What does multiculturalism mean to our students?
Year 9 student Tom Xu reflects on the question, 'What does multiculturalism mean to you?'
Tom Xu joined Wesley this year in Year 9, starting his year in Wesley's in-house English program for new arrivals, the English Language Preparation Program (ELPP), which is available for both domestic and international students.
Originally from Shanghai, China, Tom found the move to Australia a bit daunting but he has quickly embraced his opportunities here and the friends he has made.
Here’s what Tom has to say about what multiculturalism means to him:
Multiculturalism means that in a country, there are people from different countries. When they come, they will also bring their own national culture and let local people understand and learn.
The advantage of having such a diverse community is that people from all countries can understand each other’s culture and get along peacefully. Such a community will also be accompanied by some shortcomings, such as regional discrimination. I think building a multicultural society is very important, because continuous learning from each other can make people progress, no matter what they learn, such as culture, history and customs.
If you always feel that your culture is the greatest or superior, you will never be able to improve yourself. I think that people need a heart that treats others equally to get along peacefully with others, because the basis of making friends is to treat each other as equals. If you can't do it, no one will accept you. If people do not accept each other, regional discrimination will occur. In the end, there may be confrontation between the two parties.
Back to reality, I think the reason people travel to Australia is because there are many people living here from different countries. So far, I think it is safe to live in Melbourne, and I have made many friends here. Finally, I hope I can gradually get used to living in Australia.
多元文化主义意味着在一个国家中，会有来自不同国家的人。当他们来的时候，他们还将带来自己的民族文化，并让当地人了解和学习。我在每个国家或我们的电视节目中都能看到这种景象。建立这样一个多元化社区的好处是，来自各个国家的人们都可以了解彼此的文化并和平相处。这样的社区还将伴随着一些缺陷，例如区域歧视。我认为建立多元文化的社会非常重要，因为不断学习彼此可以使人们进步，无论他们学习什么，例如文化，历史和习俗。如果您始终觉得自己的文化是最伟大或最优越的，那么您将永远无法改善自己。我认为人们需要一颗平等对待他人的心来与他人和平相处，因为交朋友的基础是平等对待彼此。如果你做不到，没有人会接受你的。如果人们彼此不接受，就会发生地区歧视。最后，两党之间可能会发生对抗。回到现实，我认为人们前往澳大利亚的原因是因为这里有许多来自不同国家的人居住在这里。到目前为止，我认为住在墨尔本是安全的，并且我在这里结识了很多朋友。最后，我希望我能逐渐适应澳大利亚的生活。
