Chin Tan

Race Discrimination Commissioner

Sometimes, you can have the best of both worlds – a little bit of Malaysia and much more of Australia. This can help one to understand the bigger picture of societal issues and affairs.

Needless to say, Australia’s new Race Discrimination Commissioner Chin Tan is having the best of both worlds and he is using it for the benefit of others.

“New migrants tend to compare their former country to Australia, or the country they’ve migrated to. You can’t compare because they are two different countries with two different communities. So you have to make the best of what you’ve got and enjoy what you have. People come to Australia because it’s different, but if I was in Malaysia, I will enjoy Malaysia.

New migrants have to adapt and stop trying to live like how they once did in the countries they’ve left,” Chin Tan said.

A TOUGH JOB FOR A TOUGH SITUATION

Born in Malaysia and then coming to Australia for studies and finding his footing as a lawyer in the private sector across a span of more than two decades, he previously ran the Victorian Multicultural Commission and was most recently the director of Multicultural Engagement at Swinburne University in Melbourne. He started his current position in October 2018, although the necessity of the role was questioned initially.

“Well, someone’s got to do it. We’re not here to criticize anyone but help to tackle some issues and make Melbourne a better place. If there are racial issues, we will want to deal with those responsible and call them out as they are,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t evade his responsibilities at the face of recent and challenging political pressures.

Chin Tan doesn’t treat this like a backyard problem – he knows the unique challenges that most migrants will face in a new country. Chin Tan migrated to Australia in the 1980’s and had to learn how to assimilate, start a family and persevere to build his law practice from scratch.

“Honestly, it was probably easier for me to adapt to Australia than others who found it difficult. That’s why we have different government roles provided by resources to support these communities,” 

A lot of what we do is our fulfilment to international convention against discrimination of all sorts: racism, sexism, children exploitation. The great thing about Australia is that it has a democratic framework and people can openly talk about and find solutions for migration and racial issues – two major things that we are facing now,” he said.

BEING GRATEFUL

Chin Tan, who lives in Melbourne with his wife and two children, is grateful for what he has and what he has achieved.

Chin Tan’s daughter who’s recently married is a doctor and his son is also a lawyer. He recalls the hard life of his father who sold charcoal to support his family of nine children and Chin Tan’s grandparents. “He passed away when I was seven. My brother had to take over the business when he was 20 and he only had education until primary three. We didn’t come from a wealthy background and I’m blessed for having many opportunities given to me and be where I am today,” he said.

当一个人可以同时拥有双重最佳世界和文化观：一点点的马来西亚和更具渗透性的澳大利亚元素，能够协助人们了解繁琐迥异的社会结构和掌握事务大局。

这就是澳大利亚新上任的反种族歧视专员陈振良(Chin Tan)的天然优势，并且利用这个机会为他人谋福利。

“新移民倾向于将前国家与澳大利亚，或现在移居的国家进行比较。其实这是错误观念，因为这是不同的国家和不一样的社区。所以，应该做的是必须充分利用和享受现今所拥有的。人们移居澳大利亚是为了转换环境，但如果今天我身在马来西亚，我会喜欢马来西亚。新移民必须学会适应，并停止在之前国家的生活习性和改变心态。”

艰辛任务与困境

陈振良出生在马来西亚，随后来到澳大利亚留学并在私营机构找到了本身的立足点，具备逾20年执业律师履历。他曾掌管维多利亚州多元文化委员会，最近在墨尔本的斯威本大学担任多元文化互动组织理事。

2018年10月，他接下了反种族歧视专员的重担，尽管最初上述职位的必要性受到质疑。“这个总得有人去做。我们不是来批判任何人，而是协助解决一些问题，让墨尔本变得更美好。如果存在种族问题，我们会想办法传召相关负责人以进行应对沟通。”

关于最近面临的政治强压，他也不会逃避责任。陈振良并不把这当成是内部问题—他深深了解大多数移民在一个新国家将面临的独特挑战。犹如他在上个世纪80年代移居澳大利亚，学习如何融入当地社会，组建家庭，坚持白手起家自行成立律师事务所。

“说实话，相比其他觉得很难适应的人们，我很快投入澳大利亚生活。这就是为何有不同的政府资助人员支持这些社区。我们所做的许多工作是履行国际公约，反对并消除一切歧视形式：种族主义、性别歧视和剥削儿童。澳大利亚的伟大之处在于具备民主开放的大框架，人们可以公开谈论并找到解决移民课题和种族矛盾的方法—这是我们现在面临的两大关键难题。”

感恩一切

目前与妻子和儿女定居墨尔本，陈振良对于本身所拥有与取得的成就心怀感激。最近刚结婚的女儿是医生，儿子也是一名律师。他回忆起自己儿时的艰苦生活，卖煤炭维生的父亲为了养活9名孩子和祖父母而奔波操劳。“爸爸在我7岁的时候去世了。我哥哥在20岁的时候接管了业务，他仅有小学三年级的教育程度。我们家境并不富裕，我很幸运获得了许多机会，才能站在今天的位置上。”

by Karina Foo