KL in Parramatta

A close family friend had organised and shouted a sumptuous dinner last night in a quiet corner of one of Sydney's booming and growing shires, Parramatta. Bordering the now famous Bennelong electoral constituency which recently cost a long standing Australian Prime Minister his seat, Parramatta is the fifth largest growing urban concentration in the Australian economy - after Sydney, Melbourne,Brisbane and Newcastle, and churning a GDP by itself faster than Adelaide,Cairns, Hobart and Darwin.

The day had been dry hot, averaging thirty degrees Celsius and I had been looking forward to some spicy-kick food. A new set-up called Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Cuisine had been established near a primary entrance/exit of the rail station, with a menu that reflects the multi-cultures of the homeland of most of the diners. Cooked by ethnic Chinese, my group of 13 persons could sample the variety of dishes offered, including Penang char koay teow; chicken rendang; bean sprouts stir-fried with salted fish bits;tofu steamed with minced pork; sago dessert soaked in Malacca palm sugar and coconut milk; squid dry curry; whole fish deep fried in sour and hot curry; Hainan styled chicken with flavoured rice; and Chinese-styled spinach.

I could have been in a restaurant in Petaling Jaya or one of the Klang Valley suburbs surrounding the Malaysian capital. The key to Malaysian cuisine is the texture and vitality of the many ingredients and sauces that go into the marination of a dish. The freshness of the curry, or the smoothness of the meat or veg cut in different ways, are important indicators. There is more preparation work, the aroma of the right herbs does help and the mood of the chefs do infuse into the final product served. Having said that, I was very satisfied with two dishes - subtle egggplant and the delicate thin pig slices served with onion and a certain Beijing marinade - at a modest joint, Hangfu, along Parramatta's George Street for lunch the same day. The care and love that went into these two dishes showed throughout.

Back in KL, the waiters and the commercial cooks these days are mostly of Burmese, Bangladesh or Indonesian origin. In Australia, we still get ex or transplanted Chinese-Malaysians running the kitchen and the tables. Food is a passion with my dining companions that evening - whilst eating the food, we talked about food, we compared rival outlets and we analysed the things that went into the dishes served in front of us.

Ridges Street

In the dusk hours, it had a certain charm, especially when the harsh light of direct sunlight had ceased. Walking in the grey blueness of this short road, we felt the peculiar attraction of Ridges Street. It was a quiet enclave and refuge from the hustle and bustle of surrounding roads and suburbs. Here one can find solace in an old but well maintained church or find delight in the hundreds of photos plastered on the walls of a modest old-styled barbershop operated by George who emphasised his Italian heritage.

Dining at one end of Ridges, we dabbled in Armenian-Lebanese cuisine. The place was full with customers on this weekend evening, with tables laid out in small shop lot reminiscent of the European quarter of Istanbul, rather than North Sydney. The clientele was more Anglo-Celtic than in ethnic Arab Punchbowl of multi-racial greater Sydney. The food was thoughtfully prepared at Safi's. Delicate dips made of chilli, walnut and pinenuts or mild eggplant were a good way of familiarising ourselves with the thin-crust traditional bread. Our group of seven persons ended the dinner obviously full and even the hostess remarked that we were doing "really well" for the amount and variety of food we had. Fresh cuts of capsicum, onion and carrot placed in skewers were what we needed to compliment the well marinated lean lamb steaks. The water pitcher was a curiosity, with a short but effective beak and in the overall shape of a gourd.

Unassuming quiet apartment blocks stood at the northern corner of Ridges, reminding me of a cbd street I visited in Melbourne one Christmas Eve. There was an upper floor tennis centre adjoining a multi-storey car park. Partly commercial, partly residential, Ridges Street encapsulated what North Sydney is. It was easy to find parking even on a Saturday night so close to Christmas. Whilst the retail outlets were mostly closed except for the few restaurants, the church was open and the small units had signs of life from its mostly Gen Y occupiers. Sydney's Harbour Bridge was only five minutes away by car and one could walk to the train station downhill in 5 minutes. What a life, to be chic and cool, living in an oasis so near to Australia's largest city - and one with a harbour view at that.

Is The Grass Greener?

Latest statistics on legal migration numbers to European countries reveal 125000 persons moving from Poland to Germany, 89500 individuals leaving Romania for Spain, 62300 persons leaving Romania for Italy and 33,500 former Australians settling in the United Kingdom. 9500 Algerians moved to France, 2500 Brazilians relocated from the tropics to Portugal and 1300 persons came from China to Denmark. Some migration movements seem natural as they involved neighboring countries, like from Sweden to Norway, Ukraine to Poland, Russia to Finland, Germany to Austria and France to Belgium.

Do people move because of the search of a better life, better jobs or returning to similar shared cultures? Romania is the single country in the European Continent with the largest emigration. The destination countries for Romanian immigrants all have a better economic and social quality of life. Does the high value of the British pound induce Australians to forsake blue skies and better meat to come to the inclement weather of the British Isles? Why do people travel so far to start a new life? 4800 Russians moved to Greece, possibly for the warmer Mediterranean weather. The outstanding recipient countries are Germany, Spain, Italy and Britain.

There is easier movement of people and yet at the same time increased border control restrictions apply. Some parts of Europe are seeing a noticeable return of its native wildlife as villages get depopulated. It is also logical to note that some major recipient countries did not have any significant outflows of migrants, for example, Spain, Ireland and Italy. We cannot assume that the ethnic mix of immigrants and emigrants are the same. The changed stratification of particular economies may induce immigration from certain groups, as when different types of jobs are no longer attractive to long time residents of a country, and for the country to practically operate,it is imperative that it open up its borders to people who are willing to perform jobs for which there are serious labour shortages.

When Asians descend on to an European country with a relatively small population, the impact of an obviously different culture can weigh heavily in social interaction. If such an impact is confined to bringing in more outlets of a tasty cuisine, the results can be positive. However, what comes with the food are so-called foreign habits in shopping, crossing the road, driving a vehicle and so forth.
Such contrasting scenarios may not apply when you have 1600 Czechs moving to Slovakia.

Internal movements within the EU can only help in the direction of developing a United States of Europe. The recent numbers do not show strong trends in vertical population movement, like from Scandinavia to the Iberian Peninsular. With some exceptions, most emigrants try to stick within the same climate zone.