[翻轉視界] Changing Perspective 15
We all want the same things in life: freedom, peace, and stability.
我們追求的目標其實都是一樣的: 自由、和平和安穩的生活。
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I'm a banking lawyer. I’ve got a very Australian accent. Sometimes people say things to me like that refugees are not really refugees, that they are just business opportunists. I then say, ‘Well, I’m a refugee from Laos, does that change your opinion?’ With that, they are taken aback.
•opportunist 機會主義者、投機取巧者
•refugee 難民
•be taken aback 被嚇了一跳
•Laos 寮國
我是一名銀行律師，說著一口道地澳洲腔。有時會有人對我說，難民並非真的難民，他們只是商業投機者。我就會說：「這個嘛，我就是從寮國來的難民，這會改變你的看法嗎？」聽完後，人們通常會大吃一驚。
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When we arrived in Australia, we lived first in a hostel in Melbourne, and then with my aunt and uncle and their kids in Sydney. There were 14 people in the house, and our family of 5 were in one room. My parents worked in factories, and my father worked a second shift in a restaurant at night so they could save up for a house.
•hostel （免費或廉價的）旅社 ; (UK) （無家可歸者的）收容所
•shift (n.)輪班職工；班；輪班
•save up for 為...存錢
抵達澳洲時，我們先在墨爾本的一間旅社落腳，之後才與我的叔叔、阿姨還有他們的孩子住在一起；我們14個人住在一間房子裡，而我們一家五口擠在一間房間。我的父母在工廠裡工作，父親晚上還要去餐廳打第二份工，這樣才能存錢買房子。
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I went to a public high school in a rough area of Sydney, in Bonnyrigg, right in the middle of a housing commission area. Only 4 kids from my year went on to Sydney University, and I was one of them. I still remember the first day of my law course, sitting in the lecture hall next to people from private and selective schools, and feeling nervous, out of place and undeserving.
•rough area 危險區
•housing commission area 住房委員會區
•selective school 菁英學校
•out of place 感到如魚出水，很不自在，局促不安
•undeserving 不配受到的，不該得到的
我在雪梨的貧民區上公立高中，學校在邦尼裡格，也就是在危險區的中央；我們年級只有4位學生考上雪梨大學，我是其中一位。我仍然記得，我在法學課上的第一天坐在那些從私立學校與菁英學校出來的同學旁邊，感到緊張、不適應且不配出現在那裡。
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My parents didn’t want to leave their country. They did it because they had to, because they were discriminated against by the Communists because of their Chinese background and political beliefs. Then they had to live with us in a refugee camp in Thailand for 10 months. And when they came to Australia, they worked hard, they always did the right thing, they tried to fit in, and they created a good family life for us. All my siblings went to uni, and we have all become professionals.
•be discriminated against by 被...歧視
•Communist 共產主義者； 共產黨員
•political belief 政治信念
•refugee camp 難民營
我的父母並不想離開祖國；但他們不得不離開，由於他們的華人背景跟政治信念而被共產黨歧視、敵對。我們一家不得不在泰國的難民營裡待了10個月。當他們抵達澳洲後刻苦工作，總是做正確的事試圖去容入這個環境，為我們創造了美好的家庭生活。我所有的兄弟姐妹們都接受大學教育，並都成為專業人士。
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Back when we arrived, there was a bit more compassion for refugees. I think that's what's missing in Australia these days. Even in some of the ethnic communities, I feel that there's sometimes a lack of compassion, because they forget where they've come from. So when people say something negative about refugees, I always speak up with my story, to try to bring kindness back into the conversation.
•compassion 同情、憐憫
•ethnic community 少數族群社區
•say something negative 說壞話
•speak out/up （尤指對有強烈共鳴的話題）公開發表意見，坦率說出
回顧我們剛抵達之際，當時對於難民們有較多的憐憫與同情，而我認為這是現在的澳洲所缺乏的；甚至在一些少數族群的社區裡，我也覺得那兒缺乏同情心，因為他們忘記自己從何而來；所以當人們對難民說一些負面的話，我總是會對他們提起我的故事，試圖將善意帶回人們的對話之中。
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Bring kindness back into our lives.
文章出處: https://bit.ly/3gjlUgs
New Humans of Australia
Photographer: Simone Cheung Photography
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翻轉視界: http://bit.ly/3fPvKUs
