Great post. All so true and confirms my anecdotal beliefs.Agreed, bb. Same for me. You would've been around Springvale in the days when Asian "crime gangs" extorted the local shopkeepers and citizens. Drug dealing, theft, violence and extortion were the norm. It resulted in vicpol setting up the Asian Crime Squad, long since disbanded. Several of the local Springvale detectives formed up the original squad. It was very successful in cleaning up crime in conjunction with local police and detectives.
Some of the Vietnamese crooks in those days were tough and scary. They were fearless, challenging you to torture them because nothing you could do was anywhere near as bad as to what had already been done to them back home.
They also convinced locals that the police were corrupt and you could buy your freedom. Bail was a foreign concept in SE Asia and people would see crooks arrested and taken into police stations. Later that day, the same crooks would tell everyone they had bought their way out by paying the police. Bail bond forms provided "evidence" of this "corrupt" practice.
One generation on, have a drive through Springvale now. Every second home near the main shopping drag is a solicitor's, doctor's, accountant's or dentist's practice. I shop there often as the markets provide great quality food at cheap prices. It is vibrant and bustling. When you wander through the back lanes you'd swear you're in Vietnam it Cambodia. It is an example of successful integration and assimilation. Of course, it still has its problems, but the transformation and gentrification of the place in just 30 years has been remarkable.
One thing I'll never forget is footage we took of a well known 'fence' and his shop. One day, two rival mobs of Turks and Viets ran at each other and engaged in a pitched battle in the street. Baseball bats, steel bars, knives and cleavers were plentiful. One little Turk copped a cleaver to the back of the head. Blood went everywhere. He merely shook his head and staggered backwards, off camera. As the camera was fixed and unmanned at the time, we never did find out what happened to him. Fortunately, there were no reported deaths from head wounds in the ensuing days. This was in the middle of the day, too. It was a bit like that back then.
I'm hopeful that Africans will assimilate in the same way. Culture, not race, is the key with these issues. Firm policing and enforcement also sends a strong message. The leaders of the African community gave a great responsibility in this. They should be consulting the Vietnamese, especially in light of recent events.
In the end, the St.Kilda beach events have been highlighted because of the location. The problem has dared to encroach the bayside and the elites and middle classes are appalled, fuelled by a media eager to pour petrol onto a ratings bonfire. The greater problems exist in the western and northern suburbs, where incidents of brawls, home invasions, assaults and gangs roaming the streets are commonplace. Wyndhamvale in the west now boasts the unenviable record of having the most reported violent crimes, burglaries and car thefts in the state. At times the police in this region have refused to attend reports of gang related incidents for having a lack of numbers to form an appropriate response.
I house sat and cared for a mate's pets for three weeks in Point Cook recently. The nearby suburbs of Laverton and Tarneit didn't feel that safe after dark. Melton, has also had significant problems, to the extent that public protests have been held because of a lack of police presence and action. There is little coverage of these incidents compared to the St.Kikda beach fiasco. Hard times, but these issues typically take a generation to settle. Strap in. We live in Interesting times.
Interesting your comments on the West.
The two swings against the govt in Nov were in the seats of Werribee and Melton.
Safe Labor seats where crime and infrastructure are huge issues.
Daughter lived in Tarneit and it was a terrible place like all new suburbs, no trees on the flat basalt plain, tiny houses, roadworks everywhere and lots of kid trouble.
She and her boyfriend moved to a new estate in Werribee which is a bit more affluent and it just feels safer.
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