. As mining became less profitable some of the Chinese miners turned their skills to much more lucrative endeavours such as market gardening (many miners were very thankful for the Chinese-grown vegetables), furniture making and storekeeping. Many became very successful.
But the presence of Chinese miners brought with it much antagonism. Many of the ‘white’ residents of Australia resented the success of the Chinese people, and their customs, traditions and associations that were established. Anti-Chinese sentiment grew. On the goldfields there were riots that forced many Chinese to leave for other mining fields or to be isolated by government officials and legislation to the less-profitable mining areas. Newspapers and magazines published inflammatory and discriminatory articles and cartoons. The residents wrote petitions to the state governments and strikes were held, all in opposition to the Chinese presence in Australia. The residents justified their discriminatory behaviour with ‘reasons’ such as the Chinese miners were sending too much gold back to China; they were ‘stealing’ the white women and polluting the race; they were involved in illegal acts; and they were bringing disease to the land.
As a result the individual colonies passed legislation restricting the entry of Chinese people. But banning the entry of the Chinese people was not possible. There were treaties between the British and Chinese empires allowing the citizens to travel and work in each other’s empire. So a poll tax was imposed, first in Victoria and soon after by the other states. Every Chinese person that entered the state was charged a fee.
Eventually, after much anti-Chinese feeling, an inter-colonial conference was held. It not only endorsed the tax but increased the severity of restrictions for Chinese immigration. This became the basis for one of the first Acts of the newly federated parliament of Australia. It was the Immigration Restriction Act—the White Australia policy. It was designed initially to appease the white people and keep the Chinese out. Soon wives and children were prohibited entry even if the man was admitted. The authorities expected that the men would return to their families.
The administration of the Act was simple and mostly involved the customs officers requesting the immigrant to sit for a 50-word dictation test. Even Chinese people who wrote and spoke English to perfection would be caught under this test. The test could be given in French or German or any other European language. When the immigrant failed the test they were refused entry to Australia and sent back on the next boat to China. Sometimes those who failed the test were released to the Chinese community on a hefty bond of £100 but were eventually sent back to China. And to stop the immigrants ‘knowing’ the test words, the passages were regularly changed.
If authorities were aware of the possible entry of an ‘undesirable’ at a port, confidential letters were sent to the officers identifying the person with instructions that the dictation test ‘… should be applied in such a manner as to ensure its efficiency’.
Sometimes immigrants escaped detection and landed ‘illegally’. They still were not safe. Customs officers also received letters from the general public identifying the ‘aliens’ who were not entitled to land here. They even provided the addresses where the person could be apprehended. Of course some white Australians assisted Chinese immigrants in their applications for the Certificate of Domicile, signing petitions and writing letters as to their good character and benefit to the community, and so allowing them to travel abroad and return to Australia.
Prior to the passing of the Immigration Restriction Act there were Chinese people who were already residents in Australia and were entitled to stay here. They may have been naturalised before Federation but they were still impacted by this Act. To travel they were required to hold a Certificate of Domicile (from 1902–07). This later became the Certificate of Exemption from the Dictation Test (CEDT). This certificate, form No. 21, was completed in duplicate. It required a description of the person (including any ‘particular m
arks’), photos, hand impressions (later just thumb prints), departure and arrival details, character references and an application fee. One copy was kept by the officials and the other was given to the departing resident. To re-enter Australia the Chinese person would purchase a ticket abroad showing the certificate and then once in Australia their copy would be compared to the original when they arrived at the port. If the immigrant happened to lose their certificate overseas then a letter of entry could be authorised allowing them to be admitted to Australia. But when they arrived at the port their identity had to be verified.
There were other immigrants who were prohibited entry by this Act including people who were suffering a disease or were contagious, recent felons and an ‘idiot or insane person’ but the Act was primarily designed to keep the Chinese out. For many years, this horrific legislation was enacted. In the 1950s and 1960s there was an easing of immigration restriction until finally in 1973 the White Australia Policy was repealed.
And personally I am very thankful about that.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Once again I would like to thank the staff at the Mitchell Library at the State Library of New South Wales. Thanks also to the historians and archivists at the City of Sydney who showed me directories, maps and answered stacks of questions.
Assistance also came from the staff of the NSW Education Department’s School House Museum at Ryde; the Fort Street High School Librarian; and thanks to the staff at the National Archives of Australia in Villawood. Here I was able to access the boxes containing the amazing Certificates of Domicile.
A final note: in the early 1990s Richard Chee Quee did play competitive cricket for the New South Wales cricket team as a successful opening batsman. He is an Australian of Chinese ancestry.
About the Author
CHRISTOPHER W CHENG
Christopher W Cheng is an Australian-born half-Chinese—and proud to be so. His father was born in China and came to Australia to complete his education before returning to Hong Kong. His mother, of English descent, was born in Australia. Chris is the first son and very thankful that his parents decided to stay in Australia.
He has taught in schools in New South Wales and at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo Education Centre, where he developed Taronga Zoo’s Zoomobile. He was also the Education Advisor for an American-based science CD-ROM project, the BioScope Initiative. He has an MA in Children’s Literature and is on the International Advisory board for an online e-journal—First Opinions, Second Reactions.
Most of Chris’s books, including his first picture book, One Child (illustrated by Steven Woolman) and Scholastic Australia’s non-fiction series Eyespy, have focused on animals and the environment. Chris is also the author of another My Australian Story title, New Gold Mountain, which focuses on the Gold Rush and the 1860–61 Lambing Flat riots and the impact on the Chinese miners there.
Chris now spends most of his time writing (and keeping house). He is married to Bini and they live in Sydney. They still have no pets. For more information about Chris and his work please visit www.chrischeng.com
Published by Scholastic Australia
Pty Ltd PO Box 579 Gosford NSW 2250
ABN 11 000 614 577
www.scholastic.com.au
Part of the Scholastic Group
Sydney • Auckland • New York • Toronto • London • Mexico City
• New Delhi • Hong Kong • Buenos Aires • Puerto Rico
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First published by Scholastic in 2007
This electronic edition published in 2014
E-PUB/MOBI eISBN: 978-1-925063-88-2
Text copyright © Christopher W Cheng
Cover copyright © Scholastic Australia
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.